February 2024 E-Newsletter

Spotlight on Senegal

Above: WGEP’s full Senegal leadership team (left to right - Moussa, Diatta, Khadidiatou, Khady, Mbathiou, Fana, Karamo, and Casimir)

Last month, our Senegal team (pictured above) hosted a visit from Lily, our Senegal Program Manager from Chicago.

Here she shares her experience:

This January, I was able to participate in numerous program activities with our Senegal team onsite. I was able to join a Monitoring and Evaluation Workshop as a part of our efforts to better understand and share our impact on girls and their communities. I also enjoyed meeting with girls in our program and community members at local village meetings where song and dance are integrated into awareness raising activities. I helped open the second girls leadership workshop at Sokone High School where girls are equipped with leadership tools like public speaking, conflict resolution, and community advocacy. During this visit I also met with students and trainers who are participating in WGEP’s reproductive health workshops where girls learn about puberty, contraception and STIs. At the end of this busy trip, I was able to travel to Dakar with WGEP’s Program Coordinators to meet with partners and potential donors. It was an action packed and successful trip!

Above: Lily opens the second girls leadership workshop at Sokone High School.

In Senegal, WGEP offers an adult women’s literacy program designed to improve women's literacy and numeracy skills. As a part of this program, women also take part in income generating activities such as tie-dyeing and soap making to help offset the cost of schooling and household expenses. This generates more financial freedom for the women who participate in the program, and helps them achieve greater autonomy over their earnings. Take a look below to see some of their tie dying and soap making in process!

Above: Members of WGEP’s adult women’s literacy group preparing fabric to be dyed, their work hanging out to dry, and soap making in process.

Don't Forget: Save the Date for Ndajee 2024!

When: Friday, May 31st, 2024

Where: Bridgeport Art Center

1200 W. 35th Street, Chicago, IL 60609

Meet Our New Staff

Jen Snell joins WGEP as our new Deputy Executive Director. She has a Masters of Public Health (MPH) from Johns Hopkins University and 25 years of experience managing health and humanitarian programs in over 20 low-resource countries including Kenya and Senegal. Jen began her career as a Peace Corps volunteer teacher in Gabon West Africa, which inspired her passion for international development and travel. Jen enjoys leading and working with diverse, high-performing teams. With a love of languages, she is fluent in English and French, but has dabbled in Thai, Russian, Swahili, Arabic, Finnish, and Spanish. She is a native of Chicago where she now lives with her husband and twins.

Leslie Alvarez joins WGEP as our new Donor Relations and Events Manager. She is originally from South Florida but loves Chicago! She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications-Media from North Carolina State University and began her career as an English teacher. From 2016 to 2018, Leslie served in the Peace Corps as a TEFL Trainer in Guayaquil, Ecuador where she facilitated many TOTs (Training of Teacher Conferences) and planned and led GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Camps around Ecuador. When she returned stateside, she joined UNICEF USA as their Community Engagement Associate for the Midwest. Leslie also serves on the Chicago Area Peace Corps Association Executive Board. Leslie speaks Spanish and is currently learning Russian. In her free time, Leslie enjoys reading, traveling, trying new foods, cooking, and spending time with her friends, husband, and sassy Chihuahua girl, Heidy.

Thank you for being an integral part of the WGEP Family, we look forward to celebrating 20 years of impact with you this year!

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