My name is FANTA ADAMOU RHODE, beneficiary of the RESILAC project in the commune of Mindif, Cameroon. I am a young woman aged 31, divorced and mother of 2 children including a girl and a boy aged 5 and 7 respectively. I have been taking care of my 2 children alone for the past 5 years.

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In order to provide for my children, I started to make a living by practicing small business and raising small ruminants. I sold roasted peanuts, fresh maize, cassava, whatever I found lucrative in the market.

 

I also tried to pass exams, without success (the army with my Primary School Certificate CEP) . For a while, I then sold cosmetic and medical products for a company.

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All this with one goal: to take care of my children, send them to school, clothe and feed them. It was not easy at all, especially for a woman, who was also without a permanent job.

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We worked 5 days a week, from Monday to Friday, from November 2019 to April 2020, and earned about 3 000 FCFA each per day or 18 000 FCFA per week.

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According to the approach of the project, we have to build up savings at the end of this work in order to be able to invest in micro-projects of our choice. Thus, at the end of each working week, 9,000 FCFA per person were returned to us and 9,000 FCFA retained in a savings account that the project opened for us in a microfinance institution.

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This does not mean that I gave up my first breeding activity! I continue to practice it, but with a little capital: indeed, I have 6 small ruminants at home.

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But with sewing, I will have the possibility to have money every week. And, on top of that, I can practice it at home and take care of my children on a daily basis: this is an invaluable advantage for me!

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Thinking back, I was so afraid that the project team would refuse my application for this sewing training... But on the contrary, the team members encouraged me to multiply my activities and to seize every opportunity for my development and financial autonomy.

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