Strike!

So we finally found out how to keep on top of upcoming strikes...sort of! There is a committee here called the social committee, that I have mentioned before. They are the student representatives and are responsible for negotiating students interests on campus. It is an elected and unpaid position. When something isn't going as planned on campus the students on this committee negotiate with the university administration, the CROUS (food and lodging administration) and the government. Then they hold a General Assembly to inform the students about what is going on and to hear what the students think should be done.

There are a number of issues on campus right now that the social committee is trying to deal with. The biggest one is that, although there are two cafeterias on campus, at the end of last year the owners of one went bankrupt and closed down. This means that right now there is only one cafeteria operating with the capacity to serve 1,500 students and with just over 4,000 needing to be served! This means that at meal times we generally wait in line for over an hour before getting food. A few times the food has even run out!

The other issue is lodging. This year the university accepted a number more students than usual and there simply isn't space on campus to lodge everyone. Given the location of the school it is difficult and expensive to lodge off campus.

The final issue is about bursaries. Students are given bursaries to cover their lodging costs and meals but I guess this year the bursaries have come in late and have come in too small of amounts.

So - Thursday morning there was a General Assembly (that we didn't know about until afterwards) where the students decided to strike for 48 hours and not go to class and not pay the tickets at resto (caf). This meant we had no class on Thursday and Friday! It also meant that the university had to step in and pay the tickets of the students meals.... which causes a whole other set of problems!

Today (at the strike deadline) there was another General Assembly. This time we went just to observe! It was super interesting! Unfortunately we were all sitting quite far back so it was hard to hear and with people clapping and cheering it was quite difficult to follow. What you could tell though was the tension and the passion in the air! The social committee made the announcement that the second caf would open on the 24th and that the other issues were still being dealt with. After that a series of people spoke who had written their names on the speakers list. Once that was done all the members of the social committee had a last words. Then all of a sudden everyone stood up and there was a bunch of shuffling and jostling and then someone behind us told us that the strike had been extended for 72 hours!

That means again no class Monday and likely not for most of next week as chances of the strike being extended again are very high.

I am not sure what to think about all of this. On one hand it is super interesting to be here and to observe what is going on and see how the students are so active about their needs. On the other hand it is frustrating to not have class and to be missing out on the really interesting things the profs have to say. I really support and feel solidarity for the students but I am not sure how not going to class is the answer. Who are they putting pressure on by not going to class? The administration? The government? I guess the point is to draw attention but if you just boycott classes and you sit in your residence room, whose attention are you drawing?

In past years that have blocked the road outside campus (which is the main road from the Mauritania border and so quite crucial) but that has caused problems with the gendarmerie (who are underpaid and so quite resentful against students that are getting an education, cheap lodging and bursaries for living expenses) and other residents of the area. I get the feeling they are trying to avoid that until it is a last resort. But in the mean time what is being done? Who is feeling pressured to solve the problem?

I guess we will find out as the week progresses what the verdict will be and how the problem is dealt with. Maybe this is the opportunity to take a visit to the Casamance region if the strike is going to continue for several days.

And so we wait....