Isolated in the heart of the Senegal River delta, the island of Bopp Thior strives to preserve its identity. But the daily reality of its inhabitants is marked by profound hardship. Here, basic necessities are still lacking, and each family lives in a silent struggle to access even the most essential services.

 

One of the most striking symbols of this neglect remains the health post. Built several years ago, it has never truly been functional. No medical equipment, no health workers, no follow-up care. Lacking any alternative, the building was eventually converted into housing for teachers assigned to the village. Meanwhile, pregnant women continue to live with the anguish of high-risk pregnancies. Some give birth in canoes, mid-journey to Saint-Louis, risking their lives and the lives of their children.

 

For Rama Diop, president of the Bopp Thior Women's Association, health remains the island's main concern:

“Here, when a woman becomes pregnant, she lives in anguish. When she reaches full term, we are forced to take a pirogue to bring her to the hospital in Saint-Louis, whatever the time. Several times, women have given birth in the pirogues. We have a health post, but it has never functioned due to a lack of staff and medical equipment. Today, it serves as a dormitory for the teachers assigned here,” she laments.

 

Education also suffers from a critical lack of resources. The island's only school has just three classrooms, far too small to properly accommodate the students. The cramped quarters, combined with insufficient equipment, limit learning and severely impact the children's future prospects. After entering sixth grade, they must travel to Saint-Louis every day, requiring a daily journey by dugout canoe.

 

“For education, it’s even more difficult. Children get up at 6 a.m. to take the canoes, with all the risks that this entails,” adds Rama Diop.

 

Ibrahima Ndiaye, a young resident of the island, shares the same observation:

"The situation we are experiencing is extremely difficult. Whether in the field of health or education, we are facing many problems. We really feel like we have been abandoned to our fate," he confides.

 

An island isolated administratively and often forgotten by public policies, Bopp Thior lives in chronic precarity: lack of social infrastructure, absence of a functional health center, no electricity, difficulties in getting around... all these barriers make life particularly difficult for the inhabitants.

Bopp Thior appears today as a lost paradise somewhere in the Senegal River.