Benedictine Monks of Keur Moussa (Senegal) [May 2026]

Project #26M024

The Keur Moussa monastery was founded in 1963 by Saint-Pierre de Solesmes (France) following an appeal from the Archbishop of Dakar. The community includes 31 brothers in solemn vows, 2 brothers in temporary vows and 2 novices. In 2023, the community celebrated its sixty years of existence.

A care center was created for people from the surrounding villages, taken over since 1966 by the Benedictine Oblates of Angers.

A primary school was created in 1967 for the children of the village of Keur Moussa, which was then entrusted to the diocesan directorate of Catholic Education.

The monks sell products from their farm (goat cheese, broiler chickens) and their orchards (oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, mangoes, etc.). Their agro-food processing unit employs local labor. An agroecological training center, recognized by the state, has been relaunched.

The community is known for its liturgy and its workshop for making koras sold around the world. She founded in Séguéya, Guinea-Conakry.

Project:

Senegal, a Sahelian country, is increasingly affected by climate change: declining rainfall, a drop of over 50% in river flow and groundwater levels, the drying up of rivers, and the salinization of fresh water and farmland. It also faces periods of excessive rainfall and increasingly violent storms that cause flooding, prolonged power outages, and infrastructure damage. The Keur Moussa community is not spared by these phenomena and needs to install an early-streamer emission (ESE) lightning conductor—which is more effective than traditional lightning rods as it captures lightning at a higher altitude—to protect its electrical systems and operations. By working with small-scale local producers, the community will thus be able to continue supporting these local jobs.

Financial assistance: 7 400 euros