Politics With Perspective: Child Protection Day

Tuesday night we arrived in St. Louis, about 4 hours from Dakar. Our hotel looked nice, covered in vines; but it was not a nice place to stay.

Don't be fooled

The rooms were dark, dirty and creepy. We were scared of mosquitos, and the sheets had a blood stain (ick) and seemed dirty. My mom and I slept in our clothes on top of the bed with a scarf covering us.

Two little monkeys in the bed

We woke up and went to visit a Daara in St. Louis. A Daara is a Muslim school.

This Daara was located next to a fish market; it was really really smelly and there were a ton of flies.

Stinky fish market!

Entrance to the school - we're covering our noses

The Daara was only one room where the kids slept and went to school.

Entering the room

There was no electricity, no bathrooms and they only learned one thing - The Koran, which means they don't learn math, French, reading, Wolof (native language) or anything they would need to get an education to get a job.

Garbage, goat and flies next to school door

Also, the kids have to go beg on the street every day to get money for the school. They believe children need to suffer to be close to God. Awful and unfair!!

School kids packed in their one room

The side of the room

I felt really bad for the kids that they only learn one thing (memorize the Koran) and have to live together in that room. Every day must be torture. They're not going to get an education, they won't be able to get a job and they'll have to beg their whole lives.

Next we went to a day care center called Claire Enfance - where boys who live on the street and don't go to school can come and have a place to stay for the day, play games, and learn about health. They can wash their clothes and take a shower. They even have a t.v.

A boy in the center

All together now

Game time

Unicef supports this center. It's really good to have places like this so the street kids have some support.

--------------------------------------------

We then drove to the Tostan center which is an NGO (nongovernemental organization) working in Senegal. NGO's get their money from donations from people and organizations like Unicef, not from the governement.

One of Tostan's main causes is stopping FGM. This is when girls are cut in their private parts. It's an awful tradition which doesn't happen in America.

Why do they do it? It's an old tradition. But it puts girls in danger. They can die and get infections.

Sad Fact: 1 in 5 girls in Senegal get FGM

Tostan goes in to villages and educates them about Human Rights and let's them decide what to do. Almost always they decide to stop the cutting.

Fun Fact: Because of Unicef and Tostan, 5,000 villages have stopped FGM!!!!!

Here is Keur Simbara (awesome village) we visited that changed their ways. This village welcomed us by singing and dancing. They performed a skit about Tostan and how it's helped them.