Animal Welfare Senegal Project #10140

Conserving Senegal's Chimpanzees through Education

by Neighbor Ape

Conserving Senegal's Chimpanzees through Education

Project Report | Feb 18, 2014
Dormitory nearing completion!

By Dr. Jill Pruetz | Project Leader

OBARAR Dorm lodgings

GREAT news from Kedougou, Senegal is that the Neighbor-Ape/OBARAR dormitory will be complete by April! I visited Senegal in late December/early January and was able to visit the dormitory site and get all the updates!

While the dormitory might look pretty basic, it does in fact provide more amenities than most rural Senegalese people in the region are used to. I was able to observe workers finishing the sewer system as well as begining the construction of the showers. There are already living quarters for boys and girls, and the well has been functional for some time. The quarters for the dorm chaperones are also built, and going up now is a guest house for visiting parents. After the necessities have been built, a small dispensary will also be built. The entire dorm will be surrounded by a stone and bamboo fence, and there will also be a shade shelter for sitting outside.

The students will move into the dormitory before school is let out this year! We are currently renting lodging in Kedougou, but we anticipate that the students will be able to move in within the next few weeks!

The dormitory is really an amazing opportunity to bring education to young Senegalese who would not be able to get access to the quality of education they can get in town - or even at all - before this project was realized. This is the biggest project that Neighbor Ape has tackled to date, and it would not have been possible without the kindness of donors!

Lots of bricks!

OBARAR dorm quarters for chaperones

OBARAR directors (Leon & Dondo) show me around

OBARAR dormitory, Kedougou, Senegal

Kaly Camara and assistant working hard!

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Oct 28, 2013
New School Year Begins in Senegal!

By Dr. Jill Pruetz | Project Leader

An elder of Djendji village with schoolchildren

This is a busy time of year for Neighbor Ape! We have several bits of pretty good news to pass along! First of all, Anna, the student we sponsor in nursing school in Dakar, has started her internship at a pharmacy. We are incredibly excited that Anna has made it so far. There were a number of times where she became somewhat discouraged given the difficulty of her program, but she stuck with it, and she is almost finished. Even better news is that she plans to leave the capitol city of Dakar and return to her home town of Kedougou, putting her skills to work here where they are really needed!

This year marks the 3rd year that we have been able to donate a year's worth of school supplies to the village of Djendji. This is the biggest village in the vicinity of the Fongoli chimpanzee group's home range, and the people of Djendji have greatly facilitated our project over the years. They are very interested in chimpanzee conservation, and elders in the village are genuinely concerned that future generations should be able to experience the beauty of the area, including the wildlife, that they have been able to experience during their lifetimes.

Our dormitory construction project should be finished very soon! Beudick children that will be attending school in Kedougou this year represent a record enrollment! As soon as the boy's quarters are finished, everyone will move from the buildings that OBARAR (a Beudick non-governmental or non-profit organization based in Kedougou, which Neighbor Ape works with on educational and healthcare projects) is renting to the new dormitory that Neighbor Ape has helped construct with the generous donation of Drs. Jewel Slesnick and Harold Marder. Additionally, Neighbor Ape will sponsor at least 2 schoolchildren here from the village of Tenkoto.

We will also be sponsoring 3 girls (Nadege, Katherine & Natalie) in grades ranging from middle school to high school in Tambacounda, a larger town between Kedougou and the capitol of Senegal, Dakar. We will continue to sponsor Alex's schooling in Kedougou, where he is still in primary school.

Neighbor Ape is extremely proud to be able to support a variety of educational projects and, of course, could not do so without your support! An education is very much valued in Senegal, and children and parents alike are very grateful to us and to our donors!

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Jul 8, 2013
Education and Chimpanzee Conservation in Senegal

By Jill Pruetz | Project Leader

Orphan chimp Toto take a trip to the "wild"

The school year is winding down in Senegal, and all of our sponsored students did great! Katherine & Natalie are going to continue high school in Tambacounda, and Allamouta has 3 years left in high school in Kedougou. Alex and Nadej are continuing elementary and middle school in Kedougou, respectively. The big news is that Anna has finished her nursing degree! We wish her the best of luck in the future and will keep you updated on her career!

The dormitory we are helping build in Kedougou in conjunction with the OBRAR organization is moving along and should be ready for the next school year. There are more Beudick children interested in attending than ever before. One of the sleeping quarters is built, and the well is functional while lavatory facilities are underway. Ultimately, there will be a boys' and a girl's sleeping quarters, sleeping quarters for the house mother or guardian, a kitchen/dining hall, and lavatory facilities in addition to a well.

In chimpanzee news, orphan Toto is doing well and well ahead of his peers in terms of size! He is adept at climbing as well as walking, though a chimp his age wouldn't be walking as much as he does. He visited "the bush" just this morning and had a wonderful time - so much so that he took a 45-minute nap after lunch.

We continue to fund eco-rangers at the sites of Angafou, Lande and Bandafassi. The mineral mining industry is currently the biggest threat to chimpanzees in Senegal both on a corporate and an artisanal scale. We are hoping to work with miners to ensure that the biodiversity of Senegal continues to thrive and to protect the relatively few chimpanzees that live in this northernmost country of the chimpanzee range.

Nursing student Anna (2nd from L) & N.A. folks!

Links:

Fongoli Savanna Chimp Project & Neighbor Ape blog

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