What does it mean to be an advocate for human rights? How can we as a community better support those in need? These are two questions that my office, the Department of Community Development or DDC, are asking themselves.
Within the last month and a half, the team I work with has been grappling with issues such as how to better serve differently abled persons, how to deepen connections with the local community, and how to further develop programs as an organization. In this time of self assessment, the DDC participated in a formation meeting about incorporating human rights based approaches and traveled to another Senegalese Lutheran NGO supported by the ELCA to learn new organizational and community building strategies.
As part of my job as a YAGM, I was lucky enough to accompany the DDC on both occasions. I am inspired by my coworkers at my site placement, their desire to better their communities and strive for a brighter future. I have tried to best summarize the two formations I attended to illustrate just how awesome their work here in Senegal is.
Saly
At the end of November, the Fatick and Foundiougne DDC offices gathered together in Saly, for a meeting to learn how to better support people with disabilities and incorporate a human rights based approach into future projects.
During the first half of the week, the office heard from a trainer who specializes in working with the differently abled. In the trainer’s sessions, the DDC reassessed their current programs working with this specific population and set up a plan of action to improve these programs.
From these discussions, it was observed that future projects should be based around four main principles: non-discrimination, equal opportunity, accessibility and effective participation. To illustrate this point, the trainer shared the Equality vs Equity graphic, which I have actually used in my resident advisor presentations back in the US. The image (below) shares how the meanings of these two words differ. By approaching future projects with the four main principles above, it is in the hopes of the DDC to move from equality to equity, to better serve this population in need of support.
The second half of the week flowed seamlessly from the first, to a discussion on a human rights based approach in DDC projects. This approach emphasizes the following: protecting the vulnerable, maintaining responsibility to protect human rights, enhancing human dignity, peace, and decency, ensuring equality between genders, and creating a dynamic team and empowers others.
By looking towards the above, the convention of the rights of the child, and the convention of the rights of people with disabilities, the DDC offices continued to brainstorm and plan new activities. These activities are still being formed for the new year, but it is clear that my coworkers are excited to implement these approaches in their work.
Linguère
After the intensive training and collaborative sessions in Saly, my team next headed to Linguère during the first weekend of December. Linguère is a small town located in the northern part of Senegal, close to Mauritania. There, the ELCA supports the Senegalese Lutheran Development Services (SLDS), an organization that operates a primary health care project and dairy in town. My team wanted to visit the SLDS in order to network with another development organization and to learn new operation strategies.
Both projects in Linguère are fascinating. The health project, supplies at-cost pharmaceutical supplies for village health centers. Access to proper healthcare is scarce, so the village health centers helps aid those in rural areas who cannot go to or afford the hospital.
The dairy on the other hand, offers a much needed service to Linguère by providing fresh and natural milk. Fedannde Jolof, the official name of the dairy project, produces milk on their dairy farm and buys quality milk from local dairy women which is then pasteurized or turned into sow (a type of local yogurt) and sold to the community. In the end, Fedannde Jolof not only offers a healthy product but also creates a sense of community through their store. Because most everyone in Linguère knows the store it serves as a place to gather. In addition, buying here supports local farmers.
Fedannde Jolof also has an opportunity for local farmers to cross their local cattle with a higher milk producing “foreign breed cow”. For a fee, farmers can have one of their cows stay at the Fedannde Jolof farm and cross breed with the foreign cow to produce a mixed breed cow that they will then incorporate into their herd, thus enabling the local farmers to have cows in their herd that will produce more milk, yet tolerate Senegalese environmental conditions.
As my office looks forward to the future of their own projects, this networking and brainstorming opportunity is invaluable. By connecting with various groups, like the SLDS, it’s possible to support a wider population and create the best possible activities for development. This desire to learn and grow is incredibly important to the development of the DDC.
Things are happening here in Senegal. Change is being enacted. Human rights are being valiantly fought for. There is desire for a better future. Although being an advocate for human rights can look differently no matter where you go, one thing is for certain. It takes passion and a learning mindset to serve and accompany our communities. And the DDC has these qualities.
Wondering how you can support our partners in Senegal?
Visit the ELCA's Global Mission website and find out ways to give: https://www.elca.org/Our-Work/Global-Mission/Ways-to-Give