3week

Every November and March, we lead a three week program in Mboro,
2 hours north of the capital city of Dakar, along some of the most beautiful coastline in Sénégal. Tuition includes accommodations near the beach, three meals a day of traditional African cuisine, laundry, transportation, and airfare from New York. There will be a supervising midwife on all shifts with students to assist and sign off births.

The local maternity is a few minutes away, and is always full of women. They average 70 births per month and have one large birthing room, an after care room, and two clinic rooms. Prenatals happen four days a week, and there is ample opportunity to gain experience in doing exams; including bi-manuals and vaccinations, as well as deliveries.

We will strive to be of service to the women there, as well as learn from them and their culture. This is a unique opportunity to look at how culture affects our understanding of basic concepts of health and illness, passages of birth and death, causation of disease and care during pregnancy and post-partum. We will also be able to bring in much needed supplies for the clinic.

African Birth Collective is a non-profit organization that’s sole purpose is to support safe birth practices in Sénégal. We will be participating in a training seminar for the direct entry midwives at our maternity, and others in our local area, working on nutrition programs incorporating traditional foods, community classes and more. Any extra proceeds from the trip or additional donations will go directly into these important works.

The fee for three weeks of invaluable birth experience is $2400. A non-refundable deposit of $100 dollars is due with this application to reserve your space, as we will only be taking 6 students at a time. Also required is the Wolof Workbook for English Speakers, which is available for $20. This is an invaluable resource, as is a French-English Dictionary. If you are interested in a richer more complete experience see our 6 Month Exchange trip info...

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