March 2008

March 2007

The ‘Mbossé’ is a lizard-like animal found in the waters surrounding the region of Kaolack, Senegal. It is held sacred by the people of Kaolack for its potential to protect them from harm.

The caravane has been created by Horizons Santé Developpement, a Senegalese not for profit organisation dedicated to durable change.

Our vision is to implement sustainable development in Senegal using the expertise of volunteers involved in previous marches and development organisations. This experience, combined with support from European links and volunteers, will be used to create a programme which is interactive and fun and which will provide a milieu for cultural learning and creation of potentially life long relationships.

Aims

  1. To promote prevention of HIV and malaria through education, implementing longlasting community support
  2. To raise awareness of environmental issues and to initiate reforestation
  3. Cultural Exchange

How do we do it?

A cortege of around 50 volunteers, European and Senegalese will travel to pre-selected rural localities. Before setting off, there will be several days of training for all marchers and an opening day in the region’s principal town, Kaolack.

The caravane will be greeted at each site by a welcoming party including the local rural committee which will have been formed by the Senegalese committee members during the preparation period.

The emphasis is on informal, creative and interactive activities. For example discussion groups, role plays, question and answer sessions, theatre are all means of getting our message across. To motivate and mobilise rural villagers and further consolidate all aspects of development, we will exchange music, dance and sports.

We will work closely with local experts to implement and evaluate our activities as we go. Practically, we hope to implement durable ITN distribution systems and reforestation campaigns in these villages.

What do we need for Caravane 2008?

Volunteers We need enthusiastic volunteers who have a good working knowledge of the French language. We are recruiting committee members for HSD UK as well as other marchers to come out to Senegal.

Funding We need to raise funds for the equipment, materials and transport necessary to ensure this programme is effective. Part of this will come from the marchers themselves to support living costs while out in Senegal. We will also rely on donations and fundraising by members supporting the organisation. In particular, we are looking for organisations who would like to help with provision of/or contribute towards the cost of:

How do I get more information?

You can get in touch with us directly (see ‘Contact Us’)

Or come along to one of our volunteer information days:

1st December 2007, University of Bristol Students Union
8th December 2007, University of Manchester Students Union

Alternatively, you can send us a completed application form.