Empowering grandmothers for children's education

Children in Vélingara often spend their summer holidays working with their families in agricultural activities to help them earn more money. Grandmother Project’s school holiday program is an excellent way to educate the community about the rights and responsibilities of children, especially in rural areas, whilst offering children a program of activities to enrich their summer holidays with fun and exciting games and opportunities to learn about their community and culture.   Children in rural areas in Senegal, like Vélingara, do not perform as well as their urban counterparts and often do not continue their education into secondary school.

Grandmother Project’s Summer Holidays Program meets an identified need in the community.  In addition to necessary reinforcement of core subjects like math and French, children also learn about local history and culture. Everyone is involved in the summer holiday program: teachers facilitate the activities and work together with the community members who are invited to participate, particularly the grandmothers.  Culture, tradition and community history are also a focus of the program activities, as are the importance of elders, strengthening intergenerational relationships and the rights and responsibilities of children in the community.

Traditional games, cultural practices and sessions on the community’s history are some of the activities that form part of the school holiday programme.  Children learn about traditional farming and livestock care practices, in addition to delving into thought provoking discussion about who they are and what their role is in their community with games such as “Who are we?” and “About us”. 

This year, due to social and political unrest in the region, Grandmother Project has partnered with community leaders, particularly grandmothers, and teachers to introduce lessons on civic values and citizenship. 

This year over 7,000 boys and girls of various ages have participated in the summer school, which was supported by 33 teachers and over 1,000 grandmothers.  We need your help to make sure these children can continue to receive the support necessary to ensure they stay in school and thrive.  Your support can help these children continue their education. 

In southern Senegal, grandmothers are essential to the education of young girls.  They are not only storytellers of keepers of traditional culture, but they are also confidants to young girls on all matters.  Grandmothers support young girls’ education and push other community leaders to do the same. 

“We organized meetings with the WRAs to discuss their daughters' education. The objective of our meetings with WRAs was to see how we can help girls protect themselves from the risks associated with pregnancy. It was at the end of our meetings with the WRAs that more trust was established between us, and since then, they have understood that our objective is to help them in the supervision of their daughters. Now the WRAs encourage girls to approach us.”

-       Grandmother Leader, Hafia.

Grandmothers are also present in the schools, supporting teachers and serving as cultural bridges between the school and the community.  In the schools, they give lessons, but some also work together with teachers to plan special activities. 

“I went to school to talk about the problems that early marriage and early pregnancy can cause. We organized storytelling sessions and guessing games at school with the other grandmothers in collaboration with students and teachers.”

-       Grandmother Leader, Némataba

Your generosity ensures that grandmothers receive the training and support they need to promote girls’ education.