How 240 Young Girls are Learning to Combat Injustice

(SENEGAL) This past year we at World Renew Senegal have worked hard to serve vulnerable communities together with our partners. We are in the process of expanding the adolescent health program into Linguere, a town in northeast Senegal. The work started in St. Louis and other communities in the area, and the program in the Dakar suburbs started off the New Year with 240 newly-enrolled girls.

You may have read about Senegal in one of the many “Africa Rising” stories published in newspapers and magazines in recent years. I’ve read some of these as well and recognize the descriptions of affluent Senegalese bringing their iPads to Dakar’s beach restaurants (”A Hopeful Continent,” The Economist, March 2013). Yes, the GDP of Senegal as a whole is growing, and the new toll road is beautiful as are some of the beaches.

However, the majority of Senegalese are still poor, without viable opportunities to better their lives, and very vulnerable to adversity. In a peaceful country like Senegal, poverty rarely means that people do not have food to eat, but many people remain vulnerable to common adversities because of an insufficiently-diverse diet, lack of education, marginalization, ill-health, and unemployment.

A few weeks ago, Senegal’s economic disparities hit home again with me when I was involved in job interviews for a facilitator position with one of our partners. All of the candidates were young women who for a long time had been volunteers in their communities with different organizations. Speaking with each woman in-depth about her experience and education for over an hour showed me again how vulnerable people here are: some have the support from their families and resources to better their lives and that of their families such as access to childcare and education, a husband with a job, and beneficial contacts.

It was heartbreaking to know that there are many people who cannot use their talents and whose goals are impossible to reach because of a lack of resources or common adversity.

For others, their modest goals seem always just out of reach because of a single event in their lives or lack of resources and opportunities. I met a mother of three who holds a border-patrol officer diploma but lacked the contacts to get a job in the field. She felt guilty that her family, who had paid for her education, had not received anything in return. This is a common sentiment in Senegal and many other countries as well. We also spoke with a newlywed who had dropped out of middle school when her father passed away. She had always volunteered in her neighborhood but while other volunteers with better reading and writing skills were able to use their experience to get jobs with charity organizations or local clinics, she was still doing the same work as ten years ago.

These women are not the worst off—they have a reasonable education, supportive spouses, and the opportunity to at least apply for a job. But it was heartbreaking to know that there are many people who cannot use their talents and whose goals are impossible to reach because of a lack of resources or common adversity.

The youth who participate in the adolescent health programs of our partners experience this same lack of opportunity. They select out-of-school girls and, though these girls are often hard to find because they spend their time doing housework, there are many of them. Hawa, a member of a health group that named itself “Saku Xam-Xam”—Seeking Knowledge— explained her personal situation this way:

“I was living with my uncle. I had everything I needed and I was happy. But when I was 12 years old, my cousin asked me to marry him and I refused. After my refusal, my circumstances deteriorated because my family pressured me to give in to the proposal. People called me all kinds of names, I had to do all the housework, I was beaten and no one heard my cries. I was not getting enough to eat and was harassed, leading my uncle to say that I would get pregnant. All this was done to me to get me to give in and accept the proposal. I felt like there was no meaning to my life.

“In the end, my grandmother heard about my situation. I was only 12 years old and was at risk of entering an early marriage. My grandmother came to my village to stop the preparations for the wedding. She took me to Dakar to live with her. I feel like a little girl again; I am happy and have dreams for the future. I also participate in the adolescent health program. I have learned a lot. Because of the program I now have the courage to tell my story. I am 15 years old now, and I have told all the girls in my group to never accept an early marriage and to fight against this injustice.”

The Adolescent Health Program is supported by World Renew and overseen by our partner, EELS (Eglise Evangelique Lutherienne du Senegal, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Senegal). Through peer-educators, the program teaches adolescent girls about health, their bodies, and their rights and roles in their communities. The program aims to show girls that they are valuable and have opportunities and a role to play in their community. Many do this by becoming part of the program’s Youth Action Groups and some use their certificate to get a job with a local clinic.

Joys

• Seeing girls like Hawa develop their potential, and become active, vocal members of their communities.
• Partners have been able to expand their work into new communities.

Challenges
• Economic progress in Senegal does not reach poor communities where people remain vulnerable.