Who We Are
The Team
We are a team of change-makers who believe that every helping hand can raise a child and create a better future for them.
We started extending help to needy Children and youth who were eager to study and work for a better life. This moment intensified when we found that there were many such underprivileged children who needed help with food, shelter and education. Our team expanded and we spread out in different regions to make sure we cover all possible areas and help as many children as possible.
Bineta Gueye Thiam — Founder and President
Bineta Gueye Thiam holds a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Forensic Mental Health with a specialism in personality disorders. She founded WASSOR from a conviction that the psychological distress of Senegalese women — particularly divorced women, widows, and those carrying caring responsibilities — was both real and structurally invisible within existing mental health systems.
As Principal Investigator on the Grand Challenges Canada Empower Minds grant, Bineta leads WASSOR’s digital mental health programme across Dakar, Saint-Louis, and Kolda. She also directs the Womanity programme in Casamance and Touba, and represents WASSOR in its partnerships with the Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale, the Ministère de la Famille, and international partners.
Her approach is grounded in decolonial womanist ethics and Participatory Research — and in the understanding that the most durable interventions are built by communities, not for them.
Marieme Pouye
Marième Pouye has worked as an archivist in several local institutions and companies. Marième is a founder member of WASSOR and oversees the administration.
Mouhamed Sama — Student Engagement
Mouhamed Sama manages WASSOR’s Vie Étudiant cell — a student-led group dedicated to promoting mental health awareness and the holistic wellbeing of women within university communities. His work connects WASSOR’s broader mission to the specific realities and pressures faced by young people in Senegal.
Psychological Distress Awareness
Our Mission
- We aim to raise awareness and destigmatise psychological distress and to foster the autonomy responsibilities:
We intend to build an information and learning centre, as well as a shelter for vulnerable women where they can find tailored advice, signposting, and assistance (psychological, financial, administrative and/or legal). - We offer a space where they can voice their needs and struggles and explore their prospects. In Senegalese society, divorced, widowed, and other forms of single motherhood including women with caring responsibilities are often not seen nor heard to the point of stigmatization.
Our Vision
- Our vision is to bring about liberation through empowerment. We believe in creating a world where every individual has the tools, knowledge, and resources to break free from the chains of inequality, discrimination, and oppression.
- We envision a society that values and celebrates diversity, where everyone is given equal opportunities to thrive and succeed. Through education, advocacy, and innovative solutions, we aim to empower individuals to overcome barriers, realize their full potential, and become active agents of positive change.
- By fostering a culture of inclusivity and promoting social justice, we strive to create a brighter future where everyone can live a life of freedom, dignity, and fulfillment.