Senegal; A Model Country

Today I learned a bit more about the Senegalese culture and uniqueness of this country. Senegal is a model country for Africa in many ways. The country has relatively low debt, little governmental corruption and low violence, civil conflict and HIV/AIDS prevalence. The interesting question is why is Senegal so unique and what’s different about it? Godlove, the country director of CRS, explained a little bit of this to me. For one thing the country established a good government system when they became an independent country in 1960. Their democratic system incorporates the checks and balance system that has helped established a culture of responsibility. The people who are in power don’t have complete power and if someone messes up they have a justice system and the media to hold them accountable. (This is definitely a very simplified explanation)

The other aspect that I find really interesting is the how the people view themselves in relation to others. A brother or sister can be considered someone who 200 years ago shared a family tie. Godlove explained how this extended view of family has shaped Senegal into a peaceful country. For example if there is a car accident (which regularly occurs) and two people arguing about it come to realize that their family names came from the same tribe/kingdom 200 years ago, they recognize each other as brother or sister, stop the arguing and deal with the aftermath on their own. This idea of extended family also creates a culture of acceptance and prevents the stigmatisation of people from conflict areas, such as the Casamance region (south-west part of Senegal). 20 years ago this region experienced civil conflict because some forces were trying to secede from Senegal. Today there remain some sporadic outbursts of violence, but peace agreements have recently been made. In many African countries people who come from conflict areas are automatically stigmatised and associated with the violence, but in Senegal people from Casamance are looked upon as people related to everyone else and no different than if they were from another region.

I thought I’d share these points because they impressed me and also because it’s rare when we are exposed to the positive attributes of Africa by the media which are well worth mentioning.