From the start, I was impressed by the level of organization that Maison de la Gare displays in terms of getting its volunteers to Saint-Louis. Just outside the airport, I easily spotted the man holding the sign with my name, who kindly led me to the hotel where I would be staying the night. The hotel, breakfast, and taxi that took me to Saint-Louis the next morning were all prepaid by Maison de la Gare, and I never felt unsure of what to do or where to go. In an environment where I was immediately out of my comfort zone, this organization was certainly welcome.

The drive from Dakar to the northern city of Saint-Louis lasted about four hours, and I spent the drive’s entirety staring out the window as we drove through small villages full of mango-vendors, past gorgeous mosques which stood out against the rest of the simpler buildings, and over desert that seemed to stretch on forever.

In Saint Louis, I was taken directly to meet my host family and, as anyone who has stayed with a host family knows, it is simultaneously the most nerve-wracking and most exciting part of the trip. I quickly saw, however, that I had no reason to be nervous as the family of six (I think… there seemed to always be guests over) welcomed me as one of their own, preparing deliciously spicy food and speaking slowly so that I could understand. At around 9 p.m. each evening, the entire family gathered around a large, communal dish of what was typically rice and fish for dinner. This was an awesome time for the family to come together and for me to get to find out a little more about them and Senegalese culture in general.

And now the reason I was actually there, Maison de la Gare.

I started my Monday through Friday mornings at 10 a.m., heading out into the bright sun and walking the 15ish minutes it took to get to the center. I took a break during the hottest part of the day to eat lunch at home, returned around 4:30 p.m., and stayed until about 7:30 p.m.

While I signed up to be an education volunteer, I did a wide variety of activities with the talibé children. For those of you who don’t know, the talibés are a group of boys that attend Koranic school under the direction of a marabout. They live together in very poor conditions and are often abused, denied education in any other subject, and forced to spend a significant amount of time begging for money for their marabout. Maison de la Gare's center is a place where these boys have access to education, basic health care, and more of what they miss out on.

I spent most of my mornings giving one-on-one or one-on-two English lessons, primarily aimed at the older boys. I taught these lessons in a mixture of French and English, helping some talibés with basic vocabulary and the alphabet and others with more difficult grammatical structures and tenses. In the evening I taught the younger kids French.

When not teaching, I played cards or checkers with the smaller kids with whom I communicated through gestures and expressions. But even with this limited communication, I am able to see how grateful they were to have somewhere to just be kids, to not have to worry about begging or food or any of the other worries these children should never have to think about.

Maison de la Gare’s director, Issa, is an incredibly hardworking man who has had a huge impact on the lives of these children. Under his and the other staff members' direction, Maison de la Gare has become a haven for these children and continues to become even more incredible. New volunteers are always coming and going, sharing their ideas for how to continue to make the center a better place for everyone. While my stay was short at just under a month long, I’ve seen what great places Saint Louis and Maison de la Gare really are.

My time in Saint Louis was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, and I came to appreciate the cultural differences and see the beauty of these people who are so content with what is considered so little by American standards.

It was been an experience I won’t ever forget, and I look forward to the possibility of returning in the future.

(Please click here to see Sam's full article with his photos)