Going to Gorée Island

Today was our group’s trip to Gorée Island. It was a really beautiful island with much history behind it. This island is now a national landmark that is governed by the Senegalese government. The government redistributed the land to the natives of this land and is now a place for tourism and a home for artists.

Throughout Goree Island, we were able to explore the different ways people use their homes. This place is unique in that it shows what happens when society adapts to buildings rather than the other way around. This happened because the Senegalese government does not allow new permanent buildings to be built but in exchange everyone there has a 100 year lease for free homes. The inhabitants are usually artists that make their living through their creations and I learned first hand how persuasive people can be and ended up buying many souvenirs.

The inside structure of homes is straight to the point with few renovations. Since the inhabitants have adapted to their surroundings, although not the most practical way to make use of space, the necessities can be found within their homes. There is not much walking space inside the homes and many spots within the homes are multi-functional. The couches for example are also used as beds while bedrooms and living rooms can be in the same room. Window use for air circulation is scarcely found but on the day we visited, I did not find the room's air to be stale due to the windy environment. The exterior view of homes is the transition point between the outside world and inside atmosphere where shoes are taken off and doors are left open at times. I thought mosquitos would be a big problem because of this but I was actually surprised there were not as many bugs out. I did see the dust to be a problem though because it was around the middle of the day and one women already had a pile of sand in her home. The exterior of homes can also have additions to the side that are temporary because of the rules on the island. These additions are really needed but unfortunately are unstable shacks that take away from the overall beauty of the island. Improvements I see that can be made would be to continue with the use of multifunctional furniture as it works well in China and in situations of limited space. There is a big difference between some of the buildings on the island as different ethnicities have their own style of architecture. One of the buildings we visited was The House of Slaves. This is one of the oldest houses on the island with the objective to show the terrors of the slave trade. This building had two main sets of stairs with the right side being the way to go up and the left set of stairs from the point of view when you come in was used to go down. From this point, the slave owners picked out the slaves they wanted. Afterwards, the slaves were led through the “Door of no return.”

The problem of connecting to the city of Dakar is a major problem that needs to be addressed because transportation is not too cheap and when the children have to go to school, their only option is to head on to Dakar as the Island does not have the schools that they need. The island has much more potential as a place of tourism due to the history on the island although it has been improving over the years according to Professor Kart. As of now, the island’s inhabitants could be kicked off at any moment but for the time being, is a way of free housing for the residents and a way to let culture thrive.