Class from outside. Source: Fundación Guné
Class from outside. Source: Fundación Guné
Students of the Soussoutou school. Source: Fundación Guné
Students of the Soussoutou school. Source: Fundación Guné
Inside of classroom. Source: Fundación Guné
Inside of classroom. Source: Fundación Guné

Social Issue

Kolda is the poorest region in Senegal. The economy revolves around agriculture and livestock and has a lower literacy rate than the average in Senegal. The general percentage of literacy in this region is 38.9%, 54.1% in men and 27.2% in women.

The school in the village of Soussoutou is an educational centre where the government of Senegal finances the teacher’s salaries, but the local government is responsible for the building of schools. However, it is quite common that the local government does not have sufficient resources, leaving this construction of schools to parents and teachers, and consequently, they are built year after year with straw and reeds.

Our Response

Since 2018, Fundación Guné has relied on the support of private foundations to finance the construction of more permanent educational infrastructure in the poorest rural areas in Senegal.

The secondary school of Soussoutou provides classes to 200 students between the ages of 12 and 15. This secondary centre brings adolescents from 5 neighbouring villages together in the school. These villages are Niandiaye, Sossoutou, Saré Moussa, Saré Guélaido and Thiéwel Bessel.

The current school consists of 5 buildings, with only one permanent cement building, constructed by Fundación Guné in 2021. This donation of Netri will finance the second phase of the project with the construction of another cement building.

The members of the team of Asociación Guné (local counterpart of the Fundación Guné) will be carrying out the tracking of the progress of the project. At a local level, in the village, they’ll create a management committee, elected by the community for the maintenance of the school

Expected Social Impact

With the improvement of the infrastructure, it is expected to foster optimal learning conditions with the expectation of improved outcomes in learning in the area.