For six Chatelech Secondary School students, a visit to the West African nation of Senegal turned out to be the trip of a lifetime.
The Grade 11 students embarked on their two-week journey in March, the culmination of a two-year, on-line course called Global Perspectives, run by the province's Conseil Scolaire Francophone. The program has 40 students enrolled, including the six Chat students. The Senegal trip was called the Yaakaar Project; the word "yaakaar" means hope in Wolof, the country's most widely spoken language.
The students fundraised the $4,000 each needed to make the humanitarian trip. Part of that fundraising included a two-kilometre "Water Walk" event, where students each carried two large buckets full of water while leading community members through Roberts Creek.
The students used the event to raise funds for the trip, and also demonstrated the hardships many Senegalese children face daily, such as having to walk long distances to access water.
In addition to money raised for travel expenses, the students raised funds to create scholarships for Senegalese students, where school fees are $200 per student annually. The Chat students also brought educational supplies, such as laptops and textbooks, which they handed out while visiting three village schools.
"We got to go to the schools and visit the kids. We got to see the kids who received scholarships previously, from other trips, and that was really cool to physically be able to see who it affected and who got to school with the money we fundraised," said Alexa Houle.
Seeing firsthand where the money went affected the Chat students deeply.
"These Senegalese kids would do anything to learn. The kids in the classroom were the most enthusiastic, the most brilliant students I've ever seen. They want to be at the front of the class; they want to make mistakes and learn from their mistakes. They're the smartest kids I've ever seen," added Jake Downie. "To see that the money went there really impacted me."
Katie Woodburn was also affected by the trip, saying the friendliness of the Senegalese people struck her the most.
"Here in Canada, we're very inwardly focused. Technology and materialism pulls us away from people. There, everyone reaches out to you, despite having so little. A little goes a long way. We went to these schools and 20 little kids would jump on us," she said.
While the Chat students had different parts of the trip affect them in different ways, they all shared a similar sense of inspiration from the trip - a hope to further their humanitarian work.
"Later in my life, I want to go back, even to the same town we were in, and do something to set up a program or an educational thing," Woodburn said.
The students are grateful for the support they received from the local community during their fundraising efforts.
