About us
What’s in the name?
Diapalante is taken from the Wolof language and means ‘working together in solidarity’.
We chose this name as it reflects our belief in working alongside people to help them achieve their own goals and dreams. We each bring different skills to the table but our voices are equal, we stand side by side.
Partnerships for change
Our work also benefits from a wide and diverse network of UK partners individuals and organisations who donate time, skills and funding.
If you may be able to contribute, through your professional or personal life, please get it touch.
Partnerships for change
Coming together in equitable long-term partnerships to deliver life changing projects.
Diapalante believes that in any community, there is the understanding and expertise to identify and solve many local issues. In Mauritania and Senegal, United Nations least developed countries, it is often poverty and its consequences that hold back development. We build long-term relationships with our partners. Our role is to listen to our local partners and select those projects where our values, expertise and resources combine with theirs to bring lasting improvements to people’s lives. With our partners in the global north we seek to provide the support and finance needed to help these initiatives succeed. The projects are run by local people in collaboration with the local community. These partnerships are the core of our work.
Our roots
Diapalante is passionate about supporting our partners as they develop life-improving opportunities in their communities.
Diapalante started in 2005 when two teenagers, now trustees, returned from a gap year volunteering with the Mauritanian non-governmental organisation APLT (l’Association des producteurs laitiers transhumance). APLT worked to improve the fragile existence of nomadic cattle and goat herding families living on the fringes of the Sahara Desert. The experience of administering local programmes and observing the interactions between APLT and visiting international charities provided insights which shape the relationship between Diapalante and our local partners today. Local partners who are led by trusted individuals known from this time.
Since our foundation in 2005, Diapalante has worked with a range of local groups. These include semi-nomadic herders raising livestock on the fringes of the Sahara desert, children and adults keen to improve their education and work skills, the disabled community and children forced to beg on the street.
For more information on our partners, take a look at our Projects page.
Meet our team
Diapalante in the UK is run by volunteers, we currently have no paid staff.
The Trustees
Pamela Brannigan (2005 – present)
Ian Chandler (2005-present)
Elizabeth Chandler (2005-present)
Jack Poole (2024 – present)
Nye Meaker (2024-present)
Emily Charlton (2019-present)
Alan Muhr (2005-present)
Carol Muhr (2005-present) Administration
Patricia Thorpe (2023-present)`
The Diapalante Council
The Diapalante Council both advises and supports the trustees.
Composed of UK volunteers who have spent a year working at the Diapalante Community Education Centre in Senegal, the Diapalante Council contributes valuable lived experience to guide the trustees decisions.
Members of the Diapalante Council contribute to or run various projects. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic Council members oversaw a project producing storybooks for Senegalese children. The stories were written by teenagers in Senegal and the illustrations donated by UK artists. The books are published on Africanstorybook.org and used at the Centre and other projects in Senegal
More Volunteers
There are more volunteers who help with fundraising events or give their expertise. Could you be one of these?
We are lucky to be able to call on a range of volunteers whose give their time and practical skills to help in many ways: with administration, event catering, fundraising, ….
Meet our partners in Africa
Diapalante Senegal
The Diapalante Community Education Centre is run by Diapalante Senegal. Mamadou Kane, assisted by Nafi, Kaba and a large team of volunteers deliver an amazing range of programmes designed to help adults and children improve their job prospects and escape the worst effects of poverty.
Diapalante Mauritania
Ibrahima Diallo oversees Diapalante’s work in Mauritania. Over the years, he has worked with some of the most vulnerable groups in the local community. He provides both practical help and a strong local voice.
Hillcrest Advisory Bureau & Bursary Fund
Six volunteers and 3 part time employees help youngsters in the
disadvantaged rural communities of the Valley of 1000 Hills in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa to suceed in education.