Yesterday, after work, I got a text from Anna, a coworker and close friend of mine, that said, "I'm really not doing well right now." I didn't really know what that meant. She's also one to complain and complain and complain, so I took my time going over, and when I got there, she looked ... distraught. I walked inside and she said that Claire Enfance has asked her to stop working. They're out of money to pay her.

Just like that.

No warning or anything. Bam. They gave her no warning or anything. Apparently they've been having trouble finding money to pay for a lot of things, and they just haven't said anything... They let go of quite a few people, but most of them were merely collaborators, not people who work in the center on a daily basis. It really doesn't have anything to do with her worth as a worker... they just have to cut back. They should've told her this, though, a bit earlier so she could start preparing for a sudden change in lifestyle.

Anna is the only member of her family that works. Her father died when she was 2, her mother is old with leg problems and hasn't worked for years, her older brother died this year, her older sister is married and sometimes lives with them, and her younger sister is a student at the university in Dakar. She is the only source of income for the entire family.

She's absolutely broken right now. She has no idea what to do or how to pick up the pieces now to try to find a job.

It's hard to even know how to console her (even though she says she wouldn't have even made it through the night without me)... because anything I could say isn't necessarily true. In America, you can say, "you'll find something" because you'll find something else. Here, it's completely not a given that you'll find a job. Especially as a relatively uneducated Senegalese woman. There's not much left. "It'll all work out" is hard to say... and everything is different coming from a toubab. I know she doesn't see me as a toubab, but still... It's different coming from someone who can come and go as she pleases.

She wouldn't let me leave last night, so I stayed with her... until about 11h30 this morning when I finally said that I needed to leave. (Mainly for my sanity because I couldn't handle it anymore.) Everyone asked me what was wrong with me because I was obviously not doing well either... It's hard when I know people that I care about are suffering. Especially someone I consider to be a sister like Anna. I don't really even know what to do...

It's moments like this that really put my life and my wealth into perspective. When I don't need to worry about where my next meal is going to come from... When I don't need to worry about finding a job (which I still need to do...) after I graduate... When I don't need to worry about my house being taken away... It's hard when I know I can't do anything about it.

So, yeah. Voila. That's been my life for the past couple days. This, too, shall pass. Inchallah.

To end on a lighter note, tonight is the Muslim New Year celebration. Everyone in the entire country prepares couscous with a tomato sauce and some sort of meat. Delicious. Sooo good. A few of my friends warned me, though, to eat the couscous slowly... or else it goes right through your system. Haha. I think I'll be all right... but I definitely ate really well.

Sweet dreams and I'll see you in a couple weeks. [bittersweet...]