What is Fandema?

Fandema is a local and community development project for women. Its objective is the implementation of women's working abilities by means of entrepreneurial trainings in Tujereng, Gambia. The training is promoted by the association Solidança with the Gambian entity Mbolo Association and its focus is on basic, technical and transversal matters of knowledge aiming at foster women's condition towards a change in their family's lives. The working training aims at creating job positions and products that allow to finance and implement the project of Fandema. The Project involves 97 women, between 18 and 65 years of age, and has 3 main goals:

1. To improve adult women basic education;

2. To create job positions and new business opportunities in the job market;

3. To empower women in the community.

Something happened on the 26 of December of 2011: the neighbors, living next to the community, burnt stubble and weed of their fields in a really windy day. When Fandema asks them to stop it, they denied it. Fire burnt some of Fandema buildings: the classrooms, the shop and the multipurpose hall. We would like to explain you the structure of the Fandema center in order to show all that we have lost in the fire:

- The main structure, which had the form of a U, hosted 6 classrooms (where trainings took place: English, adult literacy, computing, sewing and  aestethic), the house of the security guard and the office;

- The shop got two spaces: one for the second-hand clothes sent by Solidança and the other for the hand-made products (tye-dyes, aprons, dolls, etc…);

- The multipurpose hall was the most recent part to be open. Once, the yoga courses, the assemblies, the business and personal healthcare trainings took place in the shop. The multipurpose hall was a space imagined for sharing the transversals trainings with the entire communities. Before the fire burnt out, Fandema was preparing the inauguration of the centre, the creation of a "day of the enterprising women" and an exposition of all the outdoor Fandema acrivities. Women, families, neighbors and peasants helped to put the fire out and to clean up the Fandema center after the accident in order to continue the activity for the 97 women involved.

Fire affected us directly. We are sad but we are strong. We are looking for ways of recovering and to continue the work that we started.

How can you help us?

Collection of material

At Solidança y Sant Just Solidari (C/Disseminats 25, Les Begudes, tel. 93- 6854434)

Economic support

Bank account 2100-0449-05-0200058129

Technical and human collaboration

Sílvia Llopart: mediambient@solidanca.cat

Malang Sambou: msambou@hotmail.com