Care & Community - SENEGAL Project Information for Care & Community in Senegal

Our Care & Community Placements in Senegal

Our Care & Community placements in Senegal are in and around the town of Saint Louis. Most volunteers work in nurseries or day care centres with children between the ages of 3 and 6.

Volunteers usually arrive at their placements at 8am, to help greet and play with the children as they arrive. During the morning they work alongside the teachers or take small groups aside to do activities like arts and crafts, games and songs, as well as helping with basic literacy and numeracy. Spending one-on-one time with the children is very important since the staff are too busy to be able to do this. The children benefit particularly from personal attention, praise and affection.

Nurseries tend to be open Monday to Friday from 8am to 1pm and the weekends are free. The teachers are keen to include any ideas volunteers may have into the schedule, especially creative ways to use very limited resources.

In their spare time, many volunteers choose to work with street children, known as 'talibés', giving them the attention and basic education that they need.

Knowing French is not a prerequisite but being able to speak even a basic level would definitely be useful.

The thing all the care placements have in common is that they are designed to help children who have precious few other people to whom they can turn. This work can be challenging, but it is also fun and enjoyable, and greatly appreciated by the children and staff. Probably the greatest value of a volunteer is to bring some fun into the lives of these children. Simply by being there, playing games, showing affection and providing some much needed love and attention you will be making an important contribution.