Category Archives: Newsletter

Newsletter 2025 jan – jun

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Further training for monitors, contact with parents, and visits to Deaf Foyers

Group photo of participants and guests at the closing of the refresher course in Ndondol

Every year, AMCRE organizes two refresher courses for instructors and parents of deaf people. This year’s first course took place in the Foyer of Ndondol (Diourbel region), where nine instructors (6 women and 3 men) from central and southern Senegal attended the course from February 3rd to 8th. Carla, the Kemper Foundation chairperson, Wilma, the secretary, and Jan and Annie Geus (a Kemper Foundation friend) were present at the closing ceremony. In the following days, they continued this mission with a visit to the Foyers of Gandiaye and Joal-Fadeout, where they recorded good results. It was a very tiring trip, but very worthwhile and appreciated by the instructors, parents, and deaf students. The dynamic instructor, Mané Ndao in Gandiaye, put us in touch with Matar Ndao, a friend from her Foyer.

Presentation of the Kemper Foundation project for the deaf and contacts with the Senegalese government

AMCRE and Jan visit Matar Ndao

On April 16, Jan and Fatou Ndiaye from AMCRE, along with Nfally Diatta and Babacar Seck, visited Matar Ndao, director of ANPEJ, a Senegalese Project Directorate that promotes the education and integration of young people (15+) into the world of work. He has been visiting our Foyer for the Deaf in Gandiaye since its opening and has been a regular visitor ever since. He is very impressed with this Kemper Foundation program, which has taken root in the local community with the help of parents of deaf children. He will support our efforts with his Senegalese colleagues and with the President of Senegal, whom he has known personally for a long time.

Presentation the Kemper Foundation at the University of Dakar and Board Meeting in The Hague

Jan presents the Kemper Foundation program for the deaf at the University of Dakar

On April 23, Jan presented the Kemper Foundation program, which includes Foyers for the Deaf, close to home, with the help of parents and volunteer local monitors, at an international meeting of professors organized at the University of Dakar. The meeting’s theme was: The Future of Humanity in the Context of Artificial Intelligence. He concluded his presentation by concluding that this Kemper Foundation program could never have been so successful without the use of mobile phones, which enable daily inspections and corrections in all Foyers via WhatsApp.

On June 6, the Foundation held its spring meeting in Jan’s apartment in The Hague. Everyone except one member was present. The Kemper Foundation 2024 annual report is available on the website, and the report from AMCRE (the executive association in Senegal) was approved.
Besides current affairs in Senegal, the development of the proposed “Kemper Center” in the Niayes was also discussed. For the time being, this remains Jan’s personal undertaking. The next Kemper Foundation board meeting is scheduled for October 12, 2025, at Bert’s in Schilde.

Newsletter 2024 July – December

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A new brochure about our KS program for the deaf

On April 2, just before Senegal’s national holiday on April 4, a new president was installed. It was an exciting battle that was won by a wide margin by the opposition: Diomaye Faye became president and Ousmane Sonko became prime minister. This team won with the promise to ‘clean house’. To help them with this, KS once again brought its original commitment to all deaf people with the commitment of parents to the attention. After more than twenty years of voluntary commitment, this can now be done by presenting the results achieved in a new version of its brochure.

This provides figures for the end of the 2023-2024 school year as follows:

In addition to the developed and regularly updated curriculum, KS has now assisted 31 local parent associations in the establishment and management of 16 operational Foyers, of which 5 are Foyers with two classes (beginners and advanced). A total of 87 ‘monitors’ have been trained and 870 deaf children (38% girls) have attended the Foyers, the first generation of whom are now functionally integrated into the world of work.

a deaf intern in his workshop

Proposals at the KS Annual Meeting in Schilde

On September 29, the entire board of KS gathered at Bert Schortinghuis in Schilde. The relationship with AMCRE, the Network RFS of Foyers and the government was discussed. For about 20 years, KS and its partners have successfully developed a strategy that opens up access to a full role in the community for all deaf people, through functional literacy, if their parents give the first impetus. In order to continue this development, the local community and the national government must take over the KS subsidies so that it can continue to work on educational methods and guidance. 

The municipality of ‘Tivaouane Peulh” has divided Jan’s land in the “Niayes” for housing. They named this land of over 2 ha: “Lotissement Kemper”. Part of it remains Jan’s property and is allocated for “Equipment”. Jan proposes to build a social “Kempercentrum” here at his own expense, which he will then transfer to the foundation. This centre, with a community room and a library, will not only be able to supervise K1 tasks for the deaf, but will also be able to contribute to the K2 programme ‘better life with acquired knowledge’. 

Land in the Niayes: the part on the left remains with Jan; the part on the right goes to the municipality

Further training of monitors and consultation with parents’ associations

After the first refresher training of ‘monitors’ this year in Saint Louis, the activities were concluded in December with a second refresher training of ‘monitors’ and a consultation with parents of deaf students in Dakar. Foyers from Dakar and the west of Senegal participated in this. The teaching material was expanded this year with sign language used by craftsmen in the business world where some 33 deaf people (recent alumni of our Foyers) found a job.

further training and consultation in Tivaouane Peulh (near Dakar).

Newsletter 2024 Jan-June

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Further training of technicians and consultation with parents of deaf people

From January 15 to 20, training sessions for technicians and a meeting with Cparents and friends of deaf people took place at the ‘Centre Daniel Gronès pour les sourds’ in Saint Louis.  8 Foyers from the north and south of Senegal were represented, 3 of whom were also charged with their management by their local association of parents and friends of deaf people. A total of 11 technicians took part, of which 8 women took part in the training provided by the AMCRE team. All participating technicians successfully completed their test ‘communication sign language’. In particular, to strengthen the management of the KS program for the deaf in Senegal and its articulation with its local implementers, KS board members also participated.

Cherif Lo’s CRE (Learning Inn) is being restored to its former glory.

Partly with a donation from the UNESCO Center of the Netherlands, the first hand was placed on the Renovation of the Learning Inn in Cherif, where the Learning Inn was included in the municipal heritage. Members of the original Unesco Club from 1998 took the initiative to renew their club with a program of activities. As a first step, it was decided to strengthen the surveillance of the center by admitting a ‘artisan vanier’ who was given a permanent place to make his baskets there. A cottage was built for him where he can work and stay overnight while guarding the Learning Inn without pay. The original building of the Foyer was provided with a new tiled floor and the office received new cupboards for the library, the contents of which are being renewed.

As a second step, in the rainy season (July-September), the still vacant land will be planted with trees for shade and fruit. In addition to the plan to open a kindergarten on this site, a stage and sound system will also be installed with which the UNESCO club will convert this Learning Hostel into a cultural community center.

Consultation between KS and AMCRE

Apart from the founder of the KF with his fixed domicile in Dakar and the yearly visit of the Chairperson, also the secretary, who owns a house in Saly, now regularly meets and consults with the AMCRE management and the team in charge of execution and implementation of projects. Beginning this year, the cooperation agreement between KF and AMCRE was prolonged for another 5 years. In accordance with this agreement, AMCRE evaluates and guides, as an independent Senegalese organisation, project requests as well a KF donations. 

Annually, AMCRE gives an account of tasks executed by the local interested parties and submits to KF as per budget line an application for expected expenses during the next year. After approval by KF, in her autumn meeting, a maximum amount that could be allotted for next year, AMCRE pre-finances approved operations out of her own account. Three to four times a year AMCRE can claim expenses with the KF.  As such, KS has the guarantee, that donations are always spent for which they are destined. AMCRE remains solvent, because they never charge her bank balance in a negative manner. 

Members of KF as well as AMCRE are not remunerated. Both are considered to be “general benefit institutions”, without lucrative purpose.

KS Newsletter jul-dec 2023

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Exhibition and annual meeting Kemper Foundation in Schilde

(illustration: Bert with KS stand in Schilde)

After the spring meeting in the Lot (France) in the context of a working week this second meeting of the Kemper Foundation board took place on October 8 in Schilde (Belgium). Work continued here on the new version of the Kemper Foundation website. Regarding our program for the deaf in Senegal, Kemper Foundation efforts were updated in an ‘internal policy document’. This explains Philosophy, Goal, Strategy, Project Design and Organization. Attention is also paid to the role of parents and ‘monitors’ (alphabetiseurs) and how the Kemper Foundation contributes to the financing of this program.

The submitted application (€46,696) for donations to projects and the functioning of AMCRE for 2024 was approved in its entirety. Our foundation also participated with a stand in an exhibition of partners organized by the ‘Municipal Council for Development Cooperation of Schilde’ (GROS), which has been contributing to the Kemper Foundation program for the deaf for many years.

The UNESCO Center Netherlands (UCN) in Amsterdam responded to a request from the UNESCO Club in Cherif Lo (Senegal) for the renovation of its CRE (educational resources center). It was the first to be built there in 1991 with a UCN donation as part of the “Caravan de l’Alphabétisation” (1990-2000). This CRE has now been given a formal place in the municipal property (patrimoine) of the municipality.

Opening of the school year in the Foyers for the deaf

As usual, the 2023-2024 school year opened in the foyers for the deaf in November. This included a new Foyer in Guediawaye (Dakar district). This year, 16 foyers (5 of which had two classrooms) met the conditions for a Kemper Foundation grant, part of which was covered by a donation from RKWO. A total of 42 new deaf students were enrolled, and 148 deaf students continued their courses. Since 2003, the foundation has now served 712 deaf children, of which 266 are girls.

Further training of Monitors and consultation with parents of deaf people

From December 18 to 23, 8 monitors in foyers for the deaf in Dakar and nearby provinces participated in the further training organized on the ground floor of the AMCRE office in Tivaouane Peulh (suburb of Dakar). During this training, the skills of these monitors were also tested and they received a certificate stating this: 2 of them were very good, 2 good and 2 sufficient. 2 monitors failed to complete testing. At the end of this further training, representatives of associations of parents and friends of deaf people also took part.

After a lively presentation, an exchange of experiences took place in which domestic justice was central. A young deaf woman was accused of killing her baby by throwing it into a well. The deaf woman (not a former student of ours) did not understand the story and was desperate. The court had asked one of our trainers to act as a translator of ‘her gestures’. The trainer understood the problem but could not convince the court of her innocence and the woman was sentenced to prison for many years. This incident made it very clear to parents and trainers why we familiarize deaf children with their situation and want to see ‘sign language’ recognized as a ‘legal’ means of communication.
It was also decided to continue the training and further education of monitors more regularly via the internet. To make this possible, resources will have to be strengthened.