Education for All in Kaolack, Senegal

Sokhna first attended Diapalante’s after school activities when she 9 years old. She is one of those students who, despite the challenges, work hard to achieve their academic goals. Sokhna has always been a cheerful and lively student, but she has faced obstacles in her academic career, particularly in reading and maths. These difficulties affected her self-confidence and made her doubt her abilities, which is why she joined in the after school activities in her school playground, led by Diapalante’s Young Leaders.

Our Young Leaders program is designed encourage and support teenagers in helping younger schoolchildren. The activities allow primary school students to improve their reading, writing and mathematics skills in a different setting from that of school. The children learn through fun activities, in small groups, outdoors, each group led by one or two teenagers they regard as friends. The program strengthens both the children’s and teenagers’ academic skills while cultivating values of solidarity and mutual aid.

As soon as Sokhna joined, she was warmly welcomed by her peers. She found the singing and sports activities a further source of motivation.

After only a few sessions in the Young Leaders program, Sokhna showed good progress in reading. She began to enjoy reading and developed a better understanding of the texts. She soon participated in discussions around books, which not only improved her understanding but also boosted her self-confidence.

In maths, Sokhna worked on practical exercises with her classmates. Through games and fun activities, she was able to understand mathematical concepts in a more interactive way. Her classmates were an invaluable support, creating an environment where it was normal to ask questions and ask for help without fear of judgment.

For the three remaining years of primary school Sokna was a regular participant in the Centre's activities. She passed her Elementary School Leaving Certificate (CFEE) this year, not only a source of pride for her and her parents but also for her school and Diapalante. On hearing her successful result her mother, accompanied by her older sister, came to the Diapalante Centre to formally express their thanks for helping their child.

Sokhna, like many of her classmates, also has a goal that she is eager to achieve. She aspires to continue her education and achieve her dreams. She dreams of becoming a doctor to help others, a goal she now considers achievable thanks to her courage and determination.

Today, the young girl has become a secondary school pupil and joined Diapalante’s Young Leader programme. Sokhna will now give the same support and encouragement she cherished to her “little brothers and sisters” who are having difficulties in primary school.

This is Sokhna's story. Enabled by your support the Diapalante Community Education Centre in Senegal, West Africa,offers free educational opportunities to all, hundreds of children and adults each year, both those in education and those who have missed out on education. Visit our website or read more of our reports on GlobalGiving to learn more.

Links:

• https://diapalante.org

Here we are almost at the end of the year 2023-2024, a year which in Senegal aroused a lot of fear and uncertainty on a political and social level due to the president’s reluctance to hold timely elections. This raised concerns that events might even impact the various activities of the Diapalante Community Education Centre. Thank God there was more fear than harm. The elections went well and everything returned to normal.

Last August and September, at the start of our year, we organised our first “Digital holidays”, one in Kaolack and the other in the small town of Gandiaye, 26 km from Kaolack. More than 80 participants, aged between 16 and 53 years old, benefitted from 70 days of training in Word, Excel and Power Point. There are very few affordable opportunities for working people to learn these skills and our courses were quickly full to capacity. We will be repeating these very successful courses in the near future.

Our Young Leaders activities also went well and approximately 100 children were helped this year. The young leaders are teenage volunteers, who we have trained to lead the children in games and activities aimed at improving their French and so their ability to learn in school. When “Uncle Kaba”, who had co-ordinated the activities for some years, moved to other work there was a dip in attendance until the children grew familiar with the new co-ordinator. We received thanks and appreciation from the headmaster, teachers and parents of children attending the Senghane Badiane school in whose playground the after school activities are held.

At the Centre, around thirty young talibés have benefited from our Jangal Taalibé yi program. This program which coaches young people who have never attended school to be able to read, write, do small calculations and use a calculator. Diapalante also introduces them to computers where they play typing and maths games. We share with them the notions of living together in mutual respect and of caring for their environment.

The Diapalante Centre also has a pilot project making free reusable period packs. This project will help some of the many girls who currently miss school during their periods because they cannot afford to buy the commercial products. For the moment we are in the learning and evaluation phase.

The Diapalante Community Education Centre gives lessons in English, computer skills, maths, French, reading and other subjects on a daily basis. This reflects the increasing importance of basic (French) literacy, English language and computer skills in every walk of life. Every day around a hundred learners – street traders, students, and professionals - attend our various activities.

To celebrate World Women's Day a cultural evening of drama and poetry was organised by members of the centre with the theme of “women and responsibility within our society”.

During this year we also organised several events outside the Centre and we describe two of these below.

Given that many young Senegalese have lost their lives in illegal emigration, Diapalante held a film screening followed by a talk with the aim of raising awareness and discouraging young people from taking these often suicidal paths. More than 400 people took part in this activity which was held in the street to allow everyone to attend.

On World Environment Day, Diapalante planted 4 shade-giving plants and will continue the monitoring of these plants.

Finally, the end of school year exams and competitions are nearly upon us. Senegal’s schools are generally overstretched and under resourced, so youngsters can supplement their schooling by coming to the Centre in the evenings.  We hope their efforts will be well rewarded, as usual, with the high success rate their efforts deserve. 

As our year draws to a close we are planning to do it all again next year. We hope you will continue to support Diapalante so we can help as many next year to learn the skills and earn the qualifications that will help them to gain a better future for themselves and their familites.