Coumba Gawlo reaffirms her commitment to accompany World Vision Senegal as they champion the well-being of Senegal’s most vulnerable children
Musician Coumba Gawlo Seck has spoken up passionately in favour of education for girls and against early marriage. She was making a site visit to the Fimela Area Development Programme (ADP) to find out how World Vision Senegal's work on behalf of women and children is progressing there.
Girls in the Fimela area of the Department of Fatick may rightly swell with pride in having such a champion as Coumba Gawlo Seck.
Before an audience of the women that came out to receive her in the village of Nobadane in the municipality of Loul-Séssène on Wednesday 22 February, the singer argued forcefully for girls to remain in education instead of being given in early marriage.
"I would like to appeal to all mums present here today to let their girls go to school for as long as possible. There they will learn not only of their duties but above all of their rights," she declared at the outset. Introducing a personal note, she continued: "As for myself standing before you here today, I come from a humble background and if my parents hadn't permitted me to go to school, I would not have become the person that you have turned out to welcome so warmly. Easily I too could have been one of those kids who spend all their time with their palms held out because they never learned to read and discovered their rights. Neither would I have grown into the kind of person that is held up as an example around the world. For all these reasons, may I say again please do not give your girls in early marriage but rather leave them in school so that they can gain qualifications, succeed in life and support you," the international star implored.
The trip to Fimela was planned in order to strengthen the alliance between Coumba Gawlo's Lumière pour l'enfance organisation and World Vision Senegal. The Director of Operations, Diègane Ndiaye, couldn't contain his delight about her involvement:
"We share Coumba Gawlo's values regarding women and children. At World Vision Senegal, last year we put into effect a national strategy with the principal objective of improving the well-being of 8 million of the most vulnerable children by 2017. This may be a lofty ambition but in Coumba Gawlo we have found a kindred spirit who not only uses her music to defend the causes of women and children, but who has also created the medium for message, namely her radio station [Fem FM] and the Lumière pour l'enfance organisation. So she is a strategic partner that we can really do business with," declared Diègane Ndiaye.
World Vision Senegal's sponsorship programme includes some 69,000 children, of which 3,000 are in the Loul-Séssène municipality and 1,800 in Fimela.
Photos Credits: Alexandre Gassama