Education and Healthcare for Children, Support to the Cooperative of Mothers, Building Public Schools in Senegal

Project location: Senegal, City of Mbour, Region of ThiƩs
Project start date: July 2015 - Project end date: May 2018
Project number: 2015-017
Beneficiary: Fondare l'Avvenire dell'Infanzia in Senegal Onlus

 

Education in Senegal is a priority issue. The government, to respond to the increasing demand, forms and provides teachers but cannot finance the school buildings at an equal rate, nor finance current school expenditures, medical care and maintenance of the existing buildings. The classes are usually held in dangerous straw shelters or in the scarce existing classrooms when vacant.

Needs in the Zone Sonatel District of Mbour
1-    The only kindergarten (Ecole Maternelle) built by the City of Mbour (those schools are usually private and much too expensive for the poor families), needs 3 more classrooms  and a creation in its site of 6-classroom of an elementary school, to insure education continuity to the kindergarten children. In December 2014 confirmation was received from the Foundation Moms Against Poverty (MAP) to build the elementary school (3 classrooms in 2015 and 3 in 2016).
2-    In the middle school recently created in the Zone Sonatel section  3 classes were built in 2013, 3 more by October 2014 and 2 more are needed to receive the increasing number of pupils.
3-    Finally, the High school which serves Zone Sonatel and two other sections of the city, need at least 16 classrooms to face the increasing demand of the population.

This project consists of the following activities:

1. Construction of classrooms in three existing schools.
In the year 2015 3 first classrooms of a new Elementary school will be built in the site of the campus of the kindergarten, to open in October 2015. The remaining 3 classrooms will be ready in October 2016.
Moreover, to enlarge the kindergarten capacities, we plan to build 3 more classrooms, one each year, in the years 2015-2017 thanks to NPF.
During the years 2015-2017, 2 more classrooms, the administration building and the wall should be built in the Middle School, and 16 classrooms in the High School. Applications to several possible sponsors have already been made for these two schools.

2. Support to the School Natangué.
The financial support will be used for the needs of the 200 children of the kindergarten: a daily meal, 4 extra teachers besides of the 4 paid by the government, books, stationeries, uniforms, medical care for all 600 children of Natangué School.

3. Further development of the Cooperative.
FAI in SENEGAL, thanks to a three years grant from the Regione Lazio, has been able to finance the establishment of the Mothers' Cooperative, whose commercial and agricultural activities, with a turnover of 40.000 euros a year, continue to create new jobs. In order to increase its revenues and to be able to support the Natangué School in the future, more investments are needed in both the agricultural and commercial activities and in the microcredits funds.
The agricultural activity urgently needs a pick-up to replace a very old car too costly in gasoline and repair. The Cooperative land is located next to the small village of Gandiol. We have built a well for the women of this village. We plan to realize a pilot project of reforestation to grow burning wood for domestic needs of women of the cooperative and those of the villagers.
Finally, since the most profitable investment is rooms to rent, it is planned to add 5 more rooms to the 4 ones built in 2012.

4. Management.
The management is taken care by a Local Coordinator, (Representative of our two associations since 2004), a Project Assistant to help on fund-rising applications, and a Secretary working with us since 2006 whose vocational training was financed by us. The accounting is supervised on line regularly by Luigi Di Giamberardino, treasurer of the two Associations. The office, located next to Natangué School, is equipped with several computers and Internet facilities.
Elena Malagodi and Luigi Di Giamberardino spend 5 to 6 month a year in Mbour to supervise projects, especially when building takes place. Their work is completely voluntary, and all expenses, including travel, are at their charge.

The Nando Peretti Foundation has awarded a grant for this project. This will enable more children and youths to study in decent conditions (average 60 in a classroom). It will also aAllow access to school and better health to 3 years old children of poor families.
Women organizations, like the Mothers' Cooperative of Natangué School, helping schools of their children has become a trend in the schools built by the organization.


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