I only needed one day to fall in love with Senegal. People are friendly, food is great, our little hostel is nice and clean and every minute out on the streets is an adventure..
Our first aid project visit was to Yaakaar; a small training centre where currently 30 youths get the opportunity to learn the techniques of tailoring and batik clothes that are sold in cooperation with an Italian fair trade NGO. The NGO is also currently building a small guest house in the same building where a Senegalese family will host tourist and introduce them to Senegalese culture and food. In my opinion, it seems to be a quite nice project based on the concepts of partcipation and capacity building, however, as in many cases of development aid, the project has not yet reached a satisfying level of sustainability. Since the project started in 2005, the project benificaries have not yet been able to start their own small businesses (which would be the natural goal of such initative), rather, they still seem to be dependent on the Italian NGO and external financing. To reach a higher level of sustainability, this NGO would need to create networks with other NGO:s that are working with similar activities and develop links with the private sector and financial insitutions.
Ingela on behalf of the DG DEV study trip group
1 comment:
great title Ingela! greeting for all of you and waiting for more updates!
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