Child Sponsorship background from Kaolack, Senegal

SOS Children's Village Kaolack

SOS Children's Village Kaolack is in the hottest and most densely populated province of Senegal, which is also called the "peanut province". The SOS Children's Village has ten family houses, a village director's house and various administrative and other additional buildings. It opened in 1983 and can take in up to 100 children.

Other SOS Projects in Kaolack

An SOS Primary School was built on the edge of the SOS Children's Village, which (like the SOS Nursery) is attended by children from the village as well as children from the neighbourhood. The primary school was opened in 1984, a year after the SOS Children's Village, and has a capacity for 600 children. The school has twelve classrooms, an administration area, a village director's house and several additional rooms. The nursery,which was opened at the same time as the SOS Children's Village, consists of four large classrooms and additional rooms, and can offer places to up to 140 children.

In March 1984, an SOS Medical Centre was also opened, which includes a maternity and paediatric department, in order to ensure medical care for the people and to implement preventive measures at a local level. It has several departments: general medicine, paediatrics, maternity, a dispensary, a laboratory, a room with ten beds and an administration area. Since the centre opened, up to 18,000 patients have been seen there each year.

Lastly, a social centre has been under construction since August 2005 within the framework of the programme to improve the living conditions of children from needy families. It is going to be added to the SOS Medical Centre and will be able to provide care for up to 178 children and 46 adults. The centre offers assistance to those from the neighbourhood so as to enable them to improve their living conditions: it supports them whilst they are looking for work or when setting up a small business, and provides them with medication and food. These supportive measures are intended to prevent problems associated with the dire social situation, such as prostitution, insufficient education and drug abuse.

Background to Kaolack

Kaolack is a town of 172,305 people (2002 census) on the north bank of the Saloum River. It is the capital of the Kaolack Region, which borders The Gambia to the south. Kaolack is an important regional market town and is Senegal's main peanut trading and processing center. As the center of Ibrahimiyya branch of the Tijaniyyah Sufi order founded by Ibrayima Ñas, it is also a major center of Islamic education. The Medina Baay mosque  in Kaolack is one of the largest and best known in Senegal.