As anyone who talked to me in the past year knows, my
favorite experience of my Peace Corps service was last year's Kaolack Girl's
Empowerment Camp. I was so inspired by
the excitement shown by the Senegalese girls and Peace Corps Volunteers who
attended that I decided to branch off
the idea and start another youth camp at the high school near my village.
Fatou, Umou, Nafy, and Safiatou, the girls I brought to the
Kaolack Girls Camp, approached me and asked if we could do a similar camp in their community.They wanted to share
the knowledge, support system, and enthusiasm for their futures with their
peers- and they wanted to see if I could make that happen. Seven months later, my co-director Erica and
I have coordinated with the school, students, Peace Corps, and Senegalese
National Board of Education to create the Koumbidia Youth Leadership and
Empowerment Camp, or 'Kamp Koumbidia.' 
Starting a program like this from scratch has been both an
exhausting and confidence-building experience.
Fortunately, one of my neighboring Peace Corps Volunteers, Erica
(another MSU Spartan, Go Green!), is equally passionate about youth and gender
empowerment and has been a driving force in making this happen. We hope that the project continues after this
year and Peace Corps Volunteers near Koumbidia will be able to hold future
annual 'Kamp Koumbidias.'
Koumbidia is home to a motivated group of students who
already have organized several student groups within their school. Many of them look forward to continuing their
education but too often drop out to help on the farm, are brought out of school
due to early marriages, or are obligated to get jobs to help support their
families. The importance of education is
slowly gaining ground, but many families do not fully value education, limiting
their children's career options.
The camp will be three days packed with discussions and
games about health, the environment, gender, and the students' future. Local experts will explain how these topics
can be applied to their community through youth leadership. Students will learn about career
opportunities from a local career panel.
Volunteers will lead groups of the students in daily volutneerism
activities within the community. The
final evening, we'll host a movie, inviting the entire community to recognize
the 40 Kamp Koumbidia participants and hold a discussion about the role of
youth in the community.
The camp is just over a month away and we are looking for
donations.
- $25 will pay for the cost of one student's supplies and lunch
- $40 will pay for the cost of one of our local expert's travel and expenses so they can expose the students to career and networking opportunities
We are eager to quickly meet our donation requirement and
deeply appreciate your donation!
P.S. I'm pretty
excited to see Fatou, Umou, Nafy, and Safiatou teach next month!
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