Please donate to my Team Dayā fundraising effort – all funds go directly to building schools. If you are curious about Building Change with Team Dayā, please contact our Head of Recruiting Jaryd Knutsen.
By Paul Wyrembak, Team Dayā member
Going on Team Dayā school build is not like volunteering at your local soup kitchen on Sundays. It is a full-throated cultural immersion, bound to leave a mark on your heart and ingrain memories that will follow you throughout the rest of your life.
I joined Team Dayā on a school build to Senegal in June 2024, to a remote village called Nguiddine Keur Sara in the Fatick region of the southwest corner of the country [Read Jeff Green Joins Team Dayā’s School Groundbreaking in Senegal.]. Approximately a four-hour drive inland from the capital of Dakar, the village can be characterized as a farming enclave, several kilometers from the nearest highway, accessible only via a single dirt path. The access road is traveled almost exclusively by local villagers, usually by foot, donkey, or occasionally a small motorcycle or scooter.
When we first arrived at the village, we could see a crowd wearing brightly colored garments huddled beneath several tents in the distance. As we approached, the rhythmic pattern of a calf-skin drum grew louder and more distinct. Voices chanting in a centuries-old indigenous language, Serer, intensified as our bus drew near. Despite the smiles on the faces of the villagers, I could not shake a looming feeling of nervousness, the source of which was difficult to pinpoint.
Jay and Hasan had completed a school build in the very same village only two years prior, but to the rest of us, we felt like aliens who did not look, dress, speak, or act like any of the individuals in this village, and we weren’t certain of how welcome we really were. Many embraced Jay and Hasan with a smile and open arms, which helped alleviate some of the trepidation, but we still had reservations.
Reflecting on the first day and the welcoming ceremony, which went by in a flash (but with quite a bit of ceremonial pomp and circumstance), I realize that I, and perhaps some others from our group, arrived with very little understanding of Senegalese culture, values, and customs. We had only a short glimpse into this from three days of sightseeing in the country’s capital, Dakar, just prior to beginning our time in Nguiddine Keur Sara. But even Dakar was a world away from where we had just arrived. Our preconceived notions of our relative social and economic statuses in the world clouded our ability to see and appreciate the way things were here.
After the welcoming ceremony had concluded, Team Dayā members were introduced to their host families, who graciously carried our bags to their homes, where we met the remaining family members. My family had nine members, the eldest daughter of whom was able to speak English quite well. Her ability to translate allowed us to immediately communicate our feelings, requests, and questions to the family without the need to wait for local buildOn staff to make their evening rounds to each host family to assist with translation. Shortly after dinner, it was time for bed.
The first night was difficult. The room was hot, and our window shutter made a loud creaking noise in the gentle breeze. The farm animals made very unusual sounds throughout the night, and I was clammy as I had opted to skip the bucket-shower on the first night. Filled with emotions from the welcoming ceremony, meeting my host family, and seeing the conditions under which the villagers were living, I was unable to fall asleep and lay still looking at the ceiling through my mosquito net until the sun rose. Despite the outdoor temperature falling several degrees at night, the concrete building stubbornly captured the heat, and the breeze in the window never seemed to find its way inside the bedroom to circulate the air.
After the first day of grueling work at the building site, Team Dayā convened for lunch, followed by “chat circle” time, where we shared our first impressions. We also discussed a few prompts related to why we participate in builds and unpacked buildOn’s methodology of building schools to pull villages out of illiteracy and poverty versus providing other forms of support. Exhausted from a day of making and moving cinder blocks, digging foundations, and tying rebar, and sleep-deprived from the restless night before, there was one thought that crowded out the rest from this dialogue: “Where can I find a cold shower?”
It was finally time to reunite with our host families, who ushered us to the latrine—a cinder block structure approximately 20 feet from the main house, which had an aluminum roof and two doors. The door on the left, which we already knew contained the toilet, and the door on the right, which had a water-filled bucket almost to the brim, with a smaller empty bucket next to it. There were no faucets, showerheads, or drains, only a small hole in the corner of the structure where water could flow to the outside. The toilet and the shower stall were separated by a wall of cinder block that did not reach the ceiling and which could be used as a shelf for soap and clothing.
The water in the bucket was room temperature, which was far warmer than I was hoping for, but it was a very welcome feeling against my dry skin. I used the smaller bucket to pour water over the top of my head, intermittently scrubbing with citronella-infused soap. I found myself calculating the quantity of the remaining water in the bucket to ensure I could wash away all of the suds without running out. While unconventional, it was easily the most satisfying shower I had ever taken in my entire life. In my eagerness to get started, I had forgotten to bring my towel with me into the shower room. I proceeded to put on a clean shirt and pants while wet; however, I was completely dry less than 10 minutes later due to the heat of the African sun.
After a short exchange with our host family, it was time again for bed. My roommate Hasan and I located a long wooden stick, which we used to jam the creaky window shutter to secure it in place. Despite the unrelenting heat, I was in a deep sleep moments after my head touched my pillow.
The next day was a major turning point for me—what had so far been a rather uncomfortable experience began to feel familiar. Energized from catching up on much-needed sleep, I attended breakfast and filled up on calories and water. Team Dayā reached the school worksite on time, but there was already plenty of action happening at the cinder block-making station and where the foundation was being dug.
After a light stretch and a collective huddle with the villagers, we began to work. I was particularly inspired by the village women, some of whom were carrying small children in wraps on their backs while hauling cinder blocks and buckets of concrete. We had protective gloves and comfortable work boots, but villagers were working bare-handed and in sandals or some even with bare feet. Occasionally, a skirmish between some of the women would break out and they would begin wrestling until some or all ended up on the ground. These all ended the same way—with smiles, laughs, and a continuation of the very difficult work towards a common goal: a better education for their current and future children. It was clear that this project was bonding the village women together, and while they took the work very seriously, they were equally aware of the importance of community and having fun.
I’m not sure that I could find the right words to adequately express the experience from the remaining days of the school build, but I can say this: prior to departing for Senegal, I asked Jay why he keeps doing these builds and what motivates him to continue growing Team Dayā. His answer was very simple, and I admit, I was baffled by it at first. Jay said, “This is where I find my joy.” Even though everyone may experience a Team Dayā school build differently, I can confidently say now that I know exactly what Jay meant by this. I felt it, too, whenever I high-fived a group of children, received a reciprocated smile from a stranger in the village, or embraced my host mother before going to bed. Raw, unadulterated, fantastic joy.
The school build allowed me to see and experience a true form of empathy, camaraderie, and resilience that I’ve never had before. It shattered the preconceived notions that we arrived with and showed me that true happiness, pure joy, comes from loving your neighbor and lifting others so that you can go further together. I’ll never forget the various displays of genuine gratitude we received from the community of Nguiddine Keur Sara and my host family that truly made me feel like I was their son.
###
Watch Paul talk about the importance of the school in Nguiddine Keur Sara:
Three Ways You Can Help
- Make a Donation Online
- Example investment opportunities:
- $250 All the nails, nuts, and bolts to build a roof for the school
- $500 In-country mason during the entire construction of the school
- $1,000 Paint for a school
- $40,000 Fund an entire school
- Spread the Word
- Share our mission with your friends, your company and your industry
- Invite us to speak about our mission to your network
- Follow us LinkedIn, X / Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
- Join the Team & Travel on a School Build
- If you have a combination of fundraising chops, an adventurous spirit and the belief each of us has the capacity to be Building Change, get in touch with us and have a conversation.
Team Dayā 2024 Plans
In 2024, we plan to build schools in Nepal (March), Senegal (June 2024) and Guatemala (December 2024). These ground breakings will be our second school in each of these countries.
The exact start dates are:
- Sunday, March 17, 2024 – Nepal (arrive Kathmandu) [groundbreaking completed]
- Sunday, June 23, 2024 – Senegal (arrive Dakar) [groundbreaking completed]
- Sunday, December 1, 2024 – Guatemala (arrive Guatemala City) [limited availability]
- A 2025 schedule will be published by September 1st.
If you are curious to learn more about joining a build, please reach out to our Head of Recruiting Jaryd Knutsen.
Thanks again for your continued support,
All of us at Team Dayā
