Meet Sawadatou

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Sawadatou is a refugee who fled from conflict in the Central African Republic and sought refuge in the Casamance region of Senegal. Her journey to Senegal was a treacherous one, which sadly claimed the life of one of her six children. Upon arrival in Senegal, Sawadatou had nothing.

Through working with our partner organisation, Sawadatou accessed a loan of around £400 and developed the skills to open her own shop. She was able to build a new and safe life for her and her children. Our work in the Casamance is contributing towards a peaceful and prosperous future, not only for the communities that have lived through the civil war here but for those fleeing conflict in other parts of West Africa.

“I had nothing until I was given a loan to start my business. My children didn’t go to school. It was a problem finding something to eat. But now I have money. I go to the market. I send my children to school. Before I didn’t even have electricity at home. Now I have taps. We eat. I pay for everything.

Everything that I have is thanks to the programme. I want to say thank you. Thank you for the loan that you have given to me. Thank you.”

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Find out more about our project in Casamance here, or read more about the people we’ve helped this year in our 2016-17 impact report here.

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