Empowering girls to lead independent lives in Zinder: the story of Assalama.

My dream is to have a large, well-known restaurant in Zinder. This will give me the means to take care of my future family, and ensure a good life for us,” Assalama, age 15, says, sitting outside the Arene Center. She is one of the 120 girls in the region of Zinder, Niger, taking part in a three-month long vocational training.

Assalama’s dream is driven by her family experience and background. She is the eldest of eight; with younger brothers and sisters, she has had to step up to help her widowed mother from an early age: “My mother works as a maid in the house of a soldier, earning CFA 2,000 per month (US$3.5). She had to give me to a blind woman as a guide: I would help her to beg for sums of CFA250 to CFA500 (US$0.4 to US$0.8) per day, depending on our luck.” Later, Assalama went to work for a neighbor in their catering business, earning CFA500 (US$0.8) per day along with a meal. Her meager salary fed all of her family. However, it opened her to risks, working in a dangerous environment and putting her in contact with strange men.

This is the reality for many young men and women in Zinder. 60% of young people age 13 to 16 are out of school; many are recruited into or form gangs, coming into conflict with the law through acts of violence, the consumption of drugs and alcohol, and being victims of prostitution. Many girls become pregnant outside of marriage, creating a cycle of poverty. The alternatives for young people are few, necessitating the creation of a center like Arene. It offers young girls training in catering, hairdressing, tailoring and the manufacture of cosmetics. This gives them the opportunity to create their own enterprises and become independent. 

Assalama heard of the center during a neighborhood outreach meeting organized by the center’s manager. She was fortunate to receive her mother’s full support: as there are no fees for girls coming from vulnerable backgrounds, she was able to enroll easily. She proudly recounts her new ability to read and write: “I didn’t go to school, neither modern or koranic, as my mother was not able to afford the basic costs demanded by these schools. But now I have started to read, write and do sums in my mother tongue, Hausa, thanks to the introductory course offered at the center.”

 “I opted for catering since I have a little bit of prior experience in the field”, she says, closely observing the training demonstrating how to prepare certain dishes. While she had initially pursued tailoring, her choice to switch to catering reflects her practical approach to life: “We can do without new clothes, but we cannot live without eating.” 

The center provides a new opportunity for girls like Assalama. With the support of UNICEF, thanks to the funding from Clé de Peau Beauté, the girls are able to acquire basic numeracy and literacy skills along with a vocational skill, empowering them to become independent. The support will continue upon the completion of the course: each girl will receive a kit in the selected field to support her to start work immediately. Parents have received information about the training, further integrating the center into community life. 

“This training will change my life as well as the life of my family because catering is a job that is always in demand, as there are always people who need to eat (travelers, workers etc). With my income I will do everything for my brothers and sisters. This will allow my mother to leave her job, which does not pay very much,” Assalama plans. Her determination is a great model for other girls who might follow in her footsteps, in Zinder and elsewhere in Niger.

The Arene Center for Training, created in 2013, trains girls from underprivileged backgrounds in various trades, giving them practical skills to empower them economically. The girls are also given basic numeracy and literacy courses to further reinforce this. UNICEF supports Arene with capacity building of the trainers as well as the necessary teaching and learning materials. Under this partnership, 120 girls will be trained in promising professions and provided with a start-up kit. The center is supervised by the Ministry for Youth and Sports.