Blind, disconnected, cheated, and lacking opportunities. This is how some women describe feeling before they participated in The Tandana Foundation’s Literacy, Leadership, and Enterprise program in rural Mali. Now, with the skills they have learned through the program, they are empowered to shop and sell their goods confidently in the market, and many are organizing together and forming women’s associations that are proving very successful. In fact, the women’s association of Bine celebrated their accomplishments by having matching outfits made for themselves.
Finding employment opportunities is not easy in rural Mali, and many residents have created their own businesses to provide for themselves and their families while also filling the needs of their communities. Some of the women entrepreneurs have joined together in associations and have requested support from The Tandana Foundation to start or expand their businesses. Tandana has now supported 53 women’s associations with training, tools, and a revolving fund to expand the income-generating possibilities of their work.
In the community of Yambiro, Ecuador, a group of women started to dream of a better future. Little by little, their ideas materialized until they succeeded in organizing themselves to establish the Yambiro Fish Farming and Irrigation Group (CPRY).
The following story is from Ambajugo Kassogue, a grandfather whose family receives support through The Tandana Foundation’s displaced students’ program.
The program initiated by The Tandana Foundation for displaced families in Bandiagara is a very welcome initiative, says Hamidou Yalcouyé, coordinator of the displaced students program.
After starting with literacy, The Tandana Foundation has steadily expanded its capacity-building programming for women in rural Mali. Now, Tandana partners with villages across the Bandiagara District of Mali to empower women to read, write, calculate, work together in associations, and generate income.
Due to ongoing insecurity in parts of Mali, The Tandana Foundation launched a program for students of displaced families who are now living in Bandiagara. At first, the program focused on providing educational and food support to families so the students could attend school and settle into their new town. This year, Tandana expanded the program to also include training and resources for the parents to pursue income-generating activities so they could better support their families.
This year, The Tandana Foundation expanded a program aimed to help students from internally displaced families in Mali to reach more students as well as to provide additional support to parents in generating income for their families.
Never underestimate the impact of being able to do something you could not before.
Through literacy and numeracy classes, leadership workshops, support in registering women’s associations, and startup funding for income-generating enterprises, the programs organized by The Tandana Foundation in rural Mali are supporting women in learning to read, write, calculate, work together in associations, and generate income. These skills increase their confidence, independence, success in economic activities, and recognition as agents of local decision-making.
Indigo dyeing is proving to be a profitable way for women to earn money across the Wadouba Township of Mali, with many dyers in the new women’s associations supported by The Tandana Foundation becoming successful businesswomen. The resurgence of indigo dyeing in the region has led to the revitalization of another culturally significant activity that had fallen out of favor with the younger generation.Hear from one woman about the outcome below.
Women across many villages in rural Mali have become powerful community leaders and successful businesswomen following the leadership and governance training in the workshops organized by The Tandana Foundation. While they learn skills to be community and business leaders, they are also increasing their confidence, independence, success in economic activities, and recognition as agents of local decision-making. Many of them have also joined the women’s associations supported by Tandana to conduct their income-generating activities.
Four inspiring participants of the leadership workshops share their personal stories below.
The Tandana Foundation has supported the creation of many women’s associations to support women with their income-generating activities throughout the Bandiagara District of Mali. Below, hear from one participant from Komberou about how successful their association has been compared to other associations that have been started in her village but lack the oversight and camaraderie found in the Tandana-organized groups.
With support from The Tandana Foundation, the women dyers from the village of Goundoly Djeninke in Mali continue to grow their business, selling dyed cloths and carrying on an important part of their tradition. In the following blog, hear two different perspectives on the benefits the indigo dyeing association has brought to the village.
Indigo dyeing is a major source of income for women in rural Mali. The Tandana Foundation has helped several villages create indigo banks to manage a revolving fund for the materials they use, similar to the cotton banks the organization has supported in other villages. The newest indigo bank is in Sol Djeninke. When it started, the leadership committee of the Sol Djeninke indigo bank participated in a workshop to learn how to manage their bank and also how to dye safely using both natural and chemical dyes. Tandana also provided the women with their equipment and supplies to get the new indigo bank up and running. Recently they held their first annual meeting to reimburse the cost of the materials they used and evaluate the first campaign.
Thousands of women have participated in the Savings for Change, literacy, and leadership programs, which are organized by The Tandana Foundation in partnership with villages across Bandiagara District, Mali. Whether it is contributing to savings funds, learning how to read and write, or exploring how to be a female leader, not everyone in the villages has immediately recognized the importance of having these programs available to women. Below, three women provide commentary on how the success of the participants is changing the way people think about the programs.
In 2019, The Tandana Foundation funded six women’s associations’ business proposals in the Bandiagara District of Mali. These women’s enterprises are now starting income-generating activities, including making nutritional seasoning balls out of néré seeds, raising sheep, transforming cotton into cloth and indigo dyeing. Below four women talk about the progress they have made with their income-generating activities.
This year, there are 30 new Savings for Change groups that The Tandana Foundation has helped form in eight villages in the Bandiagara District of Mali. Most of the new groups have 22 members, one group has 27, and two groups have 30 with a total of 681 participants. So far, the groups have collectively saved $3,064.06. The 30 groups, involving 789 women, that started in 2019 held their fund-sharing ceremony after a year of saving. The total funds divided up were $12,269, with each member receiving between $10 and $11.
Below, three women who have joined SFC groups share their thoughts on the success of the saving and credit program in their townships.
Jose Sanchez is an indigenous farmer who grew up working in the fields of a newly formed commune and was optimistically helping organize the former share-croppers that had been liberated from huasipungo, ‘serfdom,’ in the 1960’s. He lives in Cotacachi, a town of 8,000 located a few miles from Otavalo, and with his wife maintains and manages (at a low salary) a beautiful guest house owned by an absentee landlord long resettled in Quito. His mother is still the owner of a small cornfield in the lands of the former hacienda, but it is not mechanized and doesn’t produce much crops or income. The net result of the ‘liberation’ of the sharecroppers is that they, as before the 1960’s, do all the work and yet remain quite poor. Continue reading “From hacienda to commune to cooperating farm families”
The women who participate in the Savings for Change program in Mali continue to experience the positive impacts of their work and their collaboration with each other. Through the program, which is supported by The Tandana Foundation, the women have been able to save money, repay their loans, and manage the costs of running their businesses. Below, two women share how the SFC program has benefited their income-generating activities as well as their villages.Continue reading “Becoming more respected, secure, and in harmony through the Savings For Change program”
In rural Mali, the Tommo So literacy and numeracy classes, along with the recently launched leadership workshops, which are made possible thanks to the support from Dining for Women, continue to have extremely positive impacts on the women who participate in them. Below, three women share their stories of how these programs, which have been established in many villages by the Tandana Foundation, have changed their lives for the better and have assisted them in becoming community leaders.Continue reading “‘Long live the Tandana Foundation’”
Interested in learning what women in the Savings For Change (SFC) program think of the impact of their participation? Below, three members from the village of Teguedou share their reflections on the SFC program, which is a savings and credit program for women that the Tandana Foundation has helped establish in many communities in Mali. The goal of the program is to allow members to pool their savings and take out loans in order to assist them in starting or expanding micro-businesses.Continue reading “Reflections from Savings For Change members in Teguedou”
Organizing in work groups. Making phone calls independently. Teaching their children to read and do math. These are a just a few examples of what three women, of the more than one thousand women who have participated in the Tommo So literacy and numeracy classes and recently launched leadership workshops, write about what what their participation in these programs – made possible thanks to support from Dining for Women, assists them in doing. Below, those three women share their experiences before and after taking part in these programs, all of which the women asked the Tandana Foundation to help bring to their villages in rural Mali.Continue reading “What we can do now”
After women in the village of Kansongho told the Tandana Foundation that they would like to learn literacy and numeracy skills, so that they could keep records for their businesses and be independent in the marketplace, Tandana began the Tommo So literacy program in 2012. When women in neighboring villages saw what women in Kansongho were learning, they too, asked to participate, and that demand has continued to spread. To date, Tandana has provided classes to 1,117 women in 29 villages thanks to support from Dining for Women. In 2018, the foundation added women’s leadership workshops for former literacy students from each village to its offerings and supported these leaders in creating official women’s associations. Each new association was invited to submit a proposal for an income-generating enterprise, and the ten best proposals were selected to receive funding. The following letter was written by Assatou Goudienkile, on behalf of the women from the village of Nounou, explaining how their participation in the literacy and women’s leadership programs has helped them become self-reliant.Continue reading “‘We see clearly, we hear, we walk’”
During a series of workshops on women’s leadership sponsored by The Tandana Foundation and made possible through support from Dining for Women, participants learned how to form and lead women’s associations and also shared their experiences in leadership. In rural regions of Mali, women are rarely well represented in township councils. To encourage more women to seek these community leadership positions, Oumou Kansaye used examples from her experience in politics to inspire other women during one of the workshops. In the following, Oumou Kansaye tells her story, including desribing a speech where she argued for the equal treatment of female leaders from rural communities.Continue reading “Advocating for gender equality in local elections”
The following is the story of Tandana’s Savings For Change (SFC) trainer Moussa Tembiné. The SFC program is a savings and credit program for women that the Tandana Foundation has helped establish in many communities in Mali. Through this program, women are able to pool their savings and take out loans to assist them in starting or expanding micro-businesses.
Elé is from the village of Dianweli, about 7 km from Yarou-Plateau. He attended secondary school in Bourgouma, 3 km from his village. He is certified with a technician’s diploma (BT) from the professional school of Kayes in western Mali.
Being able to read words and understand numbers help women in Mali shop at the market independently and succeed in their work. The Tandana Foundation has partnered with members of 30 villages to establish literacy and numeracy classes – thanks to support from Dining for Women – that teach women to read, recognize numbers and count, improving their abilities to support their families. Below are comments from two women whose lives have changed through their participation in these classes. Continue reading “Teaching literacy to empower women in Mali”
Les Femmes de la communauté d’Ondougou, au Mali, teignent le tissu à l’indigo comme activité principale, activité réservée aux femmes d’une tradition particulière. Elles cherchaient un accès plus facile aux matériaux utilisés dans le procédé de teinture, ainsi que la capacité d’acheter ceux-ci à crédit. Tandana les a aidées à créer une banque d’indigo, afin de gérer un fonds renouvelable pour l’achat de ces matériaux. Tandana leur a également fourni une formation concernant certaines autres techniques, afin que la teinture indigo traditionnelle reste compétitive vis à vis des procédés chimiques, plus dangereux et dont la popularité augmente dans la région, ainsi que pour leur permette d’exercer leur activité de teinture en toute sécurité. Elles ont choisi un comité de sept femmes pour gérer la banque, et les membres de ce comité ont reçu une formation en gestion et tenue des dossiers. Ayant complété une session de cours d’alphabétisation de Tandana en langue Tommo So, les femmes membres du comité ont donc été bien équipées pour assumer une telle responsabilité. Voir ci-dessous quelques commentaires des participants.
Women in Ondougou Township, Mali, dye cloth with indigo as their major business, which is reserved for women of a particular heritage. They wanted to have more access to the materials they use in the dyeing process and the ability to purchase them on credit. Tandana helped them create an indigo bank to manage a revolving fund for the materials they use. Tandana also provided training for them in additional dyeing techniques to help them keep traditional indigo-dyeing competitive with the more dangerous chemical dyeing-processes that are becoming popular in the region and to do their dyeing safely. They chose a committee of seven women to manage the bank, and the committee members received training in management and record-keeping. Because they had completed a session of Tandana’s Tommo So literacy classes, the committee members were well-equipped to take on this responsibility. Below, you can see comments from some of the participants.
Las mujeres en el municipio de Ondougou, Mali, tiñen ropa con índigo, siendo su negocio más importante, el cual se reserva para mujeres de cierta herencia. Estas mujeres querían tener mayor acceso a los materiales que usan en el proceso de teñido y capacidad para comprarlos a plazos. Tandana les ayudó a crear un banco de índigo para gestionar un fondo rotativo de los materiales que utilizan. Tandana también les proporcionó formación en técnicas de teñido para ayudarles así, a mantener una condición favorable del teñido tradicional de índigo con el proceso químico más peligroso que se está popularizando en la región, haciendo el teñido de forma segura. Eligieron un comité de siete mujeres para gestionar el banco y recibieron formación en la gestión y registro. Ya que completaron la sesión de Tandana de clases de alfabetización de Tommo So, las pertenecientes al comité fueron bien preparadas para hacerse cargo de esta responsabilidad. Aqui en debajo se puede ver unas reflexiones de algunas participantes.
Mariam Yanogo
Mariam Yanogo:
Je suis la présidente de cette association, d’abord mon remerciement a vous, Moussa et Yembila, c’est grâce à vous nous retrouvons ici. Sans mentir je dis au fond de mon cœur, ces trois villages (Kondiougou, Indell, Guinekanda), nous travaillons des mêmes activités mais on n’a jamais collaboré ensemble pour donner des idées et travailler en équipe et si vous voyez qu’aujourd’hui nous sommes ensemble c’est grâce au financement de la Fondation Tandana et ses partenaires. Selon mon information, le 1er magasin de stockage des produits de teinture dans le cercle de Bandiagara donc nous avons eu une grande chance pour avoir ce magasin et avec cette grâce nous allons montrer à la Fondation Tandana ce qu’on peut faire.
Mariam Yanogo:
I am the president of this association. First of all, thank you Moussa and Yembila (the trainer). It is thanks to you that we are here. Without lying, I can tell you from the bottom of my heart, these three villages (Kondiougou, Indell, Guinekanda), we worked on the same activities without ever collaborating or sharing ideas with one another before, and if you see us together today, it is thanks to the financial support of The Tandana Foundation and its partners. According to my information, this is the first warehouse for indigo dye products in Bandiagara District. As such, we have had the great luck to have this indigo bank and with that blessing, we will show The Tandana Foundation what we can do.
Mariam Yanogo:
Soy la presidenta de esta asociación. Antes de todo, gracias Moussa y Yembila (el instructor). Es gracias a vosotros que estemos aquí. Sin mentir, os puedo decir desde el fondo de mi corazón, estas tres aldeas (Kondiougou, Indell, Guinekanda), hemos trabajamos en las mismas actividades sin colaborar nunca antes ni compartir ideas , y si nos ves juntos hoy, es gracias a el ayuda financiera de la Fundación Tandana y sus compañeros. De acuerdo con mi información, este es el primer almacén para productos de teñido índigo en Bandiagara. Y siendo así, hemos tenido la grandísima suerte de tener este banco de índigo y con esta bendición, le enseñaremos a la Fundación Tandana lo que podemos hacer.
Ramata Balam, Gestionnaire du magasin de stockage de teinture:
Pour moi, c’est une grande histoire. Après mes études en comptabilité c’est la première fois de faire mon expérience en comptabilité. Je suis de Guinekanda et marié à Kondiougou, Après les études je me suis marié dans ce village et je pense souvent pourquoi j’ai étudié parce que j’ai tendance à oublier mes notions à 100% je suis devenue une ménagère. Aujourd’hui grâce à vous et à la Fondation Tandana, je me sent que je suis utile et je commence à mettre en pratique mes études. Franchement je suis contente de cette initiative et c’est ma première fois de voir les femmes de ces trois villages réunir et travailler ensemble. Je vous demande d’être près de nous et c’est un début, nous n’avons pas d’expérience en gestion et c’est une nouvelle équipe.
Ramata Balam, Manager of the indigo bank:
For me it has been a long journey to get to this point. Since I finished studying accounting, this is the first time I have done accounting work. I am from Guinekanda and married to a man from Kondiougou. After my studies, I got married in this village and have often questioned why I studied because I have almost forgotten what I studied, for lack of using it. I became a housewife. Today, thanks to you, The Tandana Foundation, I feel that I am useful and I have started to put into practice all that I have studied. Honestly, I am happy with this initiative and it is the first time I have seen the women from these three villages working together and united. I ask you to stay close to us since this is just the beginning. We do not have experience in management and are a new team.
Ramata Balam, Gerente del banco de índigo:
Para mí, llegar hasta este punto ha sido un largo camino. Desde que terminé de estudiar contabilidad, esta es la primera vez que trabajo como contable. Soy de Guinekanda y estoy casada con un hombre de Kondiougou. Después de mis estudios, me casé en este pueblo y me he cuestionado frecuentemente porqué he estudiado ya que he olvidado casi todo lo que estudié, por no utilizarlo. Me convertí en una ama de casa. Hoy, gracias a vosotros, la Fundación Tandana, siento que soy útil y he empezado a poner en práctica lo que había estudiado. Honestamente, estoy contenta con esta iniciativa y es la primera vez que veo a las mujeres de estas tres aldeas trabajando juntas y unidas. Os pido que os quedéis cerca nuestro ya que esto es solo el comienzo. No tenemos experiencia en gestión y somos un equipo nuevo.
Anta Napo
Anta Napo:
Je suis la trésorière, moi personnellement je ne pensais pas que ces trois villages allaient travailler ensemble, cher partenaire de notre association, la manière dont vous avez eu l’idée de nous soutenir avec les produits naturelles bio, permet de pérenniser les anciennes pratiques et beaucoup d’entre nous les jeunes filles ne savent pas ces pratiques donc c’est une forte opportunité à nous les jeunes et nous comptons sur vous nuit et jour.
Anta Napo:
I am the treasurer. Personally, I never thought these three villages would work together. Dear partners, your idea to support us with natural, organic products has permitted us to perpetuate our ancient practices. Many of the young girls among us did not know of these methods and so it is a great opportunity for us and for the younger generation. We count on you night and day.
Anta Napo:
Soy la tesorera. Personalmente, nunca pensé que estas tres aldeas trabajarían juntas. Queridos compañeros, vuestra idea de apoyarnos con productos naturales y orgánicos nos ha permitido perpetuar nuestras prácticas ancestrales. Muchas de las chicas jóvenes no conocían estos métodos y por lo tanto es una oportunidad magnífica tanto para nosotros como para la generación joven. Contamos en vosotros día y noche.
