My project manager, Dondo KANTE, is organizing a project devoted to assisting the education of young people from his home village and region. Below is a description of the project and some of the estimated costs. Neighbor Ape hopes to help fund this project in part.
OBARAR:
Helping One Another to Ensure a Sustainable Future of Academic Success
Within the 16 countries that comprise the region of West Africa, lies Senegal. A country full of cultural and ethnic diversity, Senegal rests just south of the Sahara Desert of Mauritania and Mali, north of Guinea Conakry and Guinea Bissau, and encloses the Gambia within its form.
There are 6 major ethnic groups of Senegal, the Wolof, Sereres, Mandinke, Diola, Puhlar, and Toucouleurs. The ethnic minorities, comprising only 1% of Senegal’s population of 11 million, are more numerous and vary regionally. Within the region of Kedougou, in the southeast of Senegal, one will find three minorities, the Dialounke, Basari, and Beudick.
The Beudick people are found primarily in an area known as Bandafassi in the Kedougou region. Although their numbers may be few, their culture is rich and deeply preserved among the people today. Male and female initiations are performed every 4 to 5 years, welcoming the youth into their adulthood through a week long forest experience. Cultural ceremonies are practiced annually along with harvest and agricultural celebrations to aid all members of the community working within their farm's fields. These occasions are accompanied by dancing, singing, and revelry encouraged by a traditionally masked man. Their language, also known as Beudick, is still spoken today by most, along with several other local languages for social and commercial purposes such as Puhlar, Malinke, and Wolof. The majority of Beudicks are living now as Christians, with few practicing Islam or animist beliefs.
The livelihood of the Beudick people has traditionally and, continues at present, to include agriculture, pastoralism, and artisanal crafts such as pottery and weaving. This lifestyle did not allow for education in previous generations and most of the older population remains illiterate. Only in recent years have individuals of the younger generations had the opportunity to attend school through the high school level, thus allowing for the emersion of teachers, site workers, operators and drivers working with companies across the region. This increase in professional occupations has allowed the Beudick people to enter into the competitive and modern day Senegalese workforce.
In order to increase the younger generations’ access to education, the first obstacle to overcome was the creation of public schools within the villages themselves. In March 1998 a school request was submitted to the Kedougou education authorities for this purpose and subsequently a school was authorized to be built in one of the largest Beudick villages, Bantata. While the Kedougou education authorities have the power to authorize the building of a school, and will provide teachers, they unfortunately do not have the funding to actually build and support the school itself. This burden initially lies on the people of the village. The people of Bantata were able to come together to finance the construction of primitive and temporary school rooms as well as provided the materials and support necessary to run the school. The support from the village continued until the government built a larger long term facility and began providing equipment for the school such as desks and chalkboards. Every two years the government has continued to add a new class room, due to the growing number of students, which the villagers continue to support themselves.
Students are now able to complete their elementary education in their home village. However in order to continue their secondary education the students are required to travel to the nearby town of Kedougou at a distance of 20km. While they are fortunate for this opportunity to continue their education, they are faced with an obstacle blocking this path: Accommodation. Some of the people of Bantata are now living in Kedougou and are able to help provide housing for some students, but there are not nearly enough to support the growing number of students needing a place to stay in town while continuing their studies. Many students are forced to give up their studies and to remain in Bantata with their families. One specific student who excelled in his studies and whose teachers saw a very bright future ahead of him, was one forced to remain in Bantata and give up his studies, much to the regret of the school staff.
For too long the people of Bantata have witnessed such loses. The future of Bantata and the Beudick people depend on the future of their children. The future of their children depends on the future of their education. A solution is needed.
The solution is to create a dormitory to welcome and house the Beudick students coming from Bantata, an undertaking the people are ready to begin. In order to complete this task, the people of Bantata have created OBARAR, an association aptly named in Beudick meaning “helping one another”, to raise the funds necessary to build a basic dormitory in Kedougou. Within this association a committee has been formed to organize meetings with Kedougou authorities, such as the education authorities to accept all students coming from the Bantata school, town hall authorities for land acquisition, and with the prefecture authorities for legal matters. Four houses, a kitchen, a study hall/cafeteria, two bathrooms, two showers, and a well will be constructed on two adjacent lots of land, one dormitory for the male students and the other for the female, providing enough facilities for 80 students. Currently there are 48 Beudick students in need of housing, but this number is increasing annually.
With the need of the dormitory imminent, each member of the association has been asked to pay 250f cfa (approximately 0.39 Euros) per month, while those with a steady income are to contribute 2500f cfa (approximately 3.85 Euros) per month. The contributions will not only allow for the project to commence, but also provide a personal investment and connection from all involved. Unfortunately at this rate of acquisition, the funds necessary to complete the project would not be reached for many years, and thus the Beudick people of Bantata are in need of outside aid. This aid will cover the one time costs of construction of the dormitories and the association members will cover the annual costs of support (see Budget below). With the help of an outside organization OBARAR will be able to move forward in the construction of not only the dormitory but a solid future of education for the Beudick people.
ESTIMATED PLAN OF EXPENSES – Funding Needed from Donor
Item Quantity Price per Unit AmountLand 2 lots AT $3,000 = 6,000
Fence 2 @ $ 200 = 400
Huts 8 @ $ 50 = 400
Cafeteria 2 @ $ 700 = 1400
Well 2 @ $ 150 = 300
Toilets 2 @ $ 600 = 1200
Showers 2 @ $ 400 = 800
Kitchen 1 @ $ 600 = 600
Beds 48 @ $ 60 = 2880
Mattresses 48 @ $ 30 = 1440
Solar Panel 4 @ $ 600 = 2400
Batteries 2 @ $ 300 = 600
Electrical 2 @ $ 200 = 400
Study-equipment 2 @ $ 800 = 1600
Kitchen utensils $ 1000
Furniture $ 540
TOTAL COSTS = $21,960.00
ANNUAL COSTS – To be covered by OBARAR Association members:
First Aid, rice, sugar, oil, other food items, Staff (2 chaperones, 1 cook)
