Running Around Royal (Prince Harry #4)

Chapter Forty-Four

In Senegal, there was a special word they had for hospitality. The Wolof word was "teranga," and for many people in Senegal, teranga is part of national pride. The national football team was called the Lions of Teranga. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were welcomed to Senegal easily, and they fell comfortably into pace. The drums played in the sabar way; the sabar drumming usually played at weddings, but in this case, it was used to welcome.

In Dakar, the capital of Senegal, was the African Renaissance Monument, which was a forty-nine meter high bronze statue that showed the overcoming that African people and nations faced when confronting challenges and achieving culturally, scientifically and economically. The African Renaissance Monument stood the tallest statue in the all of Africa. It didn't come without controversy because of the cost and the makers. However, the African Renaissance Monument was not something to be forgotten.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor stood under the shadow of the monument, and for the longest moment, it felt like the weight of the world on their chests. It was hard not to misunderstand this moment, since it was Harry's family that dated back. It wasn't him, and it wasn't even the common monarchy. Actually, France had colonized this part of the world. None of that mattered when it came to the slave trade. The past wasn't able to be forgot nor it was never meant to be forgot. The only way to learn for the future was to remember the past.

After the African Renaissance Monument, the couple was taken to the outer limits of Dakar, where the slums were abundant. The life expectancy of Senegal was just over fifty-seven years. Most of the slums were on the edge of the water because biggest food group was fish and that came from exports as well. Women suffered more in these poverty situations, since the men went off to work but there were no promises that they were coming home. Many of the women were left to take care of the children throughout the day and throughout the night.

In Senegal, at least twenty-six percent of women experienced genital mutilation. These were only the numbers that stepped forward, but for many, it was too much. Visiting a clinic in one of the slums, it was hard to discuss such a gruesome topic of that. It certainly wasn't for the faint of heart. Unfortunately for Meredith who didn't like to wear her heart on her sleeve had lack of choice when it came to this. Burning her eyes, Meredith battled back tears.

Tears played a part in anyone's life, but as for Meredith, who had built a reputation on strong independence and no one was able to tear her armor, it didn't matter. For other duchesses and princesses, like Princess Diana, the tears were brought out, and they showed compassion. Meredith found weakness in tears. None of these women-- who had experienced it-- were crying.

It was a translation game. French was the main language in Senegal because the French had colonized here. However, the original language of Wolof still lived on through culture and ideas. Either the females talked in French of Wolof, and someone translated it to English for Meredith and Harry.

Sometimes Meredith wished she didn't know what they said as they spoke of what happened to them. In their stories, sometimes it was a random person as the female walked home from school; worse though was the fact that it was usually family members that did this. There were certain customs and ideas that Meredith didn't understand, and this was one of them. It certainly was old custom, one that modern people wanted gone, but it remained. Senegal wasn't the only country to deal with act of sexual violence against women; this continued all over the world, even in the countries called "developed." 

After the clinic, the duke and duchess were led into a school next. It was larger than the one seen in Mali, and it certainly wasn't in the middle of nowhere. Graduated students taught other students, working with NGOs from across the world, but here, it was important that Senegalese were able to give back to their own communities and teach the young. Illiteracy was high in the country, especially among women. In this specific school, it was meant for girls to be taught. There were many schools for boys, but this school offered special protection to the girls.