Secure livelihoods for vulnerable youth in Senegal

As our second cohort of talibés is well underway with their training and on the road to success, we wanted to give you a quick update on how things are going.  While the course started off with literacy classes, market gardening and fruit growing were quickly added to their training schedule. The course also included a number of field visits, which the trainees thoroughly enjoyed.   

In the words of their group spokesman Boukhary: “We are really starting to master things. We can measure and prepare the land, we can do it all now. It’s going really well. The breakfasts provided have been a great help. We can make it to training on time without having to worry in the morning. The individual follow up to make sure we don’t miss classes and the individual calls to make sure we are ok, have truly motivated us to continue the training, which we really hope to finish. I think that in the future, we can become successful farmers, even if we don’t run big companies. We will be better off and will be able to provide for our families and ourselves in the future. I believe that if there is continued support in place, we stand a better chance of succeeding.”

In the words of their course supervisor Mr Ndione: “This training has offered them a real opportunity to integrate the work environment by providing them with a formal training. It is not always straightforward for us as we have to adapt the content to their level. Through a skills-based approach however we are able to teach them all they need to know through demonstrations and practice, rather than theory. We are teaching them to learn by doing! In regard to their commitment, they are truly diligent. The breakfasts and individual follow-up have been determining factors here. I would like to seize this opportunity to ask Aspyre Africa and its supporters to make sure we can continue to support these talibés all the way to secure livelihoods. Training is most important, but the road doesn’t end there. Many of them have opportunities to develop income generating activities in their villages, and we need to make sure they can do that.” 

Since our last report we have also made great progress in securing key partnerships that will allow us to scale up our work and contribute to systemic change. We should be able to share more details with you very soon. In the meantime however we wanted to let you know that our next GlobalGiving campaign will be a 24 hours ONLY event for #GivingTuesday, a day that encourages people to do good. So stay tuned and mark the 30th November in your diary.

Thank you for your trust and your continued support! 

With warm wishes,

The Aspyre Africa team