Plan Senegal Annual Program Report 2007

146.5mm FLAP

148.5mm BACK

Challenge and change in Senegal

Real progress

Over 47 years of independence, Senegal has developed into a stable democracy transcending ethnic and religious divides. Yet despite this, it remains among the poorest countries in the world.

With the support of Plan, children and adults in Albania are working together to develop their communities and claim their right to a better future. And real progress is being made.

Last year our work included:

Many families are leaving the poverty of rural areas for the capital, Dakar, where shanty towns are developing without proper schools or adequate sanitation, and children are exposed to the worst sorts of exploitation.

Plan is working in Senegal to improve nursery care and basic education, healthcare, rural people’s livelihoods and awareness of children’s rights. And there are real successes: “Thanks to your support and community participation, the rate of children who completed their immunisation programme improved significantly, as did children’s enrolment and retention in schools,” says Ousmane Seye, Plan’s Country Director in Senegal.

p Helping teenager s to develop job skills is part of our work to increase incomes in the long term

This Country Progress Report highlights just one success among many that your support is helping to make happen.

Senegal country facts Capital: Dakar

Under-fives who are underweight: 17%

UN Human Development Index ranking: 156th (of 177 countries)

People living on less than 1 US dollar a day: 22%

Life expectancy: 56 years

(Sources: the UN, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, UNICEF)

Population: 11.6 million

• Connecting 18 villages to safe water in the Northern Saint Louis area, and laying 5,384km of water pipeline in the nearby Louga area, giving 60,000 people access to safe water

Any enquiries please contact: Nick Burton. e: nick@bright-uk.com m: 07884 367567. d: 020 7620 8150 Size (Prod)

Colours(Prod)

Art (A/D)

Copy (C/W)

Content (Acc.)

ter comes to a

village in Sene gal

Senegal

• Training 732 children aged 10-12 in radio techniques to broadcast programmes with child rights messages

Plan’s greatest successes come from a joint effort combining the hard work and determination of communities, children, volunteers, staff, and partner organisations. The ongoing support of our sponsors is a vital ingredient, too. It’s their generosity and commitment that allows us to continue to help children in 49 of the poorest countries in the world.

So on behalf of the children and communities we work with, thank you to all our sponsors!

SEN

0407 100647 PLAN 0407_Senegal 13.11.07 210x443.5mm FOLD TO A5 Client proof: 2 3

p Clean wa

• Distributing 87,964 insecticide-treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria

Plan UK Registered Charity No: 276035

Admagic No: Bright No: Client name: File name: Date: Size: Studio proof:

148.5mm FRONT

Country Progress Report 2007

146.5mm FLAP

148.5mm BACK

Challenge and change in Senegal

Real progress

Over 47 years of independence, Senegal has developed into a stable democracy transcending ethnic and religious divides. Yet despite this, it remains among the poorest countries in the world.

With the support of Plan, children and adults in Albania are working together to develop their communities and claim their right to a better future. And real progress is being made.

Last year our work included:

Many families are leaving the poverty of rural areas for the capital, Dakar, where shanty towns are developing without proper schools or adequate sanitation, and children are exposed to the worst sorts of exploitation.

Plan is working in Senegal to improve nursery care and basic education, healthcare, rural people’s livelihoods and awareness of children’s rights. And there are real successes: “Thanks to your support and community participation, the rate of children who completed their immunisation programme improved significantly, as did children’s enrolment and retention in schools,” says Ousmane Seye, Plan’s Country Director in Senegal.

p Helping teenager s to develop job skills is part of our work to increase incomes in the long term

This Country Progress Report highlights just one success among many that your support is helping to make happen.

Senegal country facts Capital: Dakar

Under-fives who are underweight: 17%

UN Human Development Index ranking: 156th (of 177 countries)

People living on less than 1 US dollar a day: 22%

Life expectancy: 56 years

(Sources: the UN, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, UNICEF)

Population: 11.6 million

• Connecting 18 villages to safe water in the Northern Saint Louis area, and laying 5,384km of water pipeline in the nearby Louga area, giving 60,000 people access to safe water

Any enquiries please contact: Nick Burton. e: nick@bright-uk.com m: 07884 367567. d: 020 7620 8150 Size (Prod)

Colours(Prod)

Art (A/D)

Copy (C/W)

Content (Acc.)

ter comes to a

village in Sene gal

Senegal

• Training 732 children aged 10-12 in radio techniques to broadcast programmes with child rights messages

Plan’s greatest successes come from a joint effort combining the hard work and determination of communities, children, volunteers, staff, and partner organisations. The ongoing support of our sponsors is a vital ingredient, too. It’s their generosity and commitment that allows us to continue to help children in 49 of the poorest countries in the world.

So on behalf of the children and communities we work with, thank you to all our sponsors!

SEN

0407 100647 PLAN 0407_Senegal 13.11.07 210x443.5mm FOLD TO A5 Client proof: 2 3

p Clean wa

• Distributing 87,964 insecticide-treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria

Plan UK Registered Charity No: 276035

Admagic No: Bright No: Client name: File name: Date: Size: Studio proof:

148.5mm FRONT

Country Progress Report 2007

148.5mm INSIDE

148.5mm INSIDE

And with the soil properly irrigated, the women’s incomes, and hopes, immediately rose:

Try, try again Keur Maba, in Western Senegal, is a small, isolated village about four miles from the Gambian border.

It’s a poor community. Many of Keur Maba’s 1,200 inhabitants make a living by farming groundnuts. Malnutrition is common, especially among children, because of the monotonous and limited diet. Some parents try to make some extra money through trade that involves crossing the border to buy cheap products in the Gambia and then bringing them back to sell on in Senegal. But it can be risky, because many struggling traders are tempted to flout customs restrictions to try and make a little more money for their families, leaving them in danger of prosecution.

To Plan, the need for projects that provided alternative ways for the villagers to boost their incomes was clear. But we wanted to encourage projects that would fight malnutrition among the village’s children as well as improving livelihoods.

So we sat down with the village’s women’s group to discuss options.

One of the clearest opportunities was

p Three members of the wome

n’s group in Keur Maba

“Since we have our vegetable garden, women who used to travel to The Gambia for fraudulent business do not go there anymore,” Khady Ndao, one of the members of the women’s group, said shortly after the garden was set up.

The women were able to grow lettuce, aubergine, okra and cabbage, and to sell their produce at two markets: one at Keur Maba and one at Keur Pathe across the border in The Gambia.

With their vegetable farm properly irrigated, the women’s incomes, and hopes, immediately rose.

Disaster strikes the two-hectare (about 212⁄ acre) farm allocated to the group by the Rural Council. The women wanted to grow vegetables there. The only barrier was how difficult it was to cultivate.

Plan helped solve this problem by giving the women efficient irrigation equipment which meant the work of watering the land, which had previously needed 50 women, could now be done by just one of them – leaving the other 49 free to work on the vegetable garden in other ways.

But three months after installing the new irrigation equipment, the women’s hopes took a battering. Some of their crops were destroyed by rains and the funds in their collective bank account stood at zero. The final straw came when cows invaded the gardens and trampled the vegetables.

“The cows easily made their way into the vegetable garden,” says Hawa, another member of the women’s group.

“I stood powerless in front of these animals, and as they destroyed the fruits of our efforts, I cried.”

But these struggles, rather than leaving the women downhearted, actually boosted their morale. The women have learned lessons, and they plan to resume their farming work. In particular, they realise that the previous fences, made of straw, are not strong enough, and that instead they will need wire fencing.

“We have identified craftsmen who make wire fences of good quality and we were told that we can have this type of fence through Plan,” says Yacine, treasurer of the group. The women plan to lobby for funding from the Rural Council. They also recognise that they miscalculated the growing cycles of some of the vegetables, and that such planning problems can be addressed with further training.

146.5mm INSIDE

Based on Plan’s suggestions, the women are gradually developing a more hard-headed and entrepreneurial vision for their vegetable gardens. They’ve asked for training in business management from Plan to work out a business plan and calculate how much additional investment will be needed, and how much profit is likely to be generated. So far, they predict that they’ll be in profit again in five months.

And at the end of the day, it will be the women’s children who benefit from the scheme, with higher family incomes, better food and reduced malnutrition: “Our children are our wealth,” says Khady. “The income we earn from this farm will contribute to their education and their health.”

Some names have been changed for privacy and child protection reasons.

“Our children are our wealth. The income we earn from this farm will contribute to their education and their health.”

p The new irrigation system

is much less labour-intensive than

watering by hand

148.5mm INSIDE

148.5mm INSIDE

And with the soil properly irrigated, the women’s incomes, and hopes, immediately rose:

Try, try again Keur Maba, in Western Senegal, is a small, isolated village about four miles from the Gambian border.

It’s a poor community. Many of Keur Maba’s 1,200 inhabitants make a living by farming groundnuts. Malnutrition is common, especially among children, because of the monotonous and limited diet. Some parents try to make some extra money through trade that involves crossing the border to buy cheap products in the Gambia and then bringing them back to sell on in Senegal. But it can be risky, because many struggling traders are tempted to flout customs restrictions to try and make a little more money for their families, leaving them in danger of prosecution.

To Plan, the need for projects that provided alternative ways for the villagers to boost their incomes was clear. But we wanted to encourage projects that would fight malnutrition among the village’s children as well as improving livelihoods.

So we sat down with the village’s women’s group to discuss options.

One of the clearest opportunities was

p Three members of the wome

n’s group in Keur Maba

“Since we have our vegetable garden, women who used to travel to The Gambia for fraudulent business do not go there anymore,” Khady Ndao, one of the members of the women’s group, said shortly after the garden was set up.

The women were able to grow lettuce, aubergine, okra and cabbage, and to sell their produce at two markets: one at Keur Maba and one at Keur Pathe across the border in The Gambia.

With their vegetable farm properly irrigated, the women’s incomes, and hopes, immediately rose.

Disaster strikes the two-hectare (about 212⁄ acre) farm allocated to the group by the Rural Council. The women wanted to grow vegetables there. The only barrier was how difficult it was to cultivate.

Plan helped solve this problem by giving the women efficient irrigation equipment which meant the work of watering the land, which had previously needed 50 women, could now be done by just one of them – leaving the other 49 free to work on the vegetable garden in other ways.

But three months after installing the new irrigation equipment, the women’s hopes took a battering. Some of their crops were destroyed by rains and the funds in their collective bank account stood at zero. The final straw came when cows invaded the gardens and trampled the vegetables.

“The cows easily made their way into the vegetable garden,” says Hawa, another member of the women’s group.

“I stood powerless in front of these animals, and as they destroyed the fruits of our efforts, I cried.”

But these struggles, rather than leaving the women downhearted, actually boosted their morale. The women have learned lessons, and they plan to resume their farming work. In particular, they realise that the previous fences, made of straw, are not strong enough, and that instead they will need wire fencing.

“We have identified craftsmen who make wire fences of good quality and we were told that we can have this type of fence through Plan,” says Yacine, treasurer of the group. The women plan to lobby for funding from the Rural Council. They also recognise that they miscalculated the growing cycles of some of the vegetables, and that such planning problems can be addressed with further training.

146.5mm INSIDE

Based on Plan’s suggestions, the women are gradually developing a more hard-headed and entrepreneurial vision for their vegetable gardens. They’ve asked for training in business management from Plan to work out a business plan and calculate how much additional investment will be needed, and how much profit is likely to be generated. So far, they predict that they’ll be in profit again in five months.

And at the end of the day, it will be the women’s children who benefit from the scheme, with higher family incomes, better food and reduced malnutrition: “Our children are our wealth,” says Khady. “The income we earn from this farm will contribute to their education and their health.”

Some names have been changed for privacy and child protection reasons.

“Our children are our wealth. The income we earn from this farm will contribute to their education and their health.”

p The new irrigation system

is much less labour-intensive than

watering by hand

148.5mm INSIDE

148.5mm INSIDE

And with the soil properly irrigated, the women’s incomes, and hopes, immediately rose:

Try, try again Keur Maba, in Western Senegal, is a small, isolated village about four miles from the Gambian border.

It’s a poor community. Many of Keur Maba’s 1,200 inhabitants make a living by farming groundnuts. Malnutrition is common, especially among children, because of the monotonous and limited diet. Some parents try to make some extra money through trade that involves crossing the border to buy cheap products in the Gambia and then bringing them back to sell on in Senegal. But it can be risky, because many struggling traders are tempted to flout customs restrictions to try and make a little more money for their families, leaving them in danger of prosecution.

To Plan, the need for projects that provided alternative ways for the villagers to boost their incomes was clear. But we wanted to encourage projects that would fight malnutrition among the village’s children as well as improving livelihoods.

So we sat down with the village’s women’s group to discuss options.

One of the clearest opportunities was

p Three members of the wome

n’s group in Keur Maba

“Since we have our vegetable garden, women who used to travel to The Gambia for fraudulent business do not go there anymore,” Khady Ndao, one of the members of the women’s group, said shortly after the garden was set up.

The women were able to grow lettuce, aubergine, okra and cabbage, and to sell their produce at two markets: one at Keur Maba and one at Keur Pathe across the border in The Gambia.

With their vegetable farm properly irrigated, the women’s incomes, and hopes, immediately rose.

Disaster strikes the two-hectare (about 212⁄ acre) farm allocated to the group by the Rural Council. The women wanted to grow vegetables there. The only barrier was how difficult it was to cultivate.

Plan helped solve this problem by giving the women efficient irrigation equipment which meant the work of watering the land, which had previously needed 50 women, could now be done by just one of them – leaving the other 49 free to work on the vegetable garden in other ways.

But three months after installing the new irrigation equipment, the women’s hopes took a battering. Some of their crops were destroyed by rains and the funds in their collective bank account stood at zero. The final straw came when cows invaded the gardens and trampled the vegetables.

“The cows easily made their way into the vegetable garden,” says Hawa, another member of the women’s group.

“I stood powerless in front of these animals, and as they destroyed the fruits of our efforts, I cried.”

But these struggles, rather than leaving the women downhearted, actually boosted their morale. The women have learned lessons, and they plan to resume their farming work. In particular, they realise that the previous fences, made of straw, are not strong enough, and that instead they will need wire fencing.

“We have identified craftsmen who make wire fences of good quality and we were told that we can have this type of fence through Plan,” says Yacine, treasurer of the group. The women plan to lobby for funding from the Rural Council. They also recognise that they miscalculated the growing cycles of some of the vegetables, and that such planning problems can be addressed with further training.

146.5mm INSIDE

Based on Plan’s suggestions, the women are gradually developing a more hard-headed and entrepreneurial vision for their vegetable gardens. They’ve asked for training in business management from Plan to work out a business plan and calculate how much additional investment will be needed, and how much profit is likely to be generated. So far, they predict that they’ll be in profit again in five months.

And at the end of the day, it will be the women’s children who benefit from the scheme, with higher family incomes, better food and reduced malnutrition: “Our children are our wealth,” says Khady. “The income we earn from this farm will contribute to their education and their health.”

Some names have been changed for privacy and child protection reasons.

“Our children are our wealth. The income we earn from this farm will contribute to their education and their health.”

p The new irrigation system

is much less labour-intensive than

watering by hand

146.5mm FLAP

148.5mm BACK

Challenge and change in Senegal

Real progress

Over 47 years of independence, Senegal has developed into a stable democracy transcending ethnic and religious divides. Yet despite this, it remains among the poorest countries in the world.

With the support of Plan, children and adults in Albania are working together to develop their communities and claim their right to a better future. And real progress is being made.

Last year our work included:

Many families are leaving the poverty of rural areas for the capital, Dakar, where shanty towns are developing without proper schools or adequate sanitation, and children are exposed to the worst sorts of exploitation.

Plan is working in Senegal to improve nursery care and basic education, healthcare, rural people’s livelihoods and awareness of children’s rights. And there are real successes: “Thanks to your support and community participation, the rate of children who completed their immunisation programme improved significantly, as did children’s enrolment and retention in schools,” says Ousmane Seye, Plan’s Country Director in Senegal.

p Helping teenager s to develop job skills is part of our work to increase incomes in the long term

This Country Progress Report highlights just one success among many that your support is helping to make happen.

Senegal country facts Capital: Dakar

Under-fives who are underweight: 17%

UN Human Development Index ranking: 156th (of 177 countries)

People living on less than 1 US dollar a day: 22%

Life expectancy: 56 years

(Sources: the UN, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, UNICEF)

Population: 11.6 million

• Connecting 18 villages to safe water in the Northern Saint Louis area, and laying 5,384km of water pipeline in the nearby Louga area, giving 60,000 people access to safe water

Any enquiries please contact: Nick Burton. e: nick@bright-uk.com m: 07884 367567. d: 020 7620 8150 Size (Prod)

Colours(Prod)

Art (A/D)

Copy (C/W)

Content (Acc.)

ter comes to a

village in Sene gal

Senegal

• Training 732 children aged 10-12 in radio techniques to broadcast programmes with child rights messages

Plan’s greatest successes come from a joint effort combining the hard work and determination of communities, children, volunteers, staff, and partner organisations. The ongoing support of our sponsors is a vital ingredient, too. It’s their generosity and commitment that allows us to continue to help children in 49 of the poorest countries in the world.

So on behalf of the children and communities we work with, thank you to all our sponsors!

SEN

0407 100647 PLAN 0407_Senegal 13.11.07 210x443.5mm FOLD TO A5 Client proof: 2 3

p Clean wa

• Distributing 87,964 insecticide-treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria

Plan UK Registered Charity No: 276035

Admagic No: Bright No: Client name: File name: Date: Size: Studio proof:

148.5mm FRONT

Country Progress Report 2007