Sunday, December 14, 2008
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A 501(c)(3) Charity
The Diba Education Project
The Diba Education Project is a 501 (c) (3) charity dedicated to helping the community of Santhie Passy, Senegal improve conditions of the local school and develop small business opportunities for its residents.
The project was born out of a long time frienship with Ibrahima Diba, a co-worker at Sylvia Weinstock Cakes who has returned to his native Senegal.
After more than 10 years of dedicated service, it was time for Ibrahima to head back to his family. It was a bittersweet decision for all who worked with him; we were happy that he would be reunited with his family, but very sad to be losing a caring, funny and much loved friend. We all wanted to give something to him, but what? What kind of parting gift do you give to a dear friend? A friend that you will probably never see again and whose needs in his homeland would be greater than any of us could ever understand?
Ibrahima wanted nothing for himself, but after much discussion he suggested that if we were to do something perhaps we could help the small school in his hometown. His intentions were, maybe, a few books and pencils. After some investigation and after seeing the conditions of the school in pictures, we decided that much more could be done.
There were between 60 and 75 children of all ages cramped into one dirt floor school room with no desks or chairs. Children from 5-17 years old were taught at the same time, by the same teacher. We decided that we needed to build desks and chairs, another school room and a bathroom and hire at least one more teacher. This was all quite realistic: a desk and chair set, for three children, would cost $18, a new school house, $1,200 and tuition for each child (to cover the salaries for the teachers), $20 per child per year.
Well, we learned that a little money goes a long way! The generosity of friends and family helped us to fulfill all of our goals. Thank You!!
My friend Patricia Carroll and I visited Santhie Passy in the winter of 2007. We were very pleased with the progress made and had a wonderful time meeting the townspeople. After talking with everyone our new goals were set: a peanut processing machine for the women of the town (Senegal is second only to the U.S. in peanut production), a small library for the children and covering tuition for the now 130 students!
Senegal is a fascinating place with warm, kind and generous people and we would recommend travel there to anyone. (I plan on returning in January of 2010 - all are welcome!)
The project was born out of a long time frienship with Ibrahima Diba, a co-worker at Sylvia Weinstock Cakes who has returned to his native Senegal.
After more than 10 years of dedicated service, it was time for Ibrahima to head back to his family. It was a bittersweet decision for all who worked with him; we were happy that he would be reunited with his family, but very sad to be losing a caring, funny and much loved friend. We all wanted to give something to him, but what? What kind of parting gift do you give to a dear friend? A friend that you will probably never see again and whose needs in his homeland would be greater than any of us could ever understand?
Ibrahima wanted nothing for himself, but after much discussion he suggested that if we were to do something perhaps we could help the small school in his hometown. His intentions were, maybe, a few books and pencils. After some investigation and after seeing the conditions of the school in pictures, we decided that much more could be done.
There were between 60 and 75 children of all ages cramped into one dirt floor school room with no desks or chairs. Children from 5-17 years old were taught at the same time, by the same teacher. We decided that we needed to build desks and chairs, another school room and a bathroom and hire at least one more teacher. This was all quite realistic: a desk and chair set, for three children, would cost $18, a new school house, $1,200 and tuition for each child (to cover the salaries for the teachers), $20 per child per year.
Well, we learned that a little money goes a long way! The generosity of friends and family helped us to fulfill all of our goals. Thank You!!
My friend Patricia Carroll and I visited Santhie Passy in the winter of 2007. We were very pleased with the progress made and had a wonderful time meeting the townspeople. After talking with everyone our new goals were set: a peanut processing machine for the women of the town (Senegal is second only to the U.S. in peanut production), a small library for the children and covering tuition for the now 130 students!
Senegal is a fascinating place with warm, kind and generous people and we would recommend travel there to anyone. (I plan on returning in January of 2010 - all are welcome!)
