|
 The Louga region, located in the Sahel zone of north-central Senegal, has Peace Corps volunteers working in each of its three departments, Louga, Linguère and Kébémer. Ethnically, the region is primarily Wolof and Pulaar. The regional economy is based on subsistence agriculture, the sale of small-sale cash crops, the trade of livestock, and tree harvesting. The region’s semi-arid climate and low annual rainfall, in addition to environmental problems including desertification, deforestation, poor soil management and overgrazing, pose challenges to the agricultural economy.
Volunteers address these and other challenges by working with the population in the following areas: Urban Agriculture, Health, Environmental Education, and Small Enterprise Development. Additionally, volunteers have targeted gender development as a regional secondary project.
Urban Agriculture
In order to address food insecurity due to inhospitable farming conditions, Urban Agriculture volunteers promote small-scale urban gardening as a sustainable source of nutritious fruits and vegetables. They work with demonstration gardens in hospitals, prisons, schools and other public spaces, facilitate best practice trainings and extend improved seed.
Health
Health volunteers use educational techniques to address a range of pressing health problems in the region including malaria, malnutrition, STDs and diarrhea due to poor sanitation. They assist local health workers with baby weighings and vaccinations, mosquito net distributions and malaria sensitizations. They also work with communities to improve sanitation through latrine and well-building projects. Volunteers of all sectors work collaboratively to script and record educational radio shows relating to health for Linguère’s Aida FM.
Case Study: Mosquito Net "Legs" Project
Case Study: Linguère Mosquito Net Distribution
Environtmental Education
Environmental education volunteers work with schools and communities to address the large-scale environmental degradation of the region due to overgrazing, deforestation, desertification and water shortage. They train community members in gardening and tree-planting techniques and assist in the creation of small-scale school and community gardens and nurseries. They also share environmental information with students through environmental education clubs and Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) lessons. Finally, they collaborate with health volunteers on malaria sensitizations, sanitation projects and HIV/AIDS trainings.
Small Enterprise Development
SED volunteers work with artisans and vendors in and around Louga to encourage income production by teaching improved marketing, accounting and resource management techniques. They also help facilitate computer acquisition and assist with information technology trainings for entrepreneurs and students.
Gender and Development
Women are the backbone of the Senegalese family structure, and traditionally girls in this region have married early to start families. Today girls find it challenging to balance these traditional gender expectations and a large workload of chores around the house with a desire to continue their educations and find jobs. Volunteers work through SENEGAD, the gender and development arm of PC/Senegal, to facilitate the Michele Sylvester scholarship for middle school girls, conduct girls’ leadership seminars, lead girls’ groups and start coed sports teams. Currently volunteers in and around Linguère collaborating with local gym teachers to run monthly coed basketball clinics for 42 middle school students.
Case Study: Linguere-area Annual Girls’ Leadership Camps
Links
Case Study: Linguère Basketball Project
Case Study:Ngaraf Community Garden
SEEDS Basketball Camp: An article about the SEEDS Basketball Camp held in Linguere in January.
Louga Volunteers' Blogs
It Starts with a Step: Ann Marie Albright, Environmental Education Volunteer
|
