Seven Days in Senegal: CC&E's Global Ambassador Talks about her Experience

Coastal Environmental Science student Lucille Yoes was selected as an LSU Global Ambassador this year. She and the rest of the 2025 cohort (including fellow CES major Jonathan Russell, who represented the LSU Honors College) traveled to Dakar in the African nation of Senegal.

She answered a few questions about her experience.

Your most interesting activity:

We were lucky enough to visit Senegal the week of 3 different holidays- the last of Ramadan, Eid (the day after when the fast is broken) and Senegal's Independence day!  For Eid, the day Ramadan ends and families break their fasts, the students where paired up and spent the day with different host families. The family that I was hosted by lived outside of the city in a fishing village called Yoff. My friend and I cooked all day with the women and daughters of the family, walked around their community, and even were brought to one of the aunt's mother's house for a second round of amazing food. I got to see firsthand how the community celebrated that holiday, and even though the family I spent the day with had a pretty large language barrier between us, we were still had such a great time together. I have connected with the oldest daughter on social media and I do hope to stay in touch with them.

Independence day is celebrated with a huge parade through Dakar. It included a large military display and school children and civilians dancing and celebrating… [In the parade] the Senegalese Coast guard had men in full wetsuits and diving gear, with their respirators in, riding in the parade. I am currently completing my scientific dive certification for Dr. Glaspie's Marine Community Ecology lab and, though I know those men were very hot, it was pretty cool to see them in a parade like that!

Coolest thing you saw?

Definitely the large baobab trees, mangroves, and in general, observing how different the landscape was from anything I have ever gotten to see before, which as a student of the coast and environment, I was of course so excited about.

Most impactful thing you learned?

Our group did a tour of Goree island, a major channel of the exportation of African slaves to the western Hemisphere. To be able to have a guided tour of the island, including the 'house of slaves' where victims were held before purchase, was extremely impactful and enlightening. Our tour guide of the island gave us such a rich description of the history of the slave trade and the island. I never could have received such an impactful lesson if it not for me being present there and being taught African history by an African. 

We [also] got the opportunity to visit a street school, a school organized by a singular man with no government funding and no funding to pay teachers. He has made a way for students who cannot afford public schooling, [which costs] $10 a year, can receive some sort of education. 

Any new insights into subjects you've covered in the classroom?

It was very enlightening to see how in the people living in and around Dakar held traditional knowledge and a certain respect about where they live, then paired with the effects of colonization. We were informed by our guide, Korka, that it is illegal to cut down Baobab trees (tree of life trees) and that even before it was a law, people did not cut these trees even if they grew in the middle of an intersection or soccer field (we saw both examples). The people there hold a belief that good spirits live in the trees and cutting them down would drive them away. We also visited a government subsidized tradition medicine hospital that uses tradition remedies for pain and sickness. We also went on a city planning tour that showed us the post-colonial coast of Senegal and how it struggles with non-traditional methods of building that are not what is best and most sustainable for the environment there.

The trip provided lots of opportunities to understand the importance of including traditional knowledge when seeking to address modern problems, especially environmental problems, which can be applied all around the world. 

Summarize your trip in one word:

I would use the word "Interdisciplinary." The global ambassador program includes one junior from each of LSU's participating colleges. With this, the itinerary's range of activities was extremely wide. Each of us were able to see other students' areas of study applied in Senegal and learn so much about topics outside of our own fields. It was also amazing to always have other students to ask questions, in addition to tour guides, and have conversations connecting different disciplines. I personally talked a lot during our beach cleanup day and mangrove tours but was not the best shooting basketballs on the NBA Academy's courts. This year's cohort was truly a perfect blend of personalities and studies, and it made the trip extremely fruitful to everyone.