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Alex Villec is a junior in Georgetown College studying Economics, Government, and French. In August of 2011 he substituted his hometown of Tucson, Arizona for the desert of Dakar. At the Council on...
Through this blog, students participating in the Berkley Center's Junior Year Abroad Network offer informal reflections on their time abroad.
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AT THE CENTER
EVENTS (31)
PUBLICATIONS (17)
Inspired by Faith: A Background Report "Mapping" Social Economic Development Work in the Muslim World
January 1, 2008
January 1, 2008
Faith-Inspired Organizations and Global Development: A Background Review "Mapping" Social and Economic Development Work in Latin America
January 30, 2009
January 30, 2009
INTERVIEWS (149)
A Discussion with Titos Macie of the CCM on the role of the CCM in Mozambique’s Transitional History
May 28, 2009
May 28, 2009
A Discussion with Bishop Singulane on the Role of CCM in the Ending of the Mozambican Civil War
May 26, 2009
May 26, 2009
LETTERS (37)
POSTS (20)
RELATED RESOURCES: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Alex Villec on Starting JYAN in Sengal
October 4, 2011
In my first moment of peace I began documenting life in Dakar. I strove to see my world in words, to raze the barrier of language each idea must surmount before it hits the page and becomes a sentence.
Like many mornings I wake up coated in sweat, staring at the lifeless fan hanging above me. Ten hours ago the state-run utility company cut off our electricity and the attendant physical discomfort elicits a singular frame of mind. At the very least, it provides an appropriate context to contemplate the challenges faced by an underdeveloped country.
Senegal’s tepid economy, for instance, stems from an underutilization of human capital. This is not a land of opportunity, local students tell me. Where nepotism and flimsy institutions reign supreme, college graduates leap at the chance to employ their talent elsewhere. Since know-how and transformative methods of production drive economic growth, this brain drain impedes a higher standard of living. How do you convince Senegal’s next groundbreaking innovator that staying at home is a worthwhile bet?
While these questions are macroeconomic in stature, their answers revolve around the individual and the culture he inhabits.
My letters from abroad will investigate the qualitative dimension of economic development in Senegal. An individual’s conception of time, productivity, and the family ought to figure in the formulation of sound policy. My task, then, is to grasp the cultural norms that govern the behavior of economic agents. After all, how can a doctor diagnose a patient he does not bother to understand?
Senegal’s tepid economy, for instance, stems from an underutilization of human capital. This is not a land of opportunity, local students tell me. Where nepotism and flimsy institutions reign supreme, college graduates leap at the chance to employ their talent elsewhere. Since know-how and transformative methods of production drive economic growth, this brain drain impedes a higher standard of living. How do you convince Senegal’s next groundbreaking innovator that staying at home is a worthwhile bet?
While these questions are macroeconomic in stature, their answers revolve around the individual and the culture he inhabits.
My letters from abroad will investigate the qualitative dimension of economic development in Senegal. An individual’s conception of time, productivity, and the family ought to figure in the formulation of sound policy. My task, then, is to grasp the cultural norms that govern the behavior of economic agents. After all, how can a doctor diagnose a patient he does not bother to understand?