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 Virginie Diatta
Carabane
Virginie Diatta has long
supplemented her family income by purchasing cashew wine from local
farmers and reselling it from her house in her village on the island of
Carabane. According to Virginie, cashew wine sales have been
especially brisk lately because the summer rainy season has interrupted
palm wine production in Casamance. Many of the women of
Carabane also own canoes which they use to harvest oysters, and
Virginie often purchases the oysters from them to sell along with the
cashew wine.
Virginie has used her SEM
loan to expand her business activities to the sale of Carabane oysters
in the neighboring country of Gambia. The loan has allowed
her to pay a “bush taxi” to transport her and a canoe load of smoked
oysters overland across the border, where she sells the oysters at a
profit. Part of the proceeds are used to purchase a return
load of vibrant Gambian batik cloth, which is scarce and in great
demand in the village of Carabane. Virginie now offers batiks
in her store as well as the cashew wine and fresh and smoked
oysters. The journey from Carabane to Gambia is long and
grueling, but Virginie plans to continue to make the trip regularly as
the long-distance trade is fairly lucrative and has allowed her to
boost her income and improve the living standards of her family.
 Adeline Diatta
Carabane
Adeline Diatta’s main
business activity is the production and sale of the salty dried fish
that give the national dish of Senegal, ceebu jen,
its distinctive flavor. Her village, Carabane, is not far from the
border with Guinea-Bissau, whose fishermen often travel up the coast to
sell their catch in Senegal. Adeline has arranged for some of the
Guinean fisherman who visit Carabane to supply her with fish, which she
cuts in half, coats in salt and puts on a homemade rack to dry in the
strong African sun.
Adeline’s SEM loan has
allowed her to market her dried fish in the capital city of Dakar,
where they fetch a much higher price than in the Casamance region where
Adeline lives. The journey from Carabane to Dakar takes a full two days
– Adeline must take a canoe to the mainland, then a series of “bush
taxis”, or makeshift country buses, north across the narrow country of
Gambia, back into Senegal and out along the peninsula to Dakar. The
fish are shipped separately, in a boat that travels up the coast from
the Casamance region to Dakar. The price of fish fluctuates so much
that it is hard for Adeline to predict what she will earn once in
Dakar, but she estimates her profit from each trip at 25,000 to 30,000
francs (about $50-$60). She makes the journey to Dakar three times per
month.
 Cécilia Diatta
Carabane
Cécilia Diatta works unpaid
as a volunteer nurse and midwife at the maternity clinic in her village
on the island of Carabane. Since she is constantly on call at
the maternity clinic, she finds it difficult to leave the
island. Still, Cécilia has started a small business buying
sugar from a nearby village that specializes in sugarcane
cultivation. One of the Carabane villagers who travels out to
the village once a month has agreed to purchase a couple of sacks of
sugar for Cécilia on each trip. Cécilia then sells the sugar
at retail prices from her home in Carabane, earning about 6,000 francs
($12) per month in profit. The maternity clinic work keeps
Cécilia from dedicating as much time to her sugar trade business as she
would like. Still, the business provides a small stream of
supplementary income that enables Cécilia to make extra purchases for
her family and save a little for a rainy day.
Daba Ndiaye
Louly Ngogom
“My name is Daba Ndiaye, I
am the wife of Ndigue Diop and I work in our field. Today I am alone,
my husband is absent for social reasons and I must do the work I always
do with him. As for the child I have on my back, carrying him
has become a habit. For this year, we have a lot of hope: the
rains are good this year and we expect to have a good
harvest. We are certainly grateful to those who put us in
touch with CRESP [SEM’s in-country partner], which has helped us to use
microcredit to find the funds we needed to buy the seeds, and we are
well aware of what this money means for our families and for ourselves.”
 Mariam Sarr Diagne
Nder
Mariam Sarr Diagne operates
a small restaurant in a homemade grass hut just outside her village of
Nder on the edge of the Sahara desert. She prepares breakfast
– coffee and French bread – in the morning, and in the evening she
sells sandwiches and simple North African dishes such as
couscous.
 Magette Gaye Pilor
Nder
Magette Gaye Pilor used her
SEM loan to start a coffee and doughnut-selling business. She
purchased a little kerosene stove, some instant Nescafé, and a supply
of flour, butter and sugar, and set up a stand in a shady spot on the
path that leads out to the yam fields behind her village. She
now spends mornings there, preparing fresh doughnuts and coffee and
selling them to the farmers who pass by.
 Ndèye
Diaw
Nder
Ndèye Diaw works with a
group of four women who pool their savings together to buy
livestock. Last year they bought a young sheep for $43, which
they raised in the village and resold during the Tabaski holiday for
$100. Now Ndèye’s group has used the profit from that sale
and from their new SEM loans to purchase a young cow.
 Annia
Badiane
Carabane
Annia Badiane lives on the
island of Carabane in the Casamance River, where the Diola people have
developed a complex trading system in which each island village
produces its own specialty good, such as dried shrimp or cashew
wine. Small-scale commerce is traditionally a women’s
activity here, and the Diola women spend a lot of time crisscrossing
the river in handmade wooden canoes to buy and sell the various island
products. Anna is using her SEM loan to participate in this
inter-island trade by hiring a pirogue or
handmade wooden canoe to travel to the island of Hayère, whose
inhabitants specialize in the sale of the palm oil used in traditional
cooking all over West Africa. Palm oil production is a very
work-intensive process that involves harvesting the nuts of the oil
palm, boiling them until softened, pounding the boiled palm nuts in a
big wooden mortar, then returning them to the boiling water until the
bright orange oil floats to th
e top and can be skimmed off. About twice a month, Anna
travels to Hayère, where she purchases forty to sixty liters of palm
oil at 700 francs (about $1.37) per liter. She then
transports the palm oil back to Carabane, where the price of palm oil
is 1,000 francs ($1.95) per liter. Anna thus earns between
12000 and 18000 francs ($23 - $35) from each trip, enough to leave her
with a substantial profit after her business expenses are
paid.
 Khotdy Ndiaye
Nder
Khotdy Ndiaye and the five
other members of the Yakaar group currently own 6 goats, 2 cows, 5
chickens and 4 ducks. Their business model consists of buying animals
at a cheap price, fattening them up for a couple months, and then
selling them at a higher price. They will buy the animals from the more
remote surrounding villages and then sell them in the Diourbel market,
which is sizable and just a few km from Ker Gu Mag.
The group will buy a goat for about 20,000 – 25,000 CFA ($40 – 50).
After fattening the goat for a month or two, they are able to sell it
for 35,00 – 50,000 CFA ($70 – 100), depending on the size of the goat
and the season. They purchase cows for 150,000 CFA ($300) and resell
them for 200,00 – 250,000 CFA ($400 – 500). They buy chickens for about
1,500 CFA ($3.00) and resell them for 2,000 – 5,000 CFA ($4 – 10).
Ducks are purchased for about 2,000 CFA ($4.00) and resold for 3,500 –
4,000 CFA ($7 – 8).
Khotdy is a real outspoken
and confident woman. She said that the loan was very easy to manage and
the group is making their monthly payments easily. When asked what the
largest challenge has been, she said that the price of animal feed has
increased considerably. It used to sell for 175 CFA/kg and is now
selling for 250 CFA/kg.
Khotdy said that she would like to take a second loan. She is
interested in opening a cyber café in Diourbel since they are currently
very scarce.
 Limamou Seck
Ker Gu Mag
« I’m the leader of a group
that has received a SEM loan. We work together to process grains [such
as millet and rice]. We have now succeeded in stocking a good quantity
of primary materials which we process and retail in the local market.
Which means that thanks to SEM, we’ve created jobs for a few young
people who are able to make a permanent living by engaging in
revenue-generating activities. At the moment, the sale of our products
allows us to save money to reinvest in expanding the business.”
The Propaf group transforms
millet into five traditional food products: couscous, cagne, araw,
sangal, and brulsure maise. The team has a workshop in the nearby town
of Diourbel. This group has been working together making these
millet-based products for two years.
The biggest impediment to
the business is that the group doesn’t own a millet transformation
machine. They have to rent the public machine at a rate of 25 CFA/kg
(about $0.06/kg). To buy a machine would cost between 500,000 –
1,000,000 CFA ($1,000 – 2,000). Using a rented machine adds up to a
significant cost and slows down the process of producing finished
product. The group will be looking to buy a machine with their second
loan.
When the group received the
loan in December they used it to buy a large quantity of millet. They
are now in a position to buy the millet by the ton – each ton cost
150,000 CFA ($300). Buying in bulk greatly reduces the price. Before
receiving the loan the group would buy enough millet to produce a small
quantity, and have to sell that quantity before they could buy more
millet. In other words, they didn’t have enough working capital to
build up stock – it was a hand to mouth business. Now they have plenty
of extra material and are able to sell a much greater quantity as a
result. The group sells about 50kg of product per day, on average. A kg
of product sells for 600 CFA ($1.25), so daily revenue is now at about
30,000 CFA ($60.00). The daily profit is about 5,000 CFA per day ($10).
The group estimates that if they had their own millet transformation
machine, daily production could be increased to about 200 kg per day.
 Fatou Seck
Ker Gu Mag
Fatou Seck makes
hand-embroidered sheets with matching pillowcases. The craftsmanship is
stunning. The level of detail is high and it can take up to two weeks
to complete one sheet and pillowcase set. She says that to make a bed
set the material costs about 4,000 CFA ($8); she can sell the same set
for about 15,000 CFA ($30). She gives her finished product to her
husband, who has a small shop in Dakar where he works as a tailor. He
sells her products for her out of his shop.
Prior to receiving her loan,
Fatou would produce about one sheet-set per month. Now she is producing
three or four. She has enough capital on hand to buy enough material to
produce the higher amount of product. Before she would have only enough
money to buy enough raw material to make one sheet, and she would have
to wait until she sold the sheet before she could buy more material.
Fatou is pleased with the
loan. She is happy that she can work from home. She is a mother of two
small kids and working out of the house suits her lifestyle. The
business is bringing in a profit; Fatou is saving the money. She
reports that the is able to handle life’s issues more easily, or the
little problems that come up with the house and children, now that she
has access to more money.
In terms of the future, Fatou would be interested in taking a second
loan. She would be interested in importing some of the products that
are difficult to find in Diourbel, such as palm oil and dried fish.
 Khadijatou Ndiaye
Carabane
Khadijatou Ndiaye used her
her loan to increase the stock of her small shop. She says having
adequate stock on hand is the main challenge since she generally has
access to limited funds. Just like any other business, it is important
to have an adequate range and quantity of products, or else customers
will begin to shop elsewhere.
Khadijatou lives on
Carabane, a small island inhabited by approximately 600 people. It is a
30-minute pirogue ride away from the mainland. Life on the island is
very simple, with certain amenities like electricity, internet, certain
foods and various other goods and services unavailable. Nonetheless,
life on the island has a really calm, laid back feeling, with
incredibly friendly and hospitable people. The people of Carabane take
a lot of pride in the fact that basically 100% of the children attend
Primary School. Primary School is free and on the island. Many (all
though not all) will take a boat to the mainland to complete High
School. There are approximately five small shops like Khadijatou’s on
the island.
Khadijatou said that she
will visit Elinkine (on the mainland) about three times a month to
purchase supplies. This involves taking a piroque to Elinkine, which
takes about 30 minutes. She will buy rice almost everytime she goes, as
well as whatever else is needed. She pays a fee to have to goods
shipped by piroque from Elinkine to Carabane. For a one-ton bag of rice
she pays 750 CFA ($1.50) to ship it. She then sells the bag of rice for
12,500 CFA ($25) and will make a profit of about 1,000 CFA ($2.00). She
will buy about 20 bags of rice each time she makes the trip to
Elinkine.
Khadijatou would like to take a second loan when this one is complete,
to further invest in her shop. She believes that the largest limit to
her shop’s growth is her ability to have access to enough funds to buy
a sufficient range and quantity of products.
 Jacqueline Diedhiou
Mlomp
When Jacqueline Diedhiou's
group received their loan they partitioned the money into groups of
25,000 CFA ($50), of 50,000 CFA ($100), or 75,000 CFA ($150), which
were then distributed to the different group members. The different
members work and function independently, while sharing the
responsibility of repayment. They all sell mainly household products,
but they do not all sell the same things.
Jacqueline sells soap, pens, erasers, notebooks, basins, and SOS pads.
Other group members sell things like palm oil, peanuts and limes.
Jaquline buys her products in Dakar where they are cheap, and sells
them at a mark-up here in M’Lomp. As an example, she can buy a pack of
24 SOS pads for 1,200 CFA ($3.00). She then sells each SOS pad
individually for 100 CFA, or 2,400 CFA for the 12 (a 100% mark-up!).
Goods are shipped from Dakar to this region via a cargo boat.
When asked to discuss the
difficulties associated with this business, Jacqueline states that
poverty is everywhere. She explains that it is very common for someone
to pay for a more expensive good like a basin (which sells for 1,000
CFA or $2.00) in three payments. What this means for Jacqueline is that
she has capital tied up and is chasing for payments.
As far as future business
plans, Jacqueline would like to take another loan and continue to
expand her business. One thought for expansion is to sell products
indigenous to this region in Dakar. She proudly states that she knows
this type of business well and has the skill set to manage this type of
expansion. Another idea is to build a proper shop outside of her home
(she lives just off the main road). At the moment people know that she
has these types of products and will come seek her out to buys goods,
but she would love to formalize and with a larger quantity of goods in
a traditional store.
 Ella Bernadette Manga
Oussouye
Ella Bernadette Manga sells
palm oil, lemons, dried fish products and vegetables, which she buys in
her village of Oussouye and sells in the capital, Dakar. Dakar is
relatively far from this region - it is a journey of at least two days
by either boat or "bush taxi" from the nearest town, Ziguinchor.
To support the large amount
of trade between the southern region of Casamance and Dakar, there is a
cargo boat that ships products between Ziguinchor, the nearest town,
and Dakar. Ziguinchor is less than a two-hour drive from Oussouye.
Ella Bernadette's lending group has a contact in Dakar who sells their
products. This person sells in various neighborhoods where she is
known. The associate will basically go door-to-door, which isn’t an
uncommon way to sell things here. The products are known to be of a
high quality and she has a lot of repeat business. People here prefer
to buy products this way, as opposed to going to a large market, which
can be far, and the product quality unknown. The group sends their
products to Dakar because the cost of living is higher and they are
able to sell at a higher price.
Ella says that she would
like another loan when this one is repaid, and that her quality of life
has improved. She is able to care for the home, pay bills and send her
children to school with much more ease. Now that she is able to pay her
electricity bill her fridge is working, which means she is able to sell
certain products (that require a fridge) that she couldn’t sell before.
 Fatou Kine Niang
Meckhe
Fatou Kine Niang used her
loan to start up a beauty parlor specializing in the elaborate braided
hairstyles that West Africa is famous for. In addition to Fatou, the
beauty parlor now employs three hairdressers and eight apprentices.
They used the loan to make
the building a hospitable environment, which meant doing some painting,
refurbishing the entrance to the building, buying appropriate chairs,
as well as ample supplies.
Fatou is pleased with how the business is going, and speaks of past
frustration with having a hairdressing diploma and being unable to find
work. She said had she not open up her own shop, she would be
unemployed.
In terms of future plans,
Fatou has many. She would like to begin to offer services to men. Fatou
says that the secret to distinguishing herself from the other stylists
is to offer a full assortment of products and services – being a
full-service shop. Ideally the store would offer manicures, pedicures,
make-up services, as well as sell all of the associated products. At
the moment making such an investments is too capital intensive, but
these are the types of things that Fatou would like to do in the
future, perhaps after the initial loan is repaid and the opportunity
for a second one becomes a reality.
In the meantime, the beauty parlor's apprentices are gaining valuable
job training while earning additional income for their families. Fatou
spoke of developing the program into a more formal school, which would
provide an additional revenue source for her business.
 Jean Cristophe Diatta
Parcelles Assainies
Five months ago, Jean
Cristophe Diatta used a $1000 loan to purchase five second-hand
computers, which he used to launch a children's computer education
program at the local YMCA. The program is now operating at full
capacity, with three classes seven days a week, six teachers and over
150 students.
Most classes are for
children, with a section for the 3 to 6 year olds (the “rabbits”), the
7 to 8 year olds (the “foxes”), the 9 to 10 years olds (the “doves”)
and the 11 to 13 year olds (the “dolphins”). The cost is approximately
$6 for a weekly class that runs for four weeks. They currently admit
ten students in each class, so that children sit two to a computer.
One thing that Jean Christophe Diatta is most proud of was his
sponsorship program for underprivileged children. He reserves 35 spaces
for low-income children, for whom he actively seeks a sponsor that is
willing to pay the fees for the child. Jean Christophe Diatta sponsors
a child, as does SEM’s field officer, Doudou Mbodj.
 Moustapha Thiam
Meckhe
Moustapha Thiam used his
loan to expand his traditional leather shoe-making business. His
workshop now hosts ten apprentices, and Mr. Thiam's handmade footwear
is known throughout Senegal for its quality and durability.
Moustapha has designed an
intelligent business model in the sense that he has established himself
as the source for raw materials in the region. Moustapha supplies the
other shoe makers in Mekhe with the materials they need to make their
products. Moustapha travels to Dakar to purchase his materials. Because
he is buying in large quantities he is able to purchase goods at a
discounted price. He then resells some of the material at a mark up in
his own town.
Moustapha speaks of expanding his business. He believes that the demand
is there. He would like to find partners to help distribute his product
in other major cities.
 Khelcom
Boucotte
The Khelcom group is
building a cybercafé in the village of Boucotte, just next to the
tourist resort of Cap Skirring. Ousmane Ndiaye, the group's leader,
explains that there is a big need for Internet access in the village,
which has no connection available. And in Cap Skirring, he says
internet cafés are expensive -- 2 to 3 times more than in Dakar -- and
overcrowded. As an agricultural worker, this is a big adventure for
him: his previous SEM loan was for vegetable gardening! Ousmane has
donated a room that he already owned and is now in the process of
getting computers, furniture, a photocopy machine, and phone and
internet connections. He plans on obtaining only 4 or 5 machines to
start while having the capacity to expand to 10, even if he has to tear
down a wall to make more room. He also hopes to be able to offer
training classes for the village's kids, so that they will have nothing
to envy from the children of Dakar who often learn to use the Internet
in school.
 Kamutène
Carabane
The women of Kamutene sell
fruits like coconuts, bananas, and oranges around the region of Lower
Casamance. The members buy coconuts from their home island of Carabane
to sell in Ziguinchor, the major town of the region, while they get the
other fruits from surrounding villages to sell here in Carabane. Due to
the difficulty of last year's rainy season, the women say that their
savings aren't as good as they should be since they were forced to buy
rice instead of producing enough of it in the island's rice paddies.
However, they say that the loan has made life easier, notably by
allowing their families to eat better.
 Ujamoral Kafakh
Carabane
The Kafakh group sells fresh
and smoked fish as well
as oysters, which they collect in the local mangroves, at home on
Carabane island and at the international market fair at Diaoubé every
2-3 weeks. They have used their loan to replace their old fishing nets
so they can fish more effectively. They are grateful to be able to work
and say that business is going extremely well. Majiguene Gueye, one of
the members, is a literacy instructor in her spare time, which means
that she teaches uneducated adults who generally don't speak French to
read and write Wolof and Diola.
 Propaf
Ker Gu Mag
Comprising about 30 members
total, mostly women, the group Propaf has succeeded in creating a
business that processes grain (millet, corn, etc.) to be sold in the
market. Having received an initial SEM loan in November 2006 and a
second in 2007, Propaf was just awarded 3rd prize in women's
entrepreneurship by the President of Senegal. For Fatou Diallo, group
member, the two SEM loans helped the business start up and stay afloat.
The first loan allowed them to obtain equipment and training in order
to improve working procedures and to avoid waste; since then the
business has greatly expanded its operations -- the 5 kilos of millet
that it began with have become one ton, plus 500 kilos of corn to be
processed every month! The workers are particularly rigorous about
hygienic practices and task structure, and would one day like to sell
their products throughout the whole West African subregion; meanwhile,
Fatou likes to remind aspiring entrepreneurs that things are never easy
and that one can't expect immediate results. Moreover, she is motivated
to continue her own work not so much by profit or the prestige of the
President's prize, but by a desire to have a lasting impact on the
region's development thanks to patient and dedicated work. Perhaps the
old proverb she cited says it best: "You always reap what you sow."
 Yakaar
Ker Gu Mag
The Yakaar group runs a
small general shop at the market in Diourbel, about 3 hours from Dakar.
The shop, which is supplemented by raising livestock and sewing work,
is the group's main activity. It is doing well and even expanding:
Balla Gnieng and his partners hope to open a second shop in Bamako, the
capital of Mali which is a hard two-day's journey away. They are also
looking to extend their operations into other countries of the West
African subregion. The key to their success? Like several other groups
here in Diourbel, Yakaar reinvests all its profits back into its
business, without taking anything for individual members, for the first
3 years. Thus Balla and the others have chosen to survive by other work
on the side until 2010, in order to make sure that their
microfinance-assisted businesses are sufficiently developed and solid
to last for a long time. They also hope that this strategy will
contribute to strengthening the local economy.
 Jamonoy Tey
Loudia
The Jamonoy Tey group does
crafts as well as vegetable gardening in the village of Loudia in
southern Senegal. One member, Mansata Diedhiou, used her share of the
loan to scale up her production of wickerwork, baskets, mats for
praying or sleeping, and traditional umbrellas. Another, Khardiata
Diatta, used her share of the loan to buy seeds in order to grow
cassava, sweet potatoes, and peanuts, and to sell them in the nearby
town of Elinkine. The women are extremely thankful for this loan and
say it has helped them with school and health expenses for their
families.
 Pierre Senghor
Mlomp
Pierre Senghor, leader of
the Aroka group, has run a
restaurant since 2000 in Mlomp, a village of the southern Casamance
region of Senegal. He has done well since visitors often come biking
through the area from Pointe St-Georges, a well-known tourist spot on
the beach several kilometers away, in order to admire the high trees
and the traditional local architecture -- and they bring their thirst
with them. However, since they inevitably bike back to their hotel, he
had the idea to invest in an inn with 4 rooms in order to give vistors
the possibility of staying in Mlomp. Although the inn is technically
already open, Pierre says he is working tirelessly to get the last
construction details taken care of so that he can compete with other
hotels for foreign visitors by offering the same comforts. The inn is
called "Le Ronier - Kalahaye," which means "the Fan Palm" in French and
Diola.
 Khalis Youm
Mbour
Khalis Youm is in charge of
the Bocc Jeff group in
Mbour, which brings girls who have dropped out of school together to
teach them how to sew and knit. The group produces and sells cleverly
decorated sheets, pillowcases, tablecloths, clothes, and other products
in the goal of becoming more self-sufficient and independent women.
Khalis explained that so far they've used the Kiva loan to purchase
materials and get set up, but they have yet to see how well sales will
go. She would hope to use a second loan in the future in order to equip
the team better, for example by making sure that every girl accepted
into the group has a sewing machine. She imagines one day running a
full-fledged clothing shop so as to not have to make the trip to Dakar
to buy materials.
 Waagmi
Ngaparou
Waagmi is a group that runs
an unusual business: baking bread made with seaweed. They got the idea
from a friend of theirs who was doing research on seaweed some years
ago and found that it could add significant nutritional value to the
population's heavily carb-based diet. Since then the group, made up of
all women, has been making biscuits and baguettes which are very
popular in the community. The women dry and grind seaweed into
strawlike bits, and then add it to the bread they make in their bakery,
which is conveniently located right on the beach. The bread they make
is delicious, just like any fresh baked bread, with no change in color
or taste. The women also make a powder additive from from seaweed that
can be added to milk or fruit juices as a nutritious preservative. This
Sem loan has helped them expand their operations, though not as much as
they hoped. With the help of a second loan, they hope to purchase
kneading machines to speed up the production process, as they currently
knead by hand. The women say they are happy to help provide for their
families, since their husbands' fishing and farming work is often
insufficient.
 Alpha Diallo
Oussouye
Alpha Diallo of the Diama 2
group runs a bike shop in the center of Oussouye, a small but thriving
town in the southern Casamance region of Senegal. In addition to
repairs, he also sells parts and new bikes. The business is going so
well that he is early on his loan repayments - bicycles are a
convenient and relatively accessible way for local people to travel
between the numerous villages and the less than optimal roads that
connect them. The SEM loan has allowed him to purchase more bikes and
parts, and to obtain them from places like Ziguinchor, the main city of
the region, and Gambia, a neighboring country where prices tend to be
lower.
 Khady Sow
Thiaroye
Khady Sow, leader of the the 5 women of Diappo
Ligueye, sells juice and frozen treats from her home, located by the
beach at Thiaroye, a suburb of Dakar. She used this Sem loan to buy a
refrigerator and freezer in order to make and store her products, which
sell best in the hot summer months when local beachgoers are hot and
thirsty. The other members, she says, sell things like vegetables and
dyed fabrics; in addition Khady also purchased a sheep which she is
raising and plans to sell for the Muslim feast of Tabaski. Khady says
that business during the summer is excellent. Her only problem is that
the frequent electricity outages and wattage reductions have taken a
toll on her refrigerator, requiring her to get it repaired twice.
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