Birth certificates renew hope in Senegal
September 2, 2024
Birth certificates renew hope in Senegal
September 2, 2024
World Renew recognizes that a proper education is essential for putting children on a path to thrive as an adult. Unfortunately, education is not always accessible, and sometimes not having a birth certificate is the barrier.
Pikine, a suburban municipality near the Senegalese capital, Dakar, has over a million inhabitants, and most of them struggle with poverty. To make matters worse, children in the most vulnerable families are seldom registered at birth. This means that as they grow from childhood to adulthood, they face challenges accessing public school education, writing national exams, getting formal jobs, registering marriages, and more. World Renew has worked in Senegal since 1989, and has been actively working to support families like Mrs. Diopp’s.
Mrs. Diopp lives in Pikine and knows how challenging the lack of registration can be to a child’s life; she had been trying for years to get her three children, ages 4, 5, and 11, registered. She explains, “When the children were born, my husband had lost his identity card. He had taken steps to renew it, but the documents he received were not good. My husband is careless. Every time I talked to him about it, he said he would take care of it, but he didn’t do anything.” Adding to the hardships Mrs. Diopp faced, her husband was sentenced to five years in jail, and she was left to provide for her children on her own.
Without birth certificates, Mrs. Diopp’s children could not attend public school, so she had to enroll them in private school. “I sold hair products and did laundry for other families to feed my children and pay the school fees,” she says. “I was tired because I couldn’t afford to pay the monthly tuition installments.”
Mrs. Diopp knew that she had to find a way to get her children registered so that they could continue their studies. She was discouraged because people said that she would have to take their case to court. Attempting to prey on her vulnerability and desperation to get the documents, someone offered to help her for $100. She asked if he would take an advance of $25 until she could find the rest of the money. Through God’s grace, that very day, a door opened for her to get the documents.
“God is good,” Mrs. Diopp says with a smile. “I was negotiating with this man [when] a neighbour came to tell me that there was a new program in Pikine that offered papers for children, so I dropped everything to go find out.” The program was the Civic Registration program facilitated by World Renew’s local partner, Lutheran Services for Senegalese Development (SLDS).
SLDS staff were able to help Mrs. Diopp find the children’s birth certificates at a health centre. She got a court date, and the judge approved her case. The children were granted registration the same day.
Mrs Diopp says that she remembers that day as a great victory. “Their papers were my biggest dream and what I cherish most in the world . . . I went to the SLDS ladies to thank them. If I had money, I would give it to them because they are welcoming and accessible. They take the trouble to call you and speak to you with respect and consideration. I will continue to visit them and pray for them. I sincerely thank the donors and pray to God to grant them a long life and excellent health.”
Gifts like yours that help support our Peace & Justice work make it possible for World Renew and our partners to tear down barriers that prevent children from flourishing. Give now to help make education a reality for more children.
World Renew recognizes that a proper education is essential for putting children on a path to thrive as an adult. Unfortunately, education is not always accessible, and sometimes not having a birth certificate is the barrier.
Pikine, a suburban municipality near the Senegalese capital, Dakar, has over a million inhabitants, and most of them struggle with poverty. To make matters worse, children in the most vulnerable families are seldom registered at birth. This means that as they grow from childhood to adulthood, they face challenges accessing public school education, writing national exams, getting formal jobs, registering marriages, and more. World Renew has worked in Senegal since 1989, and has been actively working to support families like Mrs. Diopp’s.
Mrs. Diopp lives in Pikine and knows how challenging the lack of registration can be to a child’s life; she had been trying for years to get her three children, ages 4, 5, and 11, registered. She explains, “When the children were born, my husband had lost his identity card. He had taken steps to renew it, but the documents he received were not good. My husband is careless. Every time I talked to him about it, he said he would take care of it, but he didn’t do anything.” Adding to the hardships Mrs. Diopp faced, her husband was sentenced to five years in jail, and she was left to provide for her children on her own.
Without birth certificates, Mrs. Diopp’s children could not attend public school, so she had to enroll them in private school. “I sold hair products and did laundry for other families to feed my children and pay the school fees,” she says. “I was tired because I couldn’t afford to pay the monthly tuition installments.”
Mrs. Diopp knew that she had to find a way to get her children registered so that they could continue their studies. She was discouraged because people said that she would have to take their case to court. Attempting to prey on her vulnerability and desperation to get the documents, someone offered to help her for $100. She asked if he would take an advance of $25 until she could find the rest of the money. Through God’s grace, that very day, a door opened for her to get the documents.
“God is good,” Mrs. Diopp says with a smile. “I was negotiating with this man [when] a neighbour came to tell me that there was a new program in Pikine that offered papers for children, so I dropped everything to go find out.” The program was the Civic Registration program facilitated by World Renew’s local partner, Lutheran Services for Senegalese Development (SLDS).
SLDS staff were able to help Mrs. Diopp find the children’s birth certificates at a health centre. She got a court date, and the judge approved her case. The children were granted registration the same day.
Mrs Diopp says that she remembers that day as a great victory. “Their papers were my biggest dream and what I cherish most in the world . . . I went to the SLDS ladies to thank them. If I had money, I would give it to them because they are welcoming and accessible. They take the trouble to call you and speak to you with respect and consideration. I will continue to visit them and pray for them. I sincerely thank the donors and pray to God to grant them a long life and excellent health.”
Gifts like yours that help support our Peace & Justice work make it possible for World Renew and our partners to tear down barriers that prevent children from flourishing. Give now to help make education a reality for more children.
