After her son’s death, Yayi Bayam Diouf decided to fish for a living. That set her on a course that has led to a plethora of awards for community activism — a photo in her house shows her receiving a medal from Senegal’s president, Macky Sall. She has encouraged dozens of women to set up not just fishing operations, but also hair and clothing shops, as well as businesses making soap and makeup, all supported with microfinancing from government and nonprofit sources. In 2015, she used a grant from U.N. Women Senegal to build a farm to grow mussels, providing work for about 100 women. But all that came later. Ms. Diouf says that after Alioune’s death she felt drawn to the sea and began thinking of leaving her office job to fish. Yet she faced resistance in the form of a patriarchal culture that expected women to stay in the home and men to work outside.
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES
More Stories
MTN Hacked Just as it Launches Mobile Payments in Nigeria
Tanzania, like Many other African Countries, Wants to Stop Depending on Fertiliser from Russia
Equipping African and Africa-focused Startups with PR Tools
Zimbabwean Fishing Communities Fear for Future as Stocks Dwindle
South Africa Still Far from Fair Digital Migration
Pan African Parliament President Elected
Ethiopian Farmers Face a Double-edged Sword
Germany To Return Goddess Statue that was Stolen from Cameroon 120 Years Ago
Lumumba’s Family Closes a Painful Chapter
40 African Cities Feature on the 2021 Cost of Living City Ranking List
A Mangrove Project is the Star of Kenya’s Gazi Bay
Not Enough Females Operating in the African Venture Capital Space