To date we have been able to reach about 40.000 Senegalese.
Health through education
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Health care for the population is rather poor and, especially outside the cities, completely inadequate. Only 1/4 of all doctors work outside the capital Dakar. Senegal is facing great structural challenges: For example, access to drinking water or sanitary facilities is limited or not guaranteed in many places.
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We are convinced that some of the country's existing problems can be solved through fundamental educational work. For instance, early sexual education can not only prevent teenage pregnancies but also help to contain sexually transmitted diseases. At the same time, passing on knowledge about hygiene measures, such as the correct washing of hands, can prevent infections.
Every year in Senegal 116,000 girls become pregnant before finishing school.
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Lack of education and the tabooing of sexuality are significant factors for the high number.. Teenagers find it difficult to obtain information about safe contraception. The result is a large number of unwanted pregnancies and school drop-outs, which form the beginning of a vicious circle.
Together with Elena EDM, we have to date trained 208 young Senegalese as voluntary health ambassadors (HA) - another 100 are on their way.
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In this project young Senegalese people are trained as volunteer health ambassadors according to a concept that was developed in cooperation with the Senegalese Ministry of Health, US-Aid and UNICEF. After the training, the young ambassadors pass on their knowledge in their own community as well as in rural areas by giving free seminars. The training lasts at least two weeks and is conducted by trained members of our partner association. In the meantime we have trained 208 HA. So far each HA has held at least ten seminars and reached an average of 15 people per seminar. So far we have been able to reach more than 40,000 people. Currently another 100 HA are being trained to enable a nationwide awareness campaign.
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You want to know more about the HAs and their work? On our social media channels there are regular updates with photos and news. Feel free to contact us by email if you have any questions.
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Patron of the project: Prof. Claudia Schmidtke, MdB