Here you can find the most frequently asked questions I answered throughout the years:
Is it dangerous to live in Senegal?
I live in Dakar, a city of 3,8 million people (2020 census). The city is not any more dangerous than any other big city anywhere else, the issue of access to resources is the same as Milan or London: who has little has increasingly less, who struggles to make ends meet struggles more and the wealthy doesn’t really care. My husband says safety and security conditions have deteriorated over the past fifteen years, but apparently Dakar was an oasis of lightheartedness where children would walk free in the baobab forests. Today it’s definitely not the same, dangers exist, the Baobabs left are just a handful but you can still hail a cab on the street without fearing of being mugged (not a given in many other African cities). But you still need to be very careful when you cross the street.
Can you catch deadly illnesses?
(answer based on the assumption that the reader is worried about falling ill)
Yes you can, like everywhere else (Covid docet), but there are a bunch more here.
Malaria is endemic (my husband caught it twice in six years and says when he was a kid he would have it every other year). It is treatable but symptoms are painful and/or very unpleasant, the safest advice is always to get tested if you run a fever for more than 24 hours. You can buy the test over the counter in the pharmacies or you can get tested in one of the many hospitals/dispensaries, where it is priced at 1000FCFA (1,5€). If malaria is not entirely preventable it is though treatable, but still people die here: that is because they have limited immunity (especially kids and pregnant women) and/or because the disease is not diagnosed. There is no vaccine available yet and prevention behavior is the best way to go (mosquito nets, covering arms and legs if mosquitos are around).
Yellow fever and Dengue fever: there is a vaccine against Yellow Fever (mandatory for children), in recent years there have been very few cases, immediately isolated (most recent cases were found in 2020). Senegal is a priority country in the strategy to eradicate Yellow Fever. Dengue Fever is also endemic, more serious than Yellow Fever and no vaccine is available; most recent cases were found in Senegal in 2018.
The health care system in Senegal is far from perfect but one of its strengths is early detection/diagnosis and immediate action (isolating cases and awareness campaigns in local communities).
Ebola: one case was immediately isolated in 2014, safety measures were enhanced in the areas bordering with Guinea (borders were closed and quarantine was mandatory for all people who had been in contact with the patient). Because of its shared borders with Guinea (where Ebola is still endemic) Senegal is a priority country in the strategy to eradicate Ebola (early detection and immediate action if needed).
HIV-AIDS: it exists and is a serious health problem which is specifically addressed by the government, but the incidence of the disease is fairly low and prevention methods are known and effective.
Are there hospitals and schools?
Yes and yes.
Hospitals: there are quite a few public hospitals, many of which have high standard staff and machinery. There are also many private clinics that provide basic services and more.
Some of the public hospitals in Dakar have state of the art equipment, maybe only a few, I’ll give you that. The main issue is maintenance (costly in terms of staff training and replacement parts that come from abroad). The strength of the Senegalese health care system is in the ubiquity of basic services: every neighborhood has a dispensary (poste de santé), which often also deals with emergency and hospitalization for low-risk patients. The main public hospitals in Dakar (8 plus 8/10 dispensaries) serve a population of almost four million (the most densely populated outskirts have their own infrastructures). Those are public hospitals but are not free: a fairly reasonable ticket is due, prices vary depending on the service provided; the real issues are medicines and/or exams, those being too expensive for a taximan, a maid, a student. If you add the almost inexistent familiarity with prevention and check-ups (people go the doctor when they feel very bad) you end up with a population pretty disinclined to getting professional medical help.
Schools: they are plentiful! Public schools and even more private schools.
Education in Senegal is a right for the children (between 6 and 16 years) anda duty for parents and the State. As it is often the case here, the law implementation strategy is weak. very much so. Dropout rates are high, especially for girls and especially in rural areas.
Many public school teachers don’t get paid enough and often not regularly, sometimes they are paid so late that they go on strike and that’s why many parents put their kids in private schools (whose fees dramatically vary). Interesting to note that Catholic schools here are known for being great schools and are attended, for the most part, by practicing Muslims. Math is just math, non-Christians attend moral classes instead of Bible studies (in both they teach that marriage is the sacred union between a man and a woman, so if you want a more progressive education you have to step in personally!).
Is it a Muslim country?
Senegal is a secular state with a vast majority of Muslims, just like Italy is a secular state with a vast majority of Christians. Islam regulates most of the logistics of society (Friday at prayer time, between 1,30 pm and 2,30 pm, shops and offices close down), but the official calendar considers Muslim and Christian holidays as equal, which means a lot of bank holidays.
Believing in God is a given, agnosticism is not an option (let alone other more extreme positions) but everyone is welcome. Senegalese people are very proud of the Islam-Christianity fraternal co-existence in their history.
Just like in Italy the Vatican is present and has a political and economic role, in Senegal the Marabouts (Muslim religious leaders) play a key role. They have a say in political and economic decisions, they are spiritual and social leaders for millions of people, they are consulted before important events and they are often revered as half saints, because each of them boasts family ties with key protagonists of the Senegalese contemporary and Modern Islam.
Senegalese iconography is full of portraits of these wise men: on cabs, buses, on outside walls and in the living rooms, for the guests to be enlightened.
Senegal is a constitutional secular state based on the rule of law, but where the Sharia (the Islamic Law) has a key role in society, especially in law: most marriages are only celebrated in the mosque, and not declared at city hall, but in some legal controversies religious and secular couples are considered equal.
Did you convert?
I am married with a Muslim, but no, I did not convert to Islam.
Converting isn’t expected from a woman (although it would probably be appreciated by the most traditional folks) because a woman is married into his husband’s family so a non-Muslim woman doesn’t really pose a threat. I would imagine that the idea is that if the woman is exposed to Muslim practice long enough she will want to convert herself, but that’s another story, and certainly not mine).
More complicated is the other way around; the sheer idea of a Muslim woman entering a non-Muslim family is a nightmare to some families, and that is why most non-Muslim men convert (often only for the appearances) before marrying.
That said, in Senegal the ratio of mixed families (also amongst Africans and Senegalese people) is pretty high and that doesn’t stir the public debate. The reason for that is that often these mixed marriages happen in the same neighborhood, between families that have known each other for years and that have watched their kids grow up together. So, yes technically the daughter enters a non-Muslim family but they are good people.