our work in West Africa
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 .
to school with a free mind
Our program is called "à l'école en toute sérénité" (loosely translated: to school with a clear mind) and has been developing since 2022. This program revolves around our three pillars of school attendance, participation, and resilience, and makes a significant difference in the lives of many children. Our local partners work throughout the country in Burkina Faso and Senegal in an average of 20 to 50 primary and secondary schools per city, where we organize interventions and activities along the three pillars. We have invested in schools to
To make these learning environments more attractive. Not only by training teachers in resilience and mental health, but also by renovating schoolyards and planting trees. We are expanding our interventions to neighborhoods, and thanks to the Child Wallet, we are now reaching the children who need us most.
The offices of our partners in West Africa, which are located in the heart of the neighborhood, are also being converted into welfare centers with activities for children.
Some examples of our work include:
kinderparticipatie
We're committed to raising awareness among children: their rights and the importance of supporting each other. Children want and can help each other, and their influence is far-reaching. In a neighborhood in Dakar, our program led to the appointment of a children's mayor. The mayor says: "Thanks to our children's mayor, our municipality is a model for child participation and decision-making structures. Now we want every child in the region to have the same opportunities!" This is how we're working to make child participation the norm, not the exception.
veerkracht &mentale gezondheid
Together with the Gaston Berger University of Saint Louis, Senegal, we have established a program in mental health. This program is now officially accredited and trains students in bachelor's, master's, and practical training programs. There is also a training center where our colleagues from Burkina Faso and even Kinderpostzegels colleagues receive training in mental health. We also jointly established a trauma center where children and young people can receive treatment.
Jongerenclubs
In West Africa, we support youth clubs because young people often find it easier to talk to peers than to their parents. They meet at school or in their village to discuss topics that affect them, or to participate in sports or theater. At these clubs, young people also receive education about their rights and sexuality. It's a safe space to share taboos and concerns. Members are often the first to identify problems such as tensions at home, the threat of forced marriages, or learning difficulties. The young people can then bring these issues to a teacher, who works with parents and other stakeholders to find solutions.
“I like to help and I have been able to pass on the knowledge I acquired during the training to my peers.”
- Aissata (15) from Senegal
Kinderportemonnee
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."
Samen tegen eenzaamheid
Geef en help eenzaamheid bij kinderen tegen te gaan