My Senegalese Family

I realized I’ve yet to really describe my family to you, nor have I really gotten to know them till now. Like I mentioned, it’s a big family…

Father: Madiop Mbaye

Wives: My father has three wives, Fatou Sogue, Fatou Gaye, and Ndaye Gen. Yes there are multiple “Fatous” and polygamy is acceptable in the Islam religion.

Each wife has b/t 3-6 kids, which means I have about 15 brothers/sisters. Those children who are married and prosperous have 3-6 kids of their own. Therefore, I have about 8-10 young siblings.

Fatou Mbaye (the 3rd Fatou in the family) is my older sister and pretty much my care taker. She feeds me, patiently instructs me on how to properly wash my laundry. She’s everything a great big sister should be.

Sofi is the other sister whom I spend time with. She is feisty, loud, hilarious, and is teaching me how to dance like the Senegalese. However, I’m still not sure if the dance moves I’m learning are for men or women.

Balla is my older brother with whom I exercise with daily. He’s a soccer player.

I have two younger brothers who help me with my French and Wolof a lot, Babakar and Gora. WAIT – but MY name is Gora Mbaye. Yes, there are two Goras in my family. The actually family member is called “Gora Wolof”, I’m lovelingly addressed as “Gora Toubab”. As a refresher, “toubab” is the word for stranger in Senegal.

My little siblings are all super cute, super energetic, and always interested in what I’m doing. They are a lot of fun, but exhausting, and also very dirty. Senegal is a sandy place.


My family is wonderful, caring, and very loving. I have a lot of fun with them, more so now since I can actually communicate with them. When I told them I’d be leaving them to go to Thies for 10 days, they were very disappointed. I’m very blessed to have such a great family. Having a good solid family is a significant factor in your home site experience. Me, I’m having a fantastic time and will be very sad in October when I must depart with all 28+ members of my family.


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Byron Yee
Peace Corps Trainee - Senegal, 2009