The people in Baraka will remember this day for the rest of their lives: The President of Senegal, Mr. Machy Sall, visited them in their slum in Dakar and expressed his joy about the improvements about to begin. 2000 inhabitants enthusiastically celebrated the President addressing them in their mother tongue Wolof. They know that substantial changes are on the way, and that he officially supports the project \u201cBaraka \u2013 From Slum to Modern Neighborhood.” UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Dr. h.c. Ute-Henriette Ohoven initiated this project to make sure that the people in Baraka enjoy basic human rights and financial freedom.<\/p>\n
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Together with a delegation of supporters, sponsors and government representatives, President Macky Sall and Ute-Henriette Ohoven visited the Baraka slum. The delegation included the German ambassador in Senegal, Dr. Renate Schimkoreit and Samih Sawiris (Cas Orascom), general partner and sponsor of the project. On a stage that had been set up over night, the President spoke to an audience of more than 2000 people and praised Ute-Henriette Ohoven and the You Stiftung for their tireless efforts to enable a better future for the slum residents. He stressed that Ms. Ohoven had asked him to build a mosque in Baraka despite the fact that she herself is of Christian denomination. In his mind, this was an important sign for religious tolerance and a demonstration of her understanding of Senegal. Macky Sall shared his appreciation for Ute-Henriette Ohoven’s and her daughter Claudia Jerger’s 26 years of engagement in Senegal and for Baraka in particular.<\/p>\n