17 years of improving life for the people of Sagna and Malhem Hodar

The objective of World Vision Senegal’s development program in Malhem has been to improve the well-being of the 19,000 children in the rural communities of Malhem Hodar and Sagna, with the support of numerous partners, community leaders and households.

The story got underway in 1998, when World Vision Germany and World Vision Switzerland supported World Vision Senegal to conduct a socio-economic analysis of the community's challenges: difficulty of access to drinking water and primary healthcare; low levels of literacy and education; food insecurity; and a lack of access to credit. In the words of Amine Badiane from Mbaracounda, "the lack of drinking water caused many women to have miscarriages. They used to have to make a round-trip of several kilometers to find water, even when pregnant."

Significant improvements in all areas

The assessment of these communities’ needs led to the launch in 1999 of the Malhem Hodar program, based in Sagna*.

After 17 years of activities, the program has now reached its very successful conclusion. It has brought about numerous positive changes in many areas that have deeply impacted the quality of life of children, and their families and communities.

For example, access to drinking water has leapt from 12% in 1999 to 93% in 2016. Ndongo Segnane, President of the Mbaracounda Borehole Users' Association (ASUFOR) describes the extent of the effect on community life: "Our village actually nearly vanished because of the lack of water. But thanks to World Vision, we have been using a borehole since 2002 and we know how to run it properly because of the training we received. What’s more, the sale and supply of water to homes has generated some US$13,000 in income for us.”

Furthermore, the boreholes have allowed areas of land to be developed into market gardens and the sale of vegetable produce from them has improved both the quality of life for women and the nutrition of their children.

As Ndèye Gaye, member of the Benteky Economic Interest Group (GIE) puts it: "the income from our market garden has allowed me to meet my kids' needs for school materials, clothes and shoes."

Community empowerment delivering impact

Meanwhile, the communities have also set up and equipped a health center, a number of health huts and a healthcare mutual society, as well as purchasing an ambulance and training local people. In the words of Mrs Coumba Seck: "these days the women of the area are able to deal with cases of malnutrition, track the weight of children and make them follow courses of treatment. On one occasion, my World Vision training even emboldened me to advise a nurse who had incorrectly weighed a child."

The program has also carried out several awareness campaigns on HIV/AIDS, malaria and Ebola. 10,000 treated mosquito nets have been handed out and 98% of women and children are now passing the night under their protection.

At the program's closing ceremony, the National Director of World Vision Senegal Dr. Andrew Catford drew attention to the significant advances made over the years and their effect on local people: "7.5% of children were underweight at the outset of the program, a figure that has dropped to less than 4% now that facilities are in place to stockpile food for malnourished children. Back in 1999, only 15% of children were going to school. Now, various awareness-raising campaigns and improvements in access to school facilities have resulted in more than 54% coming through the school gates. More than 80% of villages falling within the remit of the program have seen schools being either built, renovated and kitted out.

In other developments, the number of parents who are now in a position to cope with crises rose from 10% to 53%, and the number of homes with a secondary income has increased from 16% to 72% since the start of the program. Finally, knowledge of woodland management techniques has spread from 20% to 77% of homes over the last 17 years, resulting in the curtailment of large-scale tree felling.

The next chapter - community continue taking control of their own futures

The amount of work and energy that local people had put into the last 17 years was the focus for the celebrations that brought together local partners and collectives with representatives from the Senegalese government and World Vision missions in Senegal, Germany and Switzerland. World Vision has now brought its development program in Malhem to a close.

Closure is always the natural final stage in a life-cycle of a project, when the mission has been accomplished and the proof of its impact on improving the well-being of families remains for all to see.

World Vision continues its work in other underprivileged regions of Senegal towards its objective of improving the lives of eight million children in Senegal, particularly the most vulnerable, by the year 2021.

*The difference between the names is due to the administrative demarcation of the area.

 Photos crédits: Alexandre Gassama