Le Korsa Defining Sustainability Through Education Across Sub-Saharan Africa

The question of sustainability has maybe never been so relevant as it is today across the globe. Climate change and resulting shifts in our planet’s retort against our species have beefed up our vocabulary to include such terms as superstorms, atmospheric rivers, and flash droughts.

The Covid-19 pandemic cratered our delicate balance between needs and wants, forcing communities across the world to rethink or better yet, reconceptualize the meaning of what traits thriving communities possess. No longer were westerners able to cozy up to the predictability of schedules, work-life balance and the role education played in their handcrafted lifestyle.

This reporter wanted to dig deeper into a world foreign to the proclaimed image of western society. I traveled to the West African nation of Senegal to see how a developing country embraces change.

Over the past couple of years, Senegal has dealt with a weather system akin to a marine layer that acts like a pesky uncle who has overstayed his welcome. The air is dense, consisting of sand and dust that constantly competes with the land for the driest element across the country.

Despite the difficulties of their unrelenting arid landscape, the Senegalese forge ahead with a spirit of kindness and community focused on improving the outcomes for all involved.

Community Building Programs of Change

Le Korsa, established in 2005, by Nicholas Fox Weber embodies the local Senegalese culture while integrating western levers to inject change agents impacting community structures across the country.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization they work directly with dedicated doctors, teachers, and students across Senegal impacting the lives residing in the capital city of Dakar to the far reaches of the country in remote villages.

Le Korsa was initially founded to secure American support for a French NGO, Le Kinkeliba. The name of a popular Senegalese herbal remedy, Le Kinkeliba reflects the respect for local traditions that serve as the girder to providing the benefits of western medicine to rural Africans.

Western news media often document nonprofit activities in soundbites and segments intimating the rush-to-help efforts made across the globe. However, this emergency response narrative hasn’t bitten Le Korsa. The organization methodically addresses the challenges that emerge with an eye toward sustainability for all levels of local society.

While medical equipment scarcity often requires an infusion of quality and quantity, this nonprofit goes beyond the ordinary. By helping a mother who is a local nurse, for instance, utilize updated healthcare supplies with the added availability of onsite daycare, the program is providing continuity between care and employment.

Le Korsa spent many years adopting their comprehensive approach to community building that prepares all involved with the necessary tools to collectively tackle future challenges.

Designing History

In its 17-year history, Le Korsa has woven an active ecosystem of local political support, on-the-ground employees, and overall community buy-in. Their collective efforts are securing permanent membership, not as a visitor, but as a vital player in the growth and development of Senegal.

An upcoming museum project along with the recent opening of a maternity ward and regional hospital reflects the intention of Weber and his team to think beyond the here-and-now and defer to the intentions of sustainability and longevity.

The museum may be an impending eventuality, but it certainly isn’t the first venture to understand the impact cultural enrichment can have on a burgeoning region.

In the village of Sinthian, Le Korsa built an artist community better known as Thread: Artists’ Residency and Cultural Center for visiting creators to paint, write and dream from the African landscape. The project was designed by famed architect and former chair of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Toshiko Mori.

In the nearby village of Fass, Le Korsa again partnered with Mori to design the Fass School and Teachers’ Residence. The collaboration is the first in the region to teach children how to read and write in their native language, Pulaar, as well as in French.

The Path Less Traveled

Finished projects often get most of the attention. Sometimes the path to realization requires cultural stretching to educate all involved on both the history and opportunity at hand. Weber and his team undertook seven years of negotiations with local Muslim leaders to bring the effort to an awe-inspiring conclusion balancing local customs with current needs for a brighter future.

“The local Imam, the religious leader of the village, asked me if we could build a school in the village. I said, I would love to,” recalls Weber while sharing how it took an additional three years of delay before the project finally took shape.

“He didn’t speak English or French but mainly spoke the local language of Pulaar and Arabic. Communicating wasn’t easy, but we managed with interpreters’ gestures, a few words in common. We decided to pursue the idea of the school. In a Muslim village, we needed the approval of the religious leader of the entire region of Medina Gounass in eastern Senegal.”

Weber detailed his story overlooking the Atlantic Ocean during lunch at a local hotel. The constant breeze mimicked the fluidity of Weber’s recounting of that fateful meeting to secure the blessing of the school project.

Weber remembers traveling through a maze of rough concrete bunkers and walking past approximately 100 Muslim male community members dressed in lavish robes not knowing if his presence was welcomed or not. After a number of community members presented their positions Weber spoke, recounting an overall feeling of calm and optimism that his recommendation of a school for boys and girls to effectively learn reading and writing skills would be well received.

The fragility of Weber’s words underscored the tenuous viability of the school project if only one gender was to receive an education.

The meeting, while not immediately affirming, proved foundational in the eventual approval of the school, though the third act of the play was prolonged for an additional two years.

Art Mirrors Life

The relationship between Sinthian and Faas is bound by a common belief that within art lies the beauty of opportunity. Le Korsa, borne from the artistic essence of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation celebrating the renowned artists, fundamentally incorporates the unifying elements of art and design to educate and create community.

Moussa Sene, Program Director and General Manager of Le Korsa’s Thread, speaks of the uplifting and sustainability linked to the empowerment of local Senegalese women living and working across the region. “You see the women working in the garden. The garden is managed exclusively by the women establishing a sense of pride while providing very valuable resources for the village. This is culture changing.”

Sene switched from Director to guide taking this reporter, arm-in-arm, across the Gambia River on foot to explore a village medical center in Faas. The medical director, Pape Diouf, when asked how he came to live and work in the remote village after traveling 400 kilometers uttered one word, “Destiny.”

Prior to the installation of the Fass Medical Center, locals had yet to experience school, let alone medical facilities for generations. Destiny, as Diouf noted may be subtle like the motion of The Gambia yet it is deep in conviction and impact.

A New Path to Opportunity

Le Korsa’s Les Foyers, a boarding school of sorts for school-aged girls residing in the east Senegalese region of Tambacounda strives to alter the path of local young women previously destined for child marriage.

Les Foyers houses young women from the surrounding villages who come to the regional capital to attend high school. Over 143 students reside on-campus learning how to garden, establish sustainable living practices, and a sense of agency. Director Maimouna Ka Sow oversees operations and programming for this local institution that works diligently to educate young women.

The students attend either the nearby public lycée in Tambacounda or a local parochial school while experiencing a strong sense of community and a new definition of what education means for their sense of self and future prospects.

Le Korsa’s sense of the moment isn’t lost on the direction and focus required to complete the opportunity for the young women. Once they graduate, they can attend university in the capital city of Dakar. The college students are supported with housing, tuition fees, food, and transportation.

Le Korsa’s Director of Environmental Projects and New York Times reporter Jamie Yaya Barry explains how comprehensive support structures underscore the value of the program.

“Le Korsa takes care of everything. These young women shouldn’t have to worry about anything other than their education. That is what’s most important,” states Barry.

Healthcare is Education

The redesign of the Tambacounda Maternity and Pediatric hospital binds design and pride bringing an experience to local healthcare centered on community building and the economy.

15 years of incredible work by Le Korsa, the Albers Foundation and the Swiss design team of Manuel Herz embeds climate-sensitive architecture into the project planning. The two-story structure is intentionally thin in brick lattice design with openings to create airflow for natural cooling. A dual roof approach repels most direct sunlight, keeping temperatures in check with an overall structural focus on remaining resilient to power outages and technical maintenance.

Built under the guidance of local leader Dr. Magueye Ba, resources and materials are sourced largely from the Tambacounda region, ensuring that the financial investment remains local. The project employs local craftsmen, engineers, and other community members. The composition of team members often results in follow-on projects further impacting the local community.

The hospital is beautiful in design and the community takes pride in combining artistry with functionality and opportunity. There is even a future project already underway for a hospital staff quarters inspired by an Anni Albers print.

Setting A New Horizon

The needs of a developing country are many and it appears that one solution almost always begets another. There are constant challenges to managing the delicate nature of a country like Senegal outlined by the beauty of the Atlantic Ocean, the steadiness of the Gambia River, and the economic hardships of those inhabiting the thatched rooftops of villages dotting the perimeter.

Le Korsa is an example of an organization committed to connecting the community to sustainability in a region that is pursuing self-empowered change. In many ways, their efforts are analogous to the most basic elements that make planet earth both fragile and powerful – a rush of water creates the pressure, rounding out the rough edges of our planet over time to reveal the beauty of all her elements.

Building off the sound principles of care and persistence, Le Korsa is striving to initiate better outcomes for each Senegalese they encounter.

Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.