Michael Rothbaum

“I carry a piece of Senegal with me daily, whether by wearing my grigri proudly on my arm, preparing a cup of café touba to wake me up and calm me down before a long day at school, or spending a few hours in Little Senegal with fellow Dragons’ students- eating eat mafae tiga with our hands, preparing atayah on a New York City roof, speaking Wolof with the owners of African mini-marts as we gaze at the foods we have come to love, and passing by a mosque on a Friday afternoon to hear the familiar chanting that we miss. Where There Be Dragons is a nonpareil organization and I am still taken aback in awe by the opportunities it provides for young adults to travel, learn, interact, and grow.”