Since the 1970s, Kinderpostzegels (Kinderpostzegels) has been working with local partners in the West African region of Senegal and Burkina Faso on school attendance, child labor, and children's rights. Population growth has exploded to the point that more than half the population now consists of young people. Their future prospects face many challenges: the quality of education could be improved, there are few jobs, and poverty is persistent. We are there for the generation growing up today. We work in schools to improve education, both in terms of content and psychosocial support. Attention to mental well-being is important so that children feel comfortable at school. After all, children learn how they feel.
Poverty is often at the root of many of the problems children face. Many children go to school without breakfast, their families can't afford school supplies, and they run the risk of dropping out early. Girls often marry young, due to a lack of future prospects or family pressure. Boys often start working early to help their parents.
Curious about the results and impact of our program in Senegal? View the report up to December 2024 here .
“I like helping and I have been able to share the knowledge I gained during my training with my peers.” - Aissata (15) from Senegal
Going to school with a clear head
Our program is called "à l’école en toute sérénité" (loosely translated: going to school with a clear mind) and has been developing since 2022. This program revolves around our pillars of child participation and resilience and makes a big difference in the lives of many children. Our local partners work throughout Burkina Faso and Senegal in an average of 20 to 50 primary and secondary schools per city, where we organize interventions and activities based on these pillars. We have invested in schools to make them more attractive learning environments. This is not only done by training teachers in resilience and mental health but also by renovating schoolyards and planting trees. We are expanding our interventions into neighborhoods, and thanks to the Children's Wallet, we are now reaching the children who need us most.
The offices of our partners in West Africa, located in the heart of the neighborhoods, are also being transformed into welfare centers with activities for children.
Examples of Our Work
Child participation
We zetten in op bewustwording bij kinderen: hun rechten én het belang om elkaar te ondersteunen. Kinderen willen en kunnen elkaar helpen, en hun invloed reikt ver. In een wijk in Dakar leidde ons programma tot de benoeming van een kinderburgemeester. De burgemeester zegt: “Dankzij onze kinderburgemeester is onze gemeente een voorbeeld in kinderparticipatie en besluitvormingsstructuren. Nu willen we dat elk kind in de regio dezelfde kansen krijgt!” Zo werken we eraan dat kinderparticipatie de norm wordt, niet de uitzondering.
Resilience & Mental Health
Samen met de Universiteit Gaston Berger van Saint Louis, Senegal hebben we gezorgd voor een opleiding in mentale gezondheid. Deze opleiding is inmiddels officieel erkend en leidt studenten op in bachelor-, master-, en praktische leerweg. Ook is er een opleidingscentrum waar onze collega’s uit Burkina Faso en zelfs Kinderpostzegels collega’s worden opgeleid in mentale gezondheid. Daarbij hebben we samen een traumacentrum gerealiseerd waar kinderen en jongeren behandeld kunnen worden.
Youth clubs
In West-Afrika ondersteunen we jongerenclubs, omdat jongeren vaak makkelijker met leeftijdsgenoten praten dan met hun ouders. Ze komen samen op school of in hun dorp en praten over onderwerpen die hen aangaan of ze doen aan sport of theater. Op deze clubs krijgen jongeren ook voorlichting over hun rechten en seksualiteit. Het is een veilige plek om taboes en zorgen te delen. Leden signaleren vaak als eerste problemen zoals spanningen thuis, dreigende gedwongen huwelijken of leerproblemen. De jongeren kunnen hier vervolgens mee naar een leraar, die samen met ouders en betrokkenen naar oplossingen zoekt.
Children's wallet
Children want to help each other
When we launched the Children's Wallet program in the region, all the children expressed their desire to do something for the displaced children in their classrooms and communities. They advocated for homework assistance, money for breakfast, school supplies, and psychosocial support, and this initiative made it happen.
The story of...
What better way to imagine the impact our programs have on children's lives than through the stories of the children themselves?
Lolly (11)
When Lolly's parents divorced, she moved with her mother to the big city. This meant she missed the start of the school year after summer break. She eventually ended up living with her grandmother in yet another city. Lolly's grandmother is visually impaired and preferred to keep her at home. This put her at risk of being married off.
Fortunately, our local partner worked hard to prevent this. Now Lolly is back in school, where she's one of the best in her class and a role model for other students!
Amy (13)
Amy was recently democratically elected president of the school board. She's incredibly proud of it, but it's also very nerve-wracking. Being president is a huge responsibility, and one of the other classes hadn't voted for her, but for another popular candidate.
Thanks to exercises with our local partner, Amy is now more confident and can confidently present her plans for the school: a vegetable garden to help stock the school canteen.
Oumar (20)
This is Diabou Ale Seydi. She's 16 and from Kolda, in southern Senegal. She participated in a training where we chose an activity from our resilience toolkit: The Emotion Wheel.
Diabou explains what the exercise did for her:
"When I'm angry, I lash out and can destroy everything. I see my brothers imitating me. Thanks to this exercise, I can now go home and sit down with them to change how I do things."
