Dakar

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, He leads the prisoners with singing. — Psalm 68: 5-6 (NIV)

Situated at the edge of the Sahara Desert, the Senegalese people have lived peacefully since their independence from France in 1960 despite diversity in ethnic groups and religions. Our mission is to show the love and power of God to the least of these. One of the biggest challenges in Senegal is the protection of children. Due to economic, social, and religious reasons, children of all ages are abandoned. Our vision is to help these children in collaboration with local social welfare by placing them in healthy, loving families if their natural family is unavailable or abusive. The focus of our ministry is to demonstrate family with all the missionaries and workers to build and equip local families for family-based care.

We are so blessed by your prayers for us and for God to show up with supernatural intervention in all areas of our lives and ministry!

The following are our three main areas of ministry in Senegal:

Foster Families

One of our main missions as IRIS Dakar is the network of foster families. We believe the family atmosphere brings life and healing to children who have been orphaned, abandoned, abused, or in crises and are not able to be with their biological families at the moment. Our team works alongside the government to place children in foster families where they can receive love, care, and security.

Street Children Ministry

Our team goes on weekly night outreaches to the streets to locations in the Dakar area where the children hang out in “gangs.” The team brings food, encouragement, basic wound care, coats in the cold season, and invites the children to our day center.

Our day center located in the heart of Dakar called “The School of Hope” provides a safe place for street children to spend their days - to be washed, fed, and nurtured. We provide basic education and vocational training, as well, and work to reconcile them with their biological families whenever possible.

We also recently opened an Emergency Center where children can live temporarily as they transition back into society – either to their biological families if possible or an appropriate long-term placement. Here they have a safe place to live and vocational training to give them skills for their futures.

Community Programs

Iris Dakar also seeks to share the love of God in our communities by bringing aid to families in need. Some of our projects include providing school supplies and paying school fees for children in families that do not have the means, providing financial and food support to widows, and assisting families with babies with diapers, formula, and regular health checks. All of these programs aim to strengthen biological families to take care of their families instead placing into institutional care.

Get Involved

Contact us at dakar@irisglobal.org for more information about how you can help and to learn about current projects.

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You can visit our website in German here: irisdakar.org

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About Dakar

We are a small family-oriented ministry located in a village 50km from Dakar in the West African country of Senegal.

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