Exactly ten years ago, after a series of impressive trips to Senegal that I had the pleasure of accompanying, I portrayed four women who, to me, were exemplary in different areas of Senegalese women’s empowerment and commitment to independence. On a recent trip, I was able to visit two of these strong women again with the group I accompanied and to see how they have progressed over the past ten years.

Binta Wane and the women of Kamb

The chairperson of the group "Union des Femmes pour le Développement Endogène de Kamb", Binta Wane, and her comrades-in-arms have become noticeably more professional. Their work and commitment have become more visible, both in their immediate environment and with national and international organisations, which have now also offered support. For example, the UNDP, the UN Development Programme, and the Senegalese organisation ENDA. Thanks to this support, an approximately 6-metre-deep well and two pumps could be set up. In 2020, the sprinkler systems financed by a private sponsor and the drip irrigation system were put into operation.

The area cultivated by the women could be expanded, currently it is three hectares on which a variety of vegetables are grown. Fruit trees provide mangoes, papayas and some indigenous fruits and have a beneficial climate effect. The women's commitment to the production of healthy food and environmental protection is unbroken, even if they admit that the work becomes more difficult as they get older; the watering cans, which are still used sporadically, are only filled halfway, full they would be too heavy. At least the women have the possibility to employ young men for heavy work, and now and then young people come to the garden for study purposes who can help.

The women's work is also becoming more difficult in the face of climate change: it rains more irregularly than a few years ago and often so heavily that the terrain is flooded. During the actual dry season in the European winter of 2022/23, there has still been so much rain that the work could only be started in January. Thus climate change is having a strong impact, and the women are now able to name and address it.

However, the group has a recruitment problem: the daughters of the women currently working have little interest in the hard work. On the other hand, there are now five women's groups in the Mbao forest, united under the auspices of the women of Kamb. The Mbao forest, Dakar's "green lung", has been severely affected by highway and rapid transit construction. All the more important is the work of all these women. It contributes to increasing biodiversity and to climate protection. Experts from the UN Development Programme advise the women on cultivation and marketing. The UN has also sent interns as part of its development programme to support the women during the pandemic.

The importance of women's work in maintaining or restoring an ecosystem and improving the living conditions of the population is therefore fully recognised and supported. This was not the case to this extent ten years ago.

 
Peinda Faye and the „Centre de Formation Professionnelle et Écologique Alioune Diagne Mbor (CFPE)“ near Saint Louis – Young women on the road to economic independence

The contact between European Naturefriends and Peinda Faye and her women's group Koom-koomjaboot Gi (Women's Network for Economic and Social Development) began in 2009. With donations from a travel group, a small shop was set up in Saint-Louis (Northern Senegal) where the women sold the juices, jams and clothes they produced.

A lot has happened since then. Initiated by the Naturefriends of Saint-Louis (led by Peinda Faye) and in close cooperation with the Naturefriends of Rastatt (Germany) under the leadership of Uschi Böss-Walter, and thanks to many committed donors, a nursery ("garderie") was built in Bekhar near Saint-Louis between 2011 and 2013. This created an opportunity for the women who work in the surrounding (salt) fields to have their children professionally looked after. In the facility, the children receive basic literacy training and meals. They also get to play and have fun.

But that was not all: again, initiated by Peinda Faye and the Naturefriends of Rastatt under the leadership of Uschi Böss-Walter, the plan arose to build a training centre for young women and girls. This was against the background of the precarious living conditions of families in the region, especially girls and women. The project was implemented with 75% funding from the German Ministry of the Environment and the training centre was built in 2017/18.

At the centre, three-year training is offered in cooking and gastronomy, fruit and vegetable processing, tailoring, dyeing and hairdressing. In addition to this technical, vocational training, the centre also offers literacy courses and - in special teaching units - the teaching of ecological knowledge.

Peinda Faye was the driving force in all phases of project planning and implementation and is still the main person responsible for the successful operation of the facility. She is the chairperson of the Saint-Louis Naturefriends, a local councillor and a committed campaigner for women's education and empowerment. Improving the living conditions of the population in her community is close to her heart, and so she is also concerned to help the graduates of the courses at the Centre to find internships and jobs.

The training for about 150 young girls and women started in October 2018, in 2021 the first graduation diplomas were handed over to young women. Since then, the training has continued, and a sewing workshop has been set up. Here, the women can also sell the products they make, e.g. clothes, soaps, juices, etc.

It was very gratifying to see the young girls and women at work in the various teaching rooms and to be served samples of the products made in the teaching kitchen. You could clearly feel the joy of the work and the pride of being able to present what they had learned to a European group.

Thus, within a very short period of time, something has been developed that makes a lasting contribution to the improvement of the situation of women in the villages and thus also to the entire village population. Even though the funding came mainly from Germany, none of this would have been possible without Peinda Faye and her helpers.

The project offers opportunities that are also being seized. In rural Senegal, it is not a matter of course that parents train their daughters for future-oriented professions instead of sending them to the salt fields where they work under extremely difficult and unhealthy conditions, or that young girls and women choose the path of this training themselves in order to emancipate themselves - all these young girls and women are a new generation of "strong women".

The role of women in the "Fruit trees for Senegalese villages" project

During our trip, we also visited villages in northern Senegal where the NFI Climate Fund supported the planting of fruit trees in the family homesteads. Here, too, the women play an important role: they are the ones who take care of the trees, sell the harvested fruit or use it themselves (directly from the tree or processed). In this way, they contribute to the family income on the one hand, and on the other hand the fruit also provides healthy food - and the trees give shade and thus also improve the climate in the villages. We were able to meet many of these women in the villages of Lobodou, Doué and Dimatt and also ask some of them what significance the fruit trees have for them:

Faty Hamadi Sall, Loboudou

"I love the trees because they play a vital role for us. The fruit trees not only provide food for us, they are also a natural pharmacy. I water my plants day and night, and fertilise them regularly so that they grow."  Watch the video

Mariam Watt, Doué

"I come from Doué, this is where I grew up and this is where I got married. I love the trees, they are a real passion for me. I often dream about the trees at night because they are so important to me. And I also talk to them and take care of them. But we also have problems because the soil is not so good, but we make an effort so that the trees can still grow normally. We have planted the trees partly in our fields, partly in our gardens." Watch the video

The Portraits of the Women 2013: respect_NFI tourism_LOG