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Overview
An ongoing
problem in rural parts of The Gambia has been the extensive number
of hours
required
to plant, harvest and prepare rice for both meals and trade.The burden
of these activities has traditionally fallen on the women and children
of rural villages. It is not uncommon for women to spend up to 16 hours
in the rice fields and an additional four hours preparing meals for
their
families. This demand on their time does not allow the women to engage
in economic activity or to plan for their daughters' educations. In
addition,
as a result of this labor intensive activity most women are forced
to exist in a non-monetary economy.
At the same time, many West African villages have women's groups that find the time and the energy to meet, to work together and try to plan for a better life for themselves and their daughters. One such group, the Molu, is located in Dankunku. The Molu have met with representatives of GambiaHELP and have requested their assistance to embark upon an economic development project with the goal of increasing their economic independence.
The initial objective of the Project is to alleviate the arduous workload of the women of Dankunku village by purchasing a rice milling machine. The purchase of the machine will increase the earning capacity of the women's group by reducing the time they spend on processing rice and improving their health status. The training provided through this project will enable the women to better manage income from processing rice using the machine and to engage in micro-lending activities through a small loan revolving grant.
A variety of donors including several women's organizations have donated funds specifically directed to purchase a rice milling machine as the initial step in developing the micro lending project in Dankunku this year. The milling machine has been purchased and will be dedicated in the month of February 2003. Trip Diary 2003.
To make a cash donation to this project use the Pay Pal link below.
The current method of rice preparation › |
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Neema
Kaafo Milling Machine Project: This project is doing well. There have been no any
major repairs
to the milling machine. Minor repairs
are made on the machine free of charge by Siddibeh Mboge. He is the
husband of Fatou Fatty an active member of the women’s group
and past president. We reviewed the financial books from Fatou and
Alhadjie Basse Mboge when
we made our initial visit March 13-16. The operator has asked us for
ear protectors. The pair he had last year were lost so GambiaHELP (GH)
will fund the purchase of another pair.
Neema Kaafo Cereal Bank Development: The cereal bank management training was in April, 2005. GH supplied a book by Abdou Faal on cereal banking management to Alhadjie Mboge, the Community Outreach Officer. Mr. Mboge provided GambiaHELP with a budget with input from the contractor, Jim. The cereal bank is now a well built three room structure. One room is for storing grains and peanuts while two rooms will be use to house a watchman. A watchman is required otherwise the cereal bank is at risk for break-ins. Therese Hansen has provided GambiaHELP with US$1,000.00 to stock the cereal bank. The initial stocking will include: 50 bags of coos/early millet and 20 bags of rice.
2005
Project Update
“Nema
Kafo” is
a Mandinka word meaning progress. It is an emerging Community Based Organization
located in Niamina Dankunku District. It has been
in operation since 2000.lt has a membership of 100 people of which 90 are women
and 10 are men. The
purpose of this “Kafo” is to initiate and Promote Sustainable
Grassroots Community Development based arm the aspiration and the need of the
community members. It does not discriminate on the basis of gender, ethnicity,
religion or politics.
The milling machine was bought as part of arrangements with Gambia Help to help the women of Dankunku to escape from the drudgery of endless domestic work. The milling machine did served the purpose by reducing the number of hours spends in pounding rice day in day out. This project has indeed empowered women by giving them enough time to rest thus contributing to their health. As aptly, put it by one of the “Kafo” Members, “You cannot use our palms anymore as a basis to distinguish between the ruralite and the urbanite”. People can go to their fields and be assured that their tomorrow’s lunch will be pounded at the machine even by the youngest in the family.
The Kafo was also involved in farming last year and harvested ten bags of ground-nuts. Part of the rice was also sold to take care of maintenance, and the cost of other lubricants. The “kafo” has also opened an account with the VISACA as well as the Trust Bank at Farafenni. The total savings amounted to Nine thousand dalasis (D9000.00) as at the time of reporting. In addition, we also purchased six (6) bags of early millet to start the process of cereal banking together with the groundnuts. This agricultural produce will be loan out to the Kafo members or sold at a reasonable price in time of shortage.
2004
Project Update
This
year the women of the Nema Kaafo (120 member group) continued to mill
rice with the milling machine and make exchanges for coose and groundnut.
the production of the product has been successful and the women are not
requiring an adequate storage place to keep the products. At present,
the women are storing the product in four small rooms located at three
different locations. The small storage rooms are not adequately roofed
and require repair in order to properly store the product during the
up-coming rains. GambiaHELP provided funding to purchase corrugate to
replace the roof areas and to provide siding on some of the rooms.
In addition to milling a lot of rice for the community and the group, products have been exchanged for coose and groundnut. The coose and groundnut will be sold when the prices for these products is high or scarce and the women can make a profit.
During
the past several months the women of Nema Kaafo have been in training
in areas of group
dynamics, roles and responsibilities, mathematics skill building and
cereal banking. The reports from the women indicate that the training
program is going well and people are retaining what they learn. The
Project Manager, Alhadjie Mboge, is doing an excellent job and the
women appreciate his style and ability to bring community development
specialists to the village to teach them. The next training topics
include a participatory rural appraisal, another session on cereal
banking and more information about accounting practices. Future training
will incorporate information about role transitions and a facilitated
discussion of changes in family dynamics when women bring in household
income for the first time.
The next step for the women's group is the building of a cereal bank and bulk goods store. Recent research has indicated that cereal banks alone do no survive so this bank will be combined with a bulk goods store. The income generated at the store will go into the women's bank account kept at the Village Savings Bank. The proposal for the cereal banks indicates that it will cost over $2,000 to build and take a month to construct. We are hoping to raise the funding for this structure from proceeds raised at our Second Annual Fall Auction and Dinner scheduled for Saturday, October 16, 2004.
Meeting
Minutes
Report Date: November 2003
The first meeting between Project Manager, Alhadjie Basse Mboge, Fatou
Fatty, President of Nema Kaafo, and Shelby Tarutis, Executive Director
of GambiaHELP, was held in November 2003. Items on the agenda were accounting
procedures and the production of milled rice from the milling machine.
The yearly calendar indicates that there are seasonal fluctuations in
the rice obtained for the Kaafo. The low yields are during of the months
May, June, July, August, September and October. This is due to the rainy
season and the necessity for the women to be in the fields planting their
future crop. The higher yields are during the dry season when people
are freer to utilize the labor saving device. At this time there are
6 bags of millet stored from the loaning of rice to people. The people
have paid with millet which is being harvested at this time. The storage
of the millet and loan paid rice is becoming a problem because the group’s
ability to store millet and rice is limited due to lack of facilities.
A facility that can hold rice and millet would allow the amounts to be
sold during shortages. They also discussed the need for a receipt book
to record all the transactions related to the processing and/or loans
of rice and millet
The Kaafo has also expressed an interest in running a credit business whereby items are purchased in bulk and sold individually to members of the Kaafo and the community. These two income generating activities would allow the Kaafo to develop additional projects and serve as an emergency source of funding.
Fatou Fatty has also expressed an interest in tie and dye activity for the Kaafo. The product would be sold to the community and at the nearby market.
Report Date: March
2004
GambiaHELP will bring a case of receipt books and a case of
notebooks for the Kaafo at our next meeting in March 2004 to continue
their recording
of the transactions related to the milling machine. We will receive
from them a full description of the dimensions of a cereal bank and
start
to develop a proposal for them with this information. The location
of the cereal bank is anticipated to be near the milling machine
itself. The land is free and has already been cleared of trees
and shrubbery.
A book on handling cereal banks and management was given to Alhadgie
Mboge and will serve as a beginning form of education for him. He
will contract with locally based community development officers
knowledgeable
in this area to provide training to the Kaafo members.
A trip to Dankunku is anticipated in approximately in a week’s time to deliver the materials and proceed forward with the proposal development. An additional amount of time will be spent reviewing the costs and profits related to the milling machine.
The Kaafo has been registered in Banjul and they have just started a fee-based system whereby attendance at meetings and work parties is mandatory. This new policy will serve as a another way in which funds can be generated for the Kaafo and ensure that people are equally participating in meeting attendance and work plans.
Letter of
Thanks
Dear
Shelby, I write to extend to you my warmest greetings and prayers,
to you and your family, and also GambiaHELP. The rice mill has proved
a success. For every 20 liters, we earn five hundred cups of rice. At
present, we have used 40 liters and have realized a thousand and a
few
cups. We extend our thanks to you for your solidarity in capitalizing
Nema Kaafo, a village based women's group. I extend to you my personal
greetings as the president of Nema Kaafo.Fatou Fatty, President,
Nema Kaafo, Niamina Dankunku.
