GIE Medinatoul
Last week we were in Baol, in the Diourbel region of Senegal. The 140-kilometer drive takes 3 hours if you leave Dakar at 5:00 in the morning and six hours stuck in traffic if you leave any later than that. Baol is considerably smaller than Thiès and Mbour, with a population of approximately 100,000 people in a mostly rural region with an economy focused on groundnut farming and livestock hearding.
On this trip, we learned as much from our trainees as they learned from us. It was a spirited group of GIEs (totaling 50 trainees) with lots of good questions and ideas. After each weekly training session, the OS team spends the weekend making adjustments to the training modules so that they flow more smoothly and address additional issues as they arise during training.
Below are statistics compiled from a survey that each participant completed during the training program. Ten participants identified themselves as having no formal education and education levels varied widely. Many participants were previously unemployed or were unpaid apprentices in fields such as tailoring. Others were previously employed as vendors (coffee, fabric, phone cards), one was a metal worker, and one was a taxi driver.
Nine of the 50 program participants identified themselves as having internet access (at a local internet café). All other participants stated that there was no access to internet in or near their homes.
Number of participants who completed the training program: 45 (90%)
Number of women: 28
Number of men: 17
Average age: 20.7 years old
Average daily income before Options Senegal (for those who were employed): 1360F CFA (approx. US$2.72/day)
Average number of people in household: 14.02 people
Average number of employed people in household: 3.30 people
We will be administering the same survey to all 300 of our initial participants and others beyond that. We will post all survey data on our website and as our data increases, we will provide more statistics.
way to go!