Reflections on a Visit to Senegal from Dottie and Jerry Klein

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to accompany Luke and Mamadou on their recent visit to Senegal and to be welcomed by the large network of Senegalese people who are associated with Kids of Kadiogne.

We were delighted to experience the results of twenty years of steady dedication, which includes the people in the USA who have supported this valuable endeavor through generous donations of time and money. By sharing a few highlights, we hope to bring you a little closer to this wonderful place.

Whether in the cities of Dakar and Thies or in remote villages in the Fouta region of northern Senegal, we were welcomed everywhere with the warmest hospitality. We were able to have conversations with those among our hosts who spoke French and, through translation, with those who spoke only Pulaar. Everywhere we went, we were met with handshakes and smiles from the youngest to the oldest folks. Sharing all of our meals and staying every night in family homes allowed us to experience how much attention the people in this culture give to relationships with extended family and friends.

We visited the elementary school in Kadiogne that now has over a thousand students, and we met with teachers and the school director (who later joined us for dinner). Kadiogne’s is one of the schools in Kids of K’s network of 22 partner villages that receive an annual school supply distribution. We met the children and the teacher in the preschool at the community center that was built with your donations. There were over thirty children in the preschool and a happy teacher who would not be there without you! The government does not pay for preschool, so the community relies upon Kids of K’s support.

Perhaps one of the most memorable experiences was the reward of staying in the far north of Senegal. After driving for the last hour in a desert-like terrain, occasionally passing tiny villages of traditional thatched huts, we finally arrived in the village of Hamedoula. Our car had followed the sand tracks made by donkey carts, and we saw no other automobiles for three days. The gracious welcome made us feel like family. Hugs, handshakes, and smiles communicated appreciation on both sides. We loved seeing them welcome our son, Luke, as “our son.” They told us there was no greater gift than for him to “bring his parents all the way across such a long distance!”

And we were so happy to meet Mamadou’s 92-year-old mother, Coumba Hawa, and to see her intense emotion at her son’s arrival.

One highlight in Hamedoula was hanging out under the mbar, a large, open-sided thatched shelter where everyone gathers to prepare food, visit, talk and just be together. One day, we used a watercolor set we had brought to make a picture of a village. All of the children and teens were so excited to try make their first watercolor. Salamata, born in Kadiogne and finishing her studies in accounting in Dakar, accompanied us on part of our trip, and she helped us communicate with everyone about this fun art project.

One of our favorite experiences in Hamedoula was joining the meeting between Kids of K and the Women’s Collective. Kids of K offers microloans to women in the collective, supporting their entrepreneurship and empowering the women to create new ways of contributing to supporting their families. By ten o’clock in the evening, everyone had arrived, and Mamadou started the meeting. Several women talked about the importance of these loans of about $100, including one who described her project of going many miles to a large town to buy tea and biscuits at wholesale prices and then bringing them back to sell them in Hamedoula and surrounding villages, where there are no shops. There is no interest on the loans, and when the women have repaid the loans, they become eligible for another loan. Almost all of the thirteen women at the meeting were paid up and eligible for a new loan. It was beautiful to see the sense of empowerment that they took from their entrepreneurial activities! Kids of K’s microloan program is very cost-effective, and it was powerful to see that relatively small donations to such a program can make such a big difference in people’s lives.

And speaking of small projects that can make a big difference in people’s lives, it was wonderful to witness the school director in the village of Thioukoungel showing Luke and Mamadou the new well that Kids of K had recently installed to provide the school with access to clean water. While distribution of school supplies is an essential component of these village partnerships, Kids of K also engages in a range of other projects to help students be successful.

We have been deeply moved by this chance to spend some time in a culture that has so much to teach us about the best of human values. Our experiences reminded us of the importance of simply being present with other people, taking the time to really see and hear them. And for this, we remain grateful.