Founded in 2022 by Katy Wheelock after thirty-three years in the classroom. Vive means “live it” — and every program is built around living the language, not watching it.
Designed and led student exchanges and educator trips to Senegal, Quebec and France over three decades as a middle- and high-school teacher. Lived two years in Dakar as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar at Université Cheikh Anta Diop, studying African literature and civilizations. Refugee work with IOM, peace-keeper training for the African Union, and years volunteering with a Senegalese children’s shelter. Officier des Palmes Académiques.
A Senegalese teacher of French in the USA and Vive’s Trip Director for our 4-week Global Service Learning programs. His family hosted Peace Corps volunteers when he was a boy; he later became a language trainer himself, with the School for International Training and CIEE. Decades of leading volunteers and students in Senegal make him the calm center of every trip.
A high-school French teacher who studied abroad in Senegal and returns often to her host family — including her goddaughter. Master’s in Teaching Foreign Language from the Middlebury Institute; speaks French, Spanish and Wolof (and dabbles in a dozen more). Has helped lead international trips and toured the world with a community choir.
Are you seeking inspiration, cultural insights, connection, community and a period of French immersion with like-minded educators? Vive provides all that and more. I felt trust and ease thanks to the skillful and warm communication leading up to the trip and throughout the journey around Senegal.
Fabulous trip! Personally and professionally a life-changing experience.
I enjoyed learning to play the djembe and making batik cloth at Sobo Badé. The trips to the schools were amazing, with such warm and welcoming students and teachers. It was fantastic to celebrate Tabaski with Matou’s family as well.
