15 Young People Trained in Bakery, Pastry and Entrepreneurship By Sabodala Gold Operations
Since this Saturday, July 18, 2020, the village of Sabodala has hosted a ten-day capacity building session for the benefit of fifteen young people in bakery, pastry and entrepreneurship, six of whom are already active.
The official opening ceremony of this training session was chaired by Mr. Babacar Diagne, the Sub-prefect of the Sabodala district in the presence of village chiefs, SGO officials and youth associations. “This training initiated by Sabodala Gold Operations (SGO) results from an inclusive and participatory process between the communities and SGO is part of the livelihood restoration program implemented within the framework of the Niakafiri project and gives a privileged place young people who often face employment problems.
During the various discussion sessions that we had with the communities, the idea of setting up a modern bakery and pastry unit emerged. The objective of this project is to stimulate the economic self-promotion of young people and traditional bakers in the project area. This project, beyond generating income, also aims to improve bread making techniques and the quality of products through improved ovens.
In this perspective, the project will also integrate some traditional bakers for their training,” declared Mr. Séga Diallo, Coordinator in the Sustainable Development Department of SGO. The State representative praised this SGO initiative. “This training in bakery and pastry is welcome here in Sabodala which only has traditional bakeries. For some time now, modern bakery bread has come to us from Khossanto. Today if we decide to choose this sector, it is really a wise choice” confided Mr Babacar Diagne, the sub-prefect of Sabodala. This training in baking and pastry making contributes to reducing the lack of professional qualifications among young people. This is why, in addition to expressing his feelings of satisfaction for this SGO initiative, the village chief of Sabodala urged young people to carefully follow the training and seize the opportunities offered to them.
SGO did not skimp on resources by acquiring two ovens for a total amount of four million and rehabilitated the old meeting room for the needs of this training and hired Enda Energie, a renowned specialist in bakery training with gas technologies. Thus, the participants took advantage of this first day to pay particular attention to the training. Moreover, some participants quickly got rid of their concerns as soon as the first modern bread sticks appeared. “After this first day, I am already starting to realize the importance of this training. For this day we learned how to mix flour in a blender, stretch it and produce bread. Already for this first day, we have produced quality bread. We are committed to continuing this training to the end. The certificate of completion of training will be useful to us one day. We are happy with this support from the SGO. We are also aware that these materials and equipment made available to us are expensive,” confided M Makhan Kanouté, beneficiary of this training. In addition to baking and pastry, participants will benefit from entrepreneurship training to provide them with the necessary tools for a good start and correct implementation of their business.
Adama Diaby in Kédougou for xibaaru.sn
