They deserved our HELP!
Second day of 2010 and I've made a trip to a place I've never been before. It is not a beautiful or fancy place in Senegal but I will visit a school and the home of the children I plan to support, a place call "Thiaroye Guinaw Rail". Before that I've been looking around for weeks and went to unicef Senegal to see what help I can offer to the poor child in Senegal. It is heart wrecking moment seeing small children wandering on the street begging for money and they really deserved some help from us. I believe education is the key for this country to get out from the 3rd world category. Senegal is in LDCs list for sure. The term "Least Developed Countries (LDCs)" describes the world's poorest countries with following 3 criterias: low income criterion, human resource weakness criterion and economic vulnerability criterion. The trip was organized just for me by GRA-REDEP (NGO) who is the member of UNICEF, UNESCO and CCF. I told them the intention of helping the children and they really support my idea and plan and ask me to see with my own eyes. The journey took us 1hour++ to reach the school and those guys in Malaysia, please don't complain when you have a small pot hole on the road because the road condition here will make you throw up even before you reach your destination!
Picture draws a thousand words.......
School entrance and as you can see, sun is the source of light
Their classrooms are very small with no proper chairs or tables
Yeah no kidding! This small classroom is for 43 students! See the attendance below
20 boys 23 girls. I'm happy girls attendance are better than boys as here in Senegal, girls have less opportunity to go school compare to boys. Great job for this school! Well at the right photo....guess what place is this? It is a toilet!!!
This is her classroom and will start her 5th grade next Monday. During holiday, the classroom will be used by volunteer teacher to teach students intended to go university
The guy with white shirt is Mr.Sarre, the director of my company's partner. He is a kind man and always help me on translation, meeting with unicef and NGOs. He is 58 years but young at heart. At the left corner is the girl who organize this trip and she can speak very good english. She is a social worker and a graduate university student who go around Senegal to offer her help. Right photo: The headmaster of this school
This is the first thing I saw when I stepped out from the school. I understand that 3 months ago is a raining season and this place was flooded with water. It never rain since then and can you imagine the amount of water 3 months back? Well I don't know how to express my feeling at that time and you guys just think about the smell, malaria, mosquitoes and ............. the house is no way for people to live
I'm on the way to visit one of the child's home. Well this is what I see along the way...glad you don't have the chance to smell it
On the way to the child's home, they introduce me to a English Teacher and I would say among Senegalese especially in rural areas, she can speak quite well. First word from her is "How are you doing?" Her house is under water too and they told me it needs a lot of money to pump the water out. I'm amazed she still can give us a good smile despite living in such a bad condition and definitely in my heart she is and will be a good teacher. Well the right photo is the sewage system just outside the house...ermmm yeah...
It is a tough road....we have to walk on the rock to prevent our feet from getting wet.
Well everywhere is under water!
At last we reached the girl's home. Her name is Aminata Drame and she is 13 years old. Her dad is not around anymore and living with her mum right now. Due to the flood and condition with the family, she don't have money to go school. They don't even have money for food and please feel free to click to enlarge the food and observe carefully what they eat. Well I promise her she will be able to school this coming Monday and ask her to study hard. As long she is studying, I will find ways to support her.
This boy needs help too. His name is Thiemo Mountaga BA and he is 11years old. Both her parents are not around anymore and right now living with a relative. Basically he has no house to stay due to the flood and I believe he is living at the street. He needs help in terms of food and education and will be going for 3rd year primary school if he is able to afford it. Right photo is the Director of the NGO taking photo with the children. He is a kind man and see his photo in many organization helping people around.
She is another girl who needs help and her name is Fartaurnata Diallo and she is 12 years old. She has no house at the moment because of the flood and will be going for 5th year primary school if she can afford it. The children definitely need help in terms of food, clothing and educational utensils such as books, pencils, school bag and etc.
I'm currently working with unicef Senegal to ship some goods from Malaysia food, clothing, books, toys, chairs, tables or any items which will be able to help them out especially for children. I believe we have a lot of second hand or unused stuff that we can donate out which really means a lot to them. I'm still working on the logistics part as shipping a container from M'sia to Senegal is not easy or cheap but I hope I can find a way through it. Well I hope friends or relatives around me can afford to support/adopt a child here as they really deserved a helping hand from us. This is my first time writing a blog and is the hardest things I ever wrote and my tears can't stop falling. "Sometimes our work feels small and insignificant, but remember a small ripple can gain momentum and build a current that is insurmountable"
