January 03, 2025
Turkish Maarif Foundation (TMF) Senegal Schools are trying to keep the traditions of the country alive and aim to strengthen students' ties with their own culture with the “Friday Salutation” project, where students go to school on Fridays in their traditional clothes.
In Senegal, where approximately 95 percent of the country's population is Muslim, people prefer traditional clothes on Fridays and pay attention to dress more carefully.
Senegalese from seven to seventy, regardless of men and women, wear colorful traditional caftans and dresses called “boubou” prepared with bright fabrics on Fridays.
TMF Senegal Schools also ask their students who normally wear uniforms to come to school on Fridays in traditional clothes.
The project titled “Friday Salutation” prepared by Furkan Şişman, a Turkish teacher at Sacre Coeur College in Dakar, aims to strengthen students' ties with their own culture.
- Inspired by the guests of Africa House
Explaining the details of the project to AA correspondent, Şişman said that he was inspired by the African guests wearing traditional clothes at the Africa House program held at the Presidential Complex within the scope of World Volunteering Day in 2022.
Emphasizing that he observed that African guests, who preferred colorful and different clothes, were proud to wear a piece of their culture, Şişman noted that he decided on the project after this observation.
Şişman said, “In Senegal, people usually go out in local clothes on Fridays. We thought about how we could adapt this tradition to our school and decided to do such a project. On Fridays, we invite our students to school in their local clothes and thus pave the way for them to preserve their own identity and values.”
Stating that the parents are also very pleased with this practice, Şişman said, “While societies are losing their identities in a rapidly globalizing world, we want to support Senegalese people to keep these traditions alive as much as we can.”
- “I am proud of myself when I go to school in traditional clothes”
Mamadou Diop, a teacher at Dakar Sacre Coeur College, said that the project gave both students and teachers the opportunity to return to their roots.
“As our first President Leopold Sedar Senghor said, in order to open up to the world, you must first embrace your roots. Students will first learn about their values, identity and traditions and then explore the world. In this respect, I find the project very useful.”
One of the students, Maimouna Lakh, said, “When I come to school wearing my traditional clothes, I feel much better and more confident.”
Another student, Vassor Seck, said, “When I go to school in traditional clothes, I feel proud of myself for being able to wear a piece of my own culture and this motivates me a lot.”
The Friday Salutation project also received the “good examples in education” award at the 4th Istanbul Education Summit organized online by TMF on December 6-7 with the theme “Education for an equal and fairer society and a sustainable future”.
