How SWBA Works
SWBA’s work is based in Burkina Faso, West Africa which started in the neighbourhood of Saaba near Ouagadougou.
There are several areas where the Business Association operates, including:
working and supporting each other through collective work
micro-financing, including collective savings, mutual insurance and micro business loans
literacy and numeracy education, peacemaking and advocacy.
SWBA initiatives encompass:
Micro-enterprise start-up, mutual savings and health/prescription insurance
Peacemaking and building good relationships within the community
Education for the widows, including hands-on skills training as well as literacy and numeracy.
Advocacy, including partnering with other women’s and poverty organizations
At present SWBA has a centre and covered terrace in Saaba where they work together to make their products, grow a community garden and store some of their production tools. The widows gather daily in different teams to make a different product each day. The installation of a grain mill attracts many individuals from the neighbourhood to have their corn, millet and sorghum ground.
The centre also provides space for a storefront where they can sell their products. After that it is each widow’s ambition and hustle to sell their portion of the products. Some products are only made and sold to raise general funds for the Co-op.
SWBA PRODUCES:
bars and liquid soap and shea butter
traditional woven cotton fabric for clothing
peanut butter (for cooking), dried coconut, sesame biscuits, dried mangos, salted and sugared peanuts, cashews
ginger juice, dried hibiscus flower juice and Zom Koom (the national drink made from millet flour, ginger, tamarind, sugar and calcium)
soumbala, a traditional condiment made from néré tree seeds that are fermented until quite pungent - a more nutritious form of our bouillon cubes
attieke (cassava couscous)
degué, a breakfast porridge made from millet
garden produce