This school teaches Senegal’s brightest girls to push back against patriarchal norms

GOREE ISLAND, Senegal — As a child, Ndeye Awa Diop was so shy she couldn’t look people in the eye.

Raised in rural Senegal , she learned to embrace what was traditionally expected of girls across the predominately Muslim West African nation. They should be seen but not heard. They should obey their elders.