The David Diop Mendès School

Mbaye Sène co-founded the school in 1997 in what was then a poor suburb of Dakar. Since then, the school has continued to flourish and grow, including in terms of educational quality. It soon introduced upper secondary and sixth-form classes, whose pass rates in national examinations regularly exceed the national average by a wide margin. Today, the David Diop Mendès School is the largest employer in the neighbourhood and, as an educational institution in an area with a shortage of schools, plays a decisive role in its development. In collaboration with and thanks to the support of the Swiss Friends’ Association – which has since been dissolved due to the school’s financial self-sufficiency – the milestone of having its own school building was achieved in 2010. These facilities are also made available for local activities.

Mbaye Sène is the heart and soul of this school: he impresses with his dedicated commitment and integrity and is held in high regard locally.