Completed and dedicated just over four years ago in April 2010, the
African Renaissance Monument or Le Monument de la Renaissance Africaine
(pictured) stands more than 160ft high and is claimed to be taller from
feet to finger than the Statue of Liberty. The statue depicts a young
woman and a young man holding a baby that points out across the Atlantic
ocean. According to the Senegalese president that commissioned the
statue, the statue “brings to life our common destiny. Africa has
arrived in the 21st century standing tall and more ready than ever to
take its destiny into its hands.” The Fletcher Maynard students visited
the statue on the second day of our trip. We climbed what seemed like
200 steps to get to the statue and then took a elevator to an
observation deck that looked out from the young man’s head. From the
deck one could see a spectacular view of Dakar.