SENEGAL
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is a coastal West African country bordered by Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and almost completely surrounding The Gambia. Its capital and largest city is Dakar. As of 2023–2025 estimates, Senegal’s population is around 18–18.5 million people.
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Senegal is ethnically diverse, with major groups including the Wolof (largest), Pulaar/Fulani, Serer, Jola, Mandinka, Soninké, and others. French is the official language, but Wolof serves as the main lingua franca spoken across most regions.
FAMILY
This category includes anything related to a client’s home life, relationships with parents, siblings, or extended family, and the roles they play within their household. It also covers family expectations, communication patterns, cultural values, responsibilities, conflicts, and any major events or changes happening at home. The goal is to understand how the client’s family environment shapes their daily stress, emotional wellbeing, and behavior.
Explores the famous Senegalese value of teranga (hospitality), showing how kindness, sharing, and community responsibility shape social life across the country.
Covers everyday living patterns, neighbor interactions, and how Senegalese families organize households in both urban and rural areas.
Shows how communities in Senegal organize around challenges such as drought, migration, and health. Highlights resilience, mutual aid, and local leadership.
Offers insight into how Senegalese communities support children and youth through school, community groups, and extended-family networks.
COMMUNITY
This category explores how people in Senegal live together beyond the nuclear family — their neighborhoods, friendships, communal networks, social expectations, village or urban community structures, and how these influence daily life, social support, identity, and belonging. It covers social norms, community rituals, mutual aid, socialization practices, and how daily life is shaped by community ties.
Provides insight into Niger’s ethnic diversity, village life, communal cooperation, and shared responsibilities across households. Shows how social ties shape identity and belonging.
Offers reports on how communities respond collectively to drought, food insecurity, and social stressors.
Describes how community life is impacted by poverty, environment, migration, and rural livelihoods. Shows how social networks act as survival systems for families.
Provides community-level reports on local challenges, displacement, mutual aid networks, and how communities respond collectively to hardship and crisis.
RELIGION
This category explores the beliefs, spiritual practices, and religious values that shape a client’s worldview. In many African communities, religion is deeply connected to daily life, moral expectations, community belonging, and decision-making. By understanding the client’s religious background—whether traditional beliefs, Christianity, Islam, or blended practices—counselors can better interpret their coping styles, sources of support, stress responses, and the meaning they attach to personal struggles.
Gives a clear overview of Senegal’s religious landscape—primarily Islam, with Christianity and Indigenous beliefs also present.
Explains Senegal’s powerful Sufi orders (Mouride, Tijaniyya, Qadiriyya) and how they shape daily life, politics, values, and community behavior.
Covers policies, protections, and the social environment for religious expression in Senegal—generally known for its tolerance.
Simple breakdown of religious groups in Senegal, with explanations of how each faith appears in daily living.