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Mbousnakh Community Development Project Mbousnakh is Adama and Awa’s village. It is situated about three hours inland from Dakar on paved and unpaved roads, and it can’t be reached by public transportation. The population of the actual village is just under 1,800 inhabitants but the population of the combined community of surrounding villages is just under 26,800. Here is a picture of the first visit to Mbousnakh with Sarah Wallace on the right, Wendy Bobsein from New Zealand and Adama and Awa in front of their school. The purpose of our first visit in April 2006 was to meet their family. We met them, the school director, the nurse at the health center, every child in the village and the village chief who invited us to call Mbousnakh our home. In the next picture, six months later, Elena and Sarah are with the two girls. It was the twin’s uncle who explained to us that the adults can’t even write their names and they don’t want that for their children; that’s why every school age child in the village goes to school. Our relationship with the village community has grown through our twice-a-year visits so that together we have begun a women’s micro credit economic development project which entails purchasing a grinding mill. Grinding grain into flour is the most labor intensive work these women do. Women for Girls was awarded a development grant from the Foundation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas (FAWCO), and students in the Honor Society of the High School of Law and Government and Community Service in Queens, NY raised money for the project through bake sales. These contributions will help purchase the grain mill. With the extra time the mill will allow these women, they can contribute more effectively in community life. The village formed a dynamic community group composed mostly of women including a woman president. Priorities identified by this group lie in the areas of health, education and agriculture. They want to earn more money to purchase medicines and improve public health education and services including malaria and infectious disease prevention, improve hygiene and provide prenatal visits and health visits for children under five years old. The third picture is of the maternity bed in the health center. This center must meet the needs of the population of Mbousnakh and the surrounding villages. They also want to improve the school by providing teacher training and purchase more books for the students. Currently four students share each classroom book. In the last picture the school director is in the library that he also uses as his office. The books must meet the needs of almost 550 students. Training in sustainable agriculture is also a priority. The entire community, including the village chief, believes this mill initiative can be an effective start in creating necessary jobs that will eventually prevent rural exodus and its drastic consequences. This dynamic village is ready for change and the most important aspect is that the change is coming from the inside. The villagers want to help themselves and they believe that the grinding mill is the foundation for this change. Women for Girls is organizing through Tostan an in-depth three-year community empowerment training for the women’s group of Mbousnakh and surrounding villages. Vocational training in skills needed to manage the mill activity as well as public health and human rights issues will be included. For more information about Tostan and its community-based programs you can go to www.tostan.org The Centre National pour Recherche Agricole (CNRA), located in a nearby town, will provide agricultural training specific to the needs of the village. In the meantime Women for Girls met with government officials responsible for water resources and distribution to learn about the water related problems of the Sahel region. The local government and the Mbousnakh Community Group asked for governmental assistance to find water and to obtain information about a well project. At one of our first meetings a couple years ago, the village women said that they could grow many more crops but the problem is water. As the mill activity and the accompanying Tostan training progress, Women for Girls will seek funding and partnership for the construction of a well to provide irrigation. The National Center for Agricultural Research (CNRA) has agreed to train a group of farmers from Mbousnakh in organic sustainable agriculture and in successful ways of growing more crops. Three years ago, we met a savvy entrepreneur in Dakar who started an organic juice and jelly business. Her clients include some restaurants, a few stores and a few individuals. Of course she would love to increase her market targets. When we met her, she no longer had a constant source of organic bissap (hibiscus) and had to buy it in the market from various growers at higher prices. She wanted a constant stable supply, not only of hibiscus, but also of the other fruit and grain that she eventually wanted to market. WFG would work with Mbousnakh growers making sure they get the necessary training to provide a constant supply of bissap and the other fruit to make these juices. To increase the market and help economic growth for Mbousnakh, WFG talked about the project with a fair trade importer in Italy. The founder of the organization joined WFG on the following trip, met the entrepreneur, visited the village and was very impressed with the project. They analyzed the juices and jelly, both of which passed the strict European standards, but the project stopped there. Women for Girls will recommence the project with another fair trade importer after there is more progress with the Tostan Community Empowerment Training.
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