Testimony of Geneviève Némouthé, volunteer in Burkina Faso

Geneviève is a Development and Management counsellor

ATTous-Yennenga and nontraditional trades
October 2006, Ouagadougou

I was face-to-face with a tall, soft-spoken man who was explaining to me the challenges of teaching girls and young women about nontraditional trades -- auto mechanics, electronics and so on. I had just arrived in Burkina Faso when I met Bernard Zongo, president of ATTous-Yennenga, and he took me to see the training centre. I wondered, "How will I be able to support this partner?"

The first thing was to become familiar with the Association and understand the challenge it faces. When we speak of integrating girls and women into nontraditional trades, we can learn something from the challenges faced in Québec and elsewhere: attracting young women to this training and interesting them in these "nontraditional" trades, offering them high-quality training that will help them join the workforce and to be competitive, and sensitizing employers and the population at large to the shifting realities of the workplace and the need to broaden the possibilities open to women. In partnership with Oxfam-Québec, ATTous is meeting these challenges head-on. There are now projects in place to help the association strengthen its organizational capacities and its financial independence. Other projects are sensitizing people to nontraditional trades. These projects are managed by the Oxfam-Québec office in Burkina Faso with the support of cooperant volunteers and interns who are actively committed to helping the organization achieve its mandate.

And what about the girls themselves? What do they want from this training? They find themselves torn between the desire to acquire the skills of a trade so they can help support their family, and the impulse to conform to the rules and roles that society imposes on them. They are often a bit shy when I put this question to them. The boldest among them tell me they can pursue a trade just like any boy. Some of them even speak of going it alone and “opening a garage”, perhaps. They will certainly face challenges -- getting their family to accept this training, pursuing their studies and, when the time comes, figuring out how to reconcile family and working life -- but I know that at least some of them will succeed. In a way, these girls are pioneers. By making this choice and by getting their families to agree to their training, they are helping to change mindsets in Burkina Faso. They are showing that women do not have to be stuck in a given role, and that they can make it in the technical field. In this way they are helping support their family and they can look forward to greater personal and financial autonomy. They are also developing their individual capacities and taking an active role in their country's development.

And what about me? What have I gained from this two-year sojourn? For one thing, I have a fine relationship with the Association. Although I was not directly based at ATTous, I was able to support it in a number of projects through my work as a development and management advisor. I have seen my relationship with the association grow and flourish, the centre has expanded before my eyes, and I have been able to appreciate all the changes, both organizational and physical (new buildings) that came about between October 2004 and October 2006. As a woman, I salute the courage of these young ladies who have made an unconventional choice, and one that will not always be easy. I'm really proud to have had a part in this!