Senegal: Making the grade

Kewe Thiam is the exception to the rule that most Senegalese girls don’t make it to high school. Sitting with a group of her peers, Thiam’s is the only female hand that shoots up, along with those of a dozen boys, when asked who among them goes to school. “The girls here want to go to school, but their parents don’t have the means. They can’t afford the inscription fees or the supplies,” says Thiam, 20, speaking for the girls around her who haven’t had the opportunity to learn French, the language of instruction in Senegal.