ACI Student Handbook

 What is ACI?

 

Africa Consultants International (ACI) was founded in Dakar in 1984 by Lillian Baer and Gary Engelberg, two former Peace Corps Volunteers, in an effort to apply and broaden their experience in the learning and development activities in which they had been involved since the mid 1960's. From an initial staff of five working in one four-room house, ACI has grown to employ over 40 people, working in three houses converted to provide classrooms, training space and offices in the SICAP Baobabs section of Dakar. Now well into its fourteenth year, ACI continues to strengthen and diversify its training and communications efforts in language instruction, cross-cultural exchange, health-related activities, publication of socio-cultural and post-literacy materials, as well as video production for development.

 

THE BAOBAB TRAINING AND RESOURCE CENTER

The Baobab Center is a language school where French and Wolof classes dominate, but where other West African languages as well as English are also taught to students of diverse origin. The clientele of the Baobab Center includes American college students on foreign study, the Japanese Volunteer Service (JICA), missionary groups, individual graduate students and researchers, Fulbright and Rotary scholars, development agents, Senegalese students, and members of the diplomatic corps. With a variety of different participants each year, the Center has become a forum for informal exchange among people from various cultures and walks of life.

 

 

HEALTH RELATED ACTIVITIES

Our ACI Health Program, located in the ACI Annex, has focused on HIV/AIDS awareness-raising, advocacy and training activities over the past eight years. A dedicated staff of ten have produced learning materials, created an active documentation center and trained close to 1500 representatives of NGOs, religious and political decision makers and opinion leaders using a highly effective HIV and Development training model. Recently, activities have expanded into the field of reproductive health, which includes not only HIV/AIDS, but STDs, adolescent reproductive health, and family planning as well. Related activities in the field of Health include translations, desk-top publishing, conference design and facilitation to help make crucial information available to all key actors in the health field.

AUDIO-VISUAL DEPARTMENT

ACI has an active audio-visual department which creates post-literacy materials in Wolof, produces documentaries on local development projects and makes or dubs videos in French and in national languages.

YEGOO

Yëgoo, our quarterly bilingual magazine of socio-cultural information is made available to our students, to the international and general cultural community in Senegal, and to those of our friends and colleagues who have ties to Senegal or interest in cross-cultural matters and would like to maintain contact with events, people and ideas. We encourage you to submit your ideas, texts, photos or any other form of contribution to our publication. 

ACI Support for Foreign Study Programs 

For over twenty years, the staff of ACI has worked closely with Foreign Study programs hosted by American colleges and universities, which can range in length from one week to nine months. Some of the colleges we work with include Kalamazoo, Beloit, Mt. Holyoke, Colorado, Lewis and Clark, St. Lawrence and Wells. We also work with Georgetown University, Lawrence University, and the universities of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, to name just a few.

 ACI offers students on foreign study a variety of activities and support services, including language instruction in French and Wolof, cultural orientation and activities, family homestays or group house living arrangements, travel excursions, and co-ordination of courses with local university professors. The ACI program strives to complement the university or internship experience and to make the time spent in Senegal as rich and rewarding as possible.

 

We believe that...

Because of the powerful position that the richer countries occupy in the world, it is essential that as many young people as possible from developed countries have first-hand experience with the realities of development in Third World countries early on in their careers. Training provided by such organizations as Peace Corps, Crossroads Africa, and various foreign study programs (Fulbright, Georgetown, Kalamazoo, Beloit, Lewis and Clark, Rotary, Wisconsin, Mt. Holyoke, Minnesota, etc.) continues to kindle interest in Third World issues and to influence career decisions among students finishing their academic work. This type of experience can contribute to producing professional people who are more attuned to the realities of the Third World and who will be better qualified to contribute to defining and shaping the role that the developed world plays in helping to resolve Third World problems. Ultimately, this will contribute to a more equitable, stable and peaceful world.

 

Student Responsibilities
From the students who use our services, we expect:

• commitment to investing in the learning process and producing quality work

• respect of mutually agreed upon schedules and punctuality at the Center

• concerted effort to learn Wolof and/or French including learning the basic Wolof lessons and dialogues by heart and speaking both languages as much as possible outside of class

• appropriate behavior and appearance in public

• working towards group harmony and the creation of a mutual support network within the group

• sharing feelings and insights openly and honestly, and in a non-threatening way with the other members of the group and with the staff of ACI.

 

 

Twelve Services For Students In Senegal
 

1. Sorties: During the first week that the students spend in Dakar, ACI provides a Neighborhood and a Downtown orientation which include accompanied sorties.

2. Medical Orientation: A local health resource person explains how to stay healthy in Senegal, responds to any health questions or concerns students may have, and advises students on where to go and what to do in case medical care is needed.

3. Security Session: Officials from the local police and US Embassy brief students on security issues in Senegal and measures to take in the event of emergency.

4. Gender and Family Session: This session was created in response to a request by former students for more information concerning women's issues in Senegal and family etiquette.

5. Cross-Cultural Orientation: During the first two to three weeks in country, ACI organizes a one day cross-cultural orientation session which introduces participants to the practices of Senegalese society and the cultural values they are based on.

6. Expanded Orientation Activities©: The EOA's involve a series of exercises which are structured to provide students with the opportunity to explore local resources in areas that may be useful to them in their studies, independent projects and in their adaptation to living in Senegal.

7. Wolof Language Instruction: Our usual procedure for foreign students who plan to spend an academic year in Dakar is to organize three weeks of intensive coursework from 15 - 25 hours per week for the first 75 hours of the 100-hour program, and the final 25 hours spread out over the following two to three months.

8. French Language Instruction: Depending on the students’ level in French, additional instruction may also be organized at ACI. The course can focus on conversation and/or grammar or on specific needs, such as assistance in writing skills or correcting course papers, etc.

9. Initial Logistics Assistance & Backstopping: Academic institutions can make specific requests for logistic support for incoming students. This can involve organization of housing, meeting students upon arrival, setting up itineraries or arranging special activities, visits and appointments, and ensuring on-going communications with the stateside institution. For academic institutions that do not maintain an office or staff person in Dakar, ACI can help to identify academic advisors, university personnel, training institutions and schools, resources in the NGO community, or assist in locating internships.

10. On-Going Learning: As students begin to feel more comfortable in their physical and cultural surroundings, they identify needs for specific information and contacts. ACI can respond to these needs through the organization of lectures, visits, and meetings with representatives of development organizations to provide students with contacts in fields that interest them.

11. Counselling: ACI staff can provide counselling to students in personal and study-related matters as they cope with their adaptation to a new culture and their changing academic and professional plans.

12. Evaluation and Preparation for Re-entry: This activity was designed to give students the time to look back over their academic year abroad, draw lessons from it, and prepare for their return to their own country and culture.

 

 

 
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