Day 6- Goree Island and Anti Poverty Initiative

Bonjour! Today our Wisconsin to Senegal IVIM team toured Goree Island, and island just off the west coast of Senegal. Different countries staked claim to the island, beginning with Portugal in the 1650's.  They gave way to the Dutch, who then lost it to the British.  It fell into the hands of the French for the 18th and 19th centuries.

Goree Island from the approaching ferry.

The possession of the island by all of these countries made Goree very active in the slave trade to Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas.  Senegal's Ministry of Culture restored a "Slave House," as part of the history and a memorial to those that suffered through slavery.  We saw the house as part of our tour, the only one remaining on the island.  Our guide informed us that at one time the island supported 28 similar facilities.

Our tour guide, Ali, studied English and History at Dakar University.

Goree Island offered our team history, beautiful views, and amazing work of local artists!

An artist makes a painitng with sand from Senegal and surrounding countries. His studio was on the top of Goree Island.

Following our visit to Goree we caught up with Sebastian Ujereh.  A native of Nigeria, Sebastian is a retired UMC missionary who now spearheads the Anti-Poverty Initiative."By its name that's really what it is," Sebastian said.  "Help women out of poverty.

The basis of the program is recognizing gaps that exist and working in cooperation.  Sebastian talked about how the financial sector closes off many from accessing services. "We have a financial sector . . banks, investments.  But many people here at the lower end can't even start a bank account. They have no collateral."  In Senegal this is especially true for women, whom the program is designed for.

API takes place in a group format; an investment of capital is needed from each group member to start a project together.  In a sense, they are building collateral with each other.  API has several steps to gauge the "risk" of a group and its projects, vetting the groups attendance and leadership.  It can be up to 12 weeks before Anti Poverty initiative has begun to infuse capital into a project, after a culture of shared assets and responsibility has been established.

Sebastian Ujereh tells us about the MicroCredit project.

The Anti Poverty Initiative has for 4 main tenets, or "programs" as Sebastian called them.  Establishing credit, training opportunities for business, Financial Independence, and health.  He especially emphasized the importance of the health program- "Many of these women are the breadwinners, they cook and take care of the children.  The health program is not about having enough medicine, its teaching prevention.  Teaching about things like blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure."

During our visit we heard the testimony of one of the women who has been in a group of 15 women since 2013.  "I have learned so much. So much to improve myself. I am very grateful to my group and this program."

You can learn more about Anti Poverty Initiative and read their newsletter here- http://antipovertyinitiative.org/