Empowering grandmothers for children's education

One of the barriers for children – particularly girls – to attending school is that often families do not feel that the school reflects nor promotes their values.  The school is seen as a foreign institution that neither understands nor respects the local culture and traditions.  Grandmothers serve as a bridge between the school and families in the community.  They impart traditional wisdom and knowledge and support children’s well-being and development.

“Elders have a very important role to play in the transmission of values in the family, in communities and in school. They witness everything that goes on in children’s lives today and are repositories of many experiences. Because of this, they are like teachers who deserve to be listened to by the younger generations.”

 Saydou, Teacher in Velingara

Grandmothers are committed to working together with teachers to improve school-community relations, but also to ensure that children are connected with their culture and their traditions.  Grandmothers see their investment in children’s lives as their responsibility to children and the community as a whole.

“A woman gives birth to a child but the child belongs to the whole community. If the child hasn’t received a good education it’s not only a loss for the community, but also a failure of the same community.”

 Aissatou, Grandmother

Your continued support of Grandmother Project – Change through Culture ensures that children not only go to school, but that they are connected to their culture, their identity.  Grandmothers are not only the guardians of tradition, but they are also champions of children’s education.  Thank you for supporting our work with grandmothers and teachers for children’s education and development.

Grandmothers are essential to ensuring that girls go to school – and continue their studies.  While girls make up close to half of the student body in primary schools in Velingara, southern Senegal, few girls complete their secondary education.   We all know that education ensures a more equitable future for girls, but sometimes there isn’t the family or community support necessary to make sure that happens. 

Grandmother Leaders are a bridge between the community and the schools. They make sure that schools reflect the local community both through their presence and their collaboration with teachers.  Grandmothers educate other community members about the importance of girls completing secondary school and they work with parents to support their daughter’s education. Grandmothers do all of this because they are committed to improving the future for girls in Velingara. 

Thank you for helping grandmothers ensure that schools in Velingara are able to support all children – but especially girls.  Your support – particularly during this difficult period – makes all the difference. 

“Grandmothers teach us to appreciate studying. They say that they themselves didn’t have the chance to go to school and that we should make the most of the opportunity that we have to do so. They ask our parents to let us study and to not give us away in marriage at a very early age.”

Diénabou, adolescent girl

“Grandmothers travel to schools to tell stories to children. They talk with the teachers about girls’ education and encourage the young girls to persevere in their studies. When it comes to child marriage, grandmothers ask parents to let their daughter continue her studies. When it comes to the matter of teenage pregnancies, grandmothers request that young girls not visit boys. Before, grandmothers told us that they were neither our mothers nor our fathers. They left us to our own devices. Now, however, they no longer feel discouraged, they give us advice, and they are much closer to young people.”

Fatoumata, adolescent girl

School has returned to Velingara and children aren’t the only ones in the classroom.  Grandmothers provide an important part of children’s schooling and connect them to their history, traditions and culture.  When grandmothers are involved in the education of children, they have the ability to support children to stay in school – particularly girls. 

Frequently, parents do not support girls to continue their schooling.  Parents often see schooling as dangerous; an activity that does not reflect their culture or traditions that could also lead to teen pregnancy.  With the help of grandmothers in schools, girls are supported in their education and parents feel comfortable in sending their girls to school, knowing that grandmothers are there to look out for their daughters’ well-being. 

Grandmothers know that girls must finish their schooling in order to be part of the future. As one grandmother noted: “We must let the girls continue their studies. This is very important because today a girl can become a minister; she will help you and she will benefit as well.”

Thanks to your support grandmothers have been able to continue their work in the schools, ensuring that girls are able to continue their education and reach their dreams.  Join us this International Women’s Day in celebrating the powerful work of the grandmothers. 

Fatoumata is ready for her return to school next week. Thanks to GMP’s Summer Education Program, Fatoumata was able to review math and French, in addition to learning some traditional games and discover more about the history of her community. Together with Fatoumata, almost 2,500 children from 25 different schools participated in GMP’s Summer Education Program. 965 girls and 929 boys participated in a series of fun and engaging activities that were facilitated by 158 grandmothers from the local communities, in addition to receiving a robust review of French and mathematics that was supported by 33 teachers from local area schools.

The grandmothers that assisted teachers in the Summer Education Program will also be present in school this year to provide continuity and support to families sending their children back to school after 8 long months without any schooling.

Historically, families in Velingara do not trust the school system, as it as seen as a foreign institution that does not respect the local community’s values or history. Grandmothers, however, have built a bridge between the schools and the community so that families are better informed about what is going on in school and know that the grandmothers ensure that the curriculum also reflects the local culture.

Thanks to you, grandmothers are able to support both the education and well-being of children in Velingara.

Fatoumata just turned 9 and all she wants for her birthday is to go back to school so she can continue learning about her favorite subject: math. Because of COVID-19, since mid-March schools are closed, and because Fatoumata lives in Némataba, a poor, rural area of southern Senegal, there is no opportunity for distance learning. In fact, like the majority of her friends from school, her family has no radio and she has no access to schoolbooks. Fatoumata and her schoolmates are already behind their counterparts from urban areas in Senegal; no school for almost 6 months only ensures they remain behind.

To ensure Fatoumata will be prepared to start fourth grade in September, GMP has decided to use some of the donations to the “Empowering grandmothers for children’s education” project to support a summer educational program, which will bring teachers, grandmothers and children to support children’s learning and cultural awareness. Fun, engaging activities about traditional knowledge and culture will be coupled with a robust program of reinforcement in French language and mathematics to ensure that Fatoumata and many other primary schoolchildren are not left behind.

GMP aims to reach 2,000 primary schoolchildren across communities throughout the Némataba and Kandia communes in the department of Vélingara. Once schools reopen in September, GMP will begin the training of grandmothers and teachers so they may continue working together to improve school attendance and performance. Now, more than ever, we must concentrate on improving quality education for children in southern Senegal. With your help and the grandmothers we are sure to succeed!