Perhaps the best feature of traveling with my professor is all the great nonprofits that we get to visit. People often generously carve time out of their busy schedules to meet with us and explain what they do and how they do it. In this way, we’re privileged to witness a special kind of off-the-beaten-path tourism that isn’t accessible to just anyone. On this most recent trip to Senegal, we had the chance to visit some nonprofits that specifically meet the needs of children, each for slightly different reasons.
Empires des Enfants, run by the sister of the man who built up Ndem (see my earlier post), is a small nonprofit in the middle of Dakar that addresses the needs of lost young boys living on the streets. Their door is open, but they do a little research before children join their ranks. The need for this organization grew out of an interest in why so many homeless boys roamed the streets of the capital, but came out of a need derived from abuses suffered at the hands of religious leaders- or those who claim to be, at least. These children come from rural outlying areas, and, according to the staff at Empires des Enfants, many of them are not even Senegalese. They were turned over by their parents who, in search of a better life for their children (that of literacy and enough food to stay healthy), they entrusted the care of their young boys (some are very, very young) to claimed religious leaders running koranic schools in Senegal. These schools are not, in fact, legitimate religious institutions; the children are abused and forced to beg on the streets in order to support those who claimed to be their teachers. As young as they are, many do not know how to find their way home. Some are lost for years- forever, even- from their families. Empires des Enfants takes in boys that local Dakar residents identify as at-risk. These boys are brought to the facility, given emotional support and then assigned a case worker that tries to reunite them with their family. If no family can be located, the staff tries their best to find them a foster home. One of the girls from my trip is doing a fundraiser to try to ship soccer balls to the organization for the boys to use. You can see her campaign here.
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| Donations from the students for SOS Village-Dakar |
Another model of assistance to children, SOS Village is an global organization that attempts to improve the model of orphanages as an institution that houses homeless children. SOS Village in Dakar assigns children to “houses” which have “mothers” and “aunts” that will stay with them for the duration of their time there. In this way, rather than the feel of an institution, children become accustomed to a certain family structure and are provided with adults who care about their educational enrichment. Some of these children are not exactly “homeless,” but their parents can’t afford to care for them, so they live at SOS Village. The children at this nonprofit have a high rate of college attendance and are given the opportunity to go on service-learning field trips, learn crafts and develop skills that will improve their chances of having a secure future. We really enjoyed their crafts, but the model of educational enrichment and emotional support was very inspiring.
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| Craft at SOS Village: Jeep made from Coke cans |
Saving the “best” for last, we had the opportunity to visit an infant nursery/orphanage run by nuns in the heart of the city. The most remarkable orphanage we saw was La Pouponniere. With over 80 children under the age of 1, this facility emanated the feeling of silent efficiency buzzing around. What was missing? The sound of crying. Nuns, assistants and volunteers walked around the facility- carrying babies, playing with babies and tending to the daily chores. On two floors, the nuns give sanctuary to 40 babies each: the “older” children, ages 4 -12 months are on the first floor; 0-4 months on the second. We visited the second floor and passed a long corridor with cribs to each side. At the end of the hallway was a round room full of windows- and full of babies. Two nuns sat on the floor tending to about 20 babies laid out on the floor. Not a peep sounded from the room. We entered, shoes off, and sat on the floor. The babies crawled over and within a minute, each of us was crawling with infants. Crawling. When the time came to leave, we laid them aside and for the first time cries erupted from the room. The attending nuns started slapping the mats and making funny noises, and immediately the infants were captivated and returned to their silent bliss. The children who end up in the facility have a variety of backgrounds. One commonality is that they have all lost their mothers in childbirth. If a father is still alive, the nuns will take the infant and raise it until it has reached the age of 1, and then return it to the family. This is to support the single father during the critical phase in the child’s life and ensuring that it has the necessary nutrition to survive. Others have no father, or no one can afford to care for them. In this case, the nuns will attempt to find a foster home or adoptive family. Thousands of babies have passed through these doors, and the nuns proudly carry the stories of their successful futures. We asked about babies that are really tiny and how they care for them. Apparently they have an incubator, but because electricity is not reliable, they don’t feel comfortable using it. Instead, they use old-school techniques of surrounding the infant with hot water bottles and just continue to change them throughout the night. In this way, they have saved many premies, including on baby that was less that 1 kg when he came to them. They proudly boasted that he now lives with a foster family and is at the top of his class. We also asked why the babies don’t cry. The head nun said she’s not sure, but she thinks they find comfort in their friends. She said even at night, there’s no crying because they are sleeping next to their friends. Because of this phenomenon, when families come to adopt the children, there’s a transition period when babies are allowed to spend the day with their future adoptive parents, but aren’t allowed to spend the night for a few days so they can still see their friends at night. I don’t know the psychology behind this- but the silence (except for the occasional fussiness or giggles) was fascinating.
For the protection of the children, no photos were allowed, but I assure you the faces were among the cutest I’ve ever seen.