COVID-19 - Temporary Service Shutdown

Hello dear readers,

As we all know by now, the world has been rocked to its core by this year's Coronavirus pandemic. In terms of virus spread, Senegal seems to be two months behind Europe, and one month behind the U.S. (or more). The current President Macky Sall has put in place several preventative measures, including school closures, border closures, an 8pm curfew, limited space on public transportation, blocked transport between regions, and a ban on all gatherings of 10 people or more. The virus reached our neighborhood at the end of March.

ABA Senegal's service availability will reflect the availability of public education. Services have been temporarily shut down until May 4th, when schools are slated to reopen.

The current global movement in ABA is veering quickly towards telehealth. This will be difficult for us here in Senegal as many families do not have reliable internet connections. We will use this time to reflect on realistic telehealth strategies, gathering materials, and going through the learning curve of delivering telehealth therapy services to those that need them and can benefit from them. In the meantime, we are conducting check-in phone calls to families.

For telehealth resources in French, please contact us through our website or send an email to info.abasenegal@gmail.com. We have access to a Google Drive folder that has many resources, including social stories for kids, virus info, educational materials, games, worksheets, etc.

For professionals, a compilation of telehealth online seminars, trainings, and other resources can be sent to you via email as well. We do not have a complete resource bank, but around 10-15 hours of material.

Best of luck - du courage - and take care!

- Your ABA Senegal team