Hi there! In September I am going on a volunteering project to Senegal for 10 weeks to work at a day care centre for street children (or Talibés as they are known). I have chosen Projects Abroad, which is a well-established organisation that offers volunteering and language learning opportunities in 27 countries around the world.

There are around 100 Talibés cared for by the centre, boys aged between 3 and 18, who have been left by their parents with religious leaders in order to learn the Qur'an, but receive no formal education and are forced to spend much of their time begging. Something that shocked me is that they all only have one set of clothes, considering how many I have, so I am aiming to collect old clothes for the children.

The aim of the centre is to provide sustainable educational support to these disadvantaged children. They want to promote early childhood development through improving numeracy and literacy in French and English, as well as through arts and sporting activities.

I have been told that the children love football and many of the older ones are fluent in French and are eager to learn English. Being so privileged as to live in this country and receive great free education, I thought that there were definitely some things I could bring with me to help and entertain, as the centre has few staff and often lacks the basic necessary resources it needs to provide education and healthcare to the children!

Therefore I asked for a list of what the centre needs most, provided below.

I am hoping to buy football training bibs and educational videos in particular myself, as people are less likely to have them to give.

Any money you want to donate, as little as you like (!) towards buying these resources and the general cost of my project would be greatly appreciated.

Anything you can give, however small, will help me try and make as big a difference to the children at my placement as possible. Thank you! :)

Resources required for Projects Abroad Centre Saint Louis Senegal

Basic necessities:

Any old clothes such as shorts and t-shirts.

Football jerseys in particular would please the children

Health and hygiene:

Old towels

Toothbrushes

Shower gel

Strong scissors and tweezers

Cotton balls

Bandages

Compress

Books or educational DVDs on basic Maths, French and English

Footballs (that can have the air taken out so I can pack them)

Training bibs