More Than Microfinance: How Friends of Senegal and Maison de la Gare Are Rebuilding Lives One Child at a Time
Restoring a Child’s Life: Services and Programs
FOS and MDG take concrete actions every day to support children in need. Through their partnership, they offer programs across six key areas: education, nutrition, healthcare and hygiene, sports, training, and psychosocial support. These programs are built around what children deserve and what they need to grow, heal, and move forward.
Education and Learning
Talibé children are offered academic support, literacy programs, and access to essential supplies. Volunteers like Hawa Fofana, who traveled from the United States to work in education, sit alongside children and open the door to a world of learning. A moment of learning, of simply being seen as a student and not a beggar, can change everything.
Nutrition
Lalla and other dedicated staff and volunteers bring food and comfort to children in their daily lives. The goal is straightforward: ensuring access to healthy, sufficient food so that hunger is no longer an obstacle to dreams. A meal and a smile are where dignity starts.
Access to Healthcare and Hygiene
Medical care, showers, and clean clothes are acts of restoration. Each child who receives essential medical attention, a warm shower, or a fresh set of clothes is reclaiming something important: dignity and protection. Simple acts with profound consequences.
Sports
Through sports, children do much more than just have fun. They learn discipline, how to follow detailed instructions, how to remain courteous in victory, and how to show resilience after a defeat. Two talibé children discovering karate develop strength and respect. Athletics becomes a space for life skills and growth.
Training and a Future
Young people acquire skills, learn a trade, and begin to build a possible future for themselves. From poultry farming to artisan crafts, youth at Maison de la Gare are guided toward practical, income-generating skills. A young talibé learning to manage a poultry farm is developing real tools for economic independence.
Psychosocial Support
Children who have experienced difficult life situations are offered a listening ear, a caring presence, and consistent support. Aby, an educator with Maison de la Gare, works with talibé children in moments of listening and trust. A safe space is provided for children, away from the instability of daily street life. They learn what it means to have a home.
Microfinance: A Lever for Rebuilding Lives
Friends of Senegal’s microfinance program does not just address poverty. It dismantles it.
Older talibés and disadvantaged adults from the community are offered entrepreneurship training, interest-free microloans, and long-term support. The income generated by their businesses has a profound impact on individuals and families alike.
Ibrahima stands proudly in his clothing boutique, a real example of what is possible when someone is given a genuine chance. He is not an exception. He is what happens when opportunity meets determination and when organizations like FOS and MDG are there to help.
This is the full vision of microfinance: not just a loan, but a pathway to a better life for an entire family. Not just capital, but confidence. Not just a business, but a legacy that a parent can pass on to their children.
How You Can Make a Difference
Donate
Your donation directly funds programs that support children and adults across six areas, including academic support, meals, healthcare visits, vocational training, psychosocial support, and microloans that help community members launch small businesses.
Friends of Senegal is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent permitted by state and federal laws.
Every dollar matters. Every child matters.
Donate Now and Give a Child a Future
Volunteer
You do not have to travel to Senegal to make an impact, though you absolutely can. Volunteers like Hawa Fofana have come from the United States to teach, mentor, and walk alongside children. Whether your skills are in education, healthcare, business, social work, sports, or simply showing up with compassion, there is a place for you here.
Join us in supporting both children and adults by volunteering your time or making a donation that fits your budget.
Give a Child the Chance to Grow Up with Dignity and Hope
Give a child the chance to grow up with dignity and hope. Give an adult the chance to earn enough money to provide for their children’s basic needs: housing, food, and education.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Leon Pyle, President, Friends of Senegal
Adama Diarra, Volunteer Coordinator, Maison de la Gare
About the Organizations
Friends of Senegal (FOS) is a non-profit organization registered in Oregon under 501(c)(3) status. Learn more at: https://www.friendsofsenegal.org/about-friends-of-senegal/
Maison de la Gare (MDG) is a fully-vetted Senegalese NGO with no political or governmental affiliations, founded in 2007. Learn more at: https://en.mdgsl.com/
2026