Over the past three years, the Senegalese ready-to-wear brand, Bélya, has grown from a small, home-based business to an internationally-recognized brand, known for its high-quality, hand-made products using West African textiles and leather. With a successful online e-shop and a Dakar-based boutique, the brand has reached a critical point. Bélya seeks to adapt its business model by engaging with women in rural areas in the production of its fabric. We hope to build a workspace in the village of Lompoul in Northern Senegal, where we will train and employ at least twenty local women to dye and sew fabric, while earning fair wages to support their families and communities. Additionally, this workspace will double as a classroom where employees will learn how to read and write as part of our literacy initiative. At Bélya, we strongly believe that Africa's development depends on the full and fair economic inclusion of women. Your support will enable us to make a positive contribution towards this goal in Senegal.

With this Indiegogo campaign, we plan to raise the money necessary to:

• hire workers to build the workshop;

• hire instructors to conduct continuous professional skills training in fabric dying and sewing;

• pay the salaries of the workshop staff;

• purchase sewing machines, workstations, dyes, stamps, wax, cotton fabric, and other materials; and

• pay for operational costs including transport between Dakar and Lompoul.

• pay literacy teacher
  

In order for our local workshop model to become fully functional and self-sustaining, we will need around $50,000. The $20,000 for which we are asking through the current campaign will lay the foundations for the future growth of Bélya . The remaining $30,000 will be raised through sales and offline fundraising events. Within the next year, we hope to be in the position to expand our production activities to other villages outside of Lompoul.

Impact

Women living in Lompoul and throughout rural Senegal face compounding challenges that make their daily lives difficult and limit their personal aspirations. Young girls are typically not encouraged to think for themselves or to gain skills they could use to build brighter futures for themselves and their families. Rather, they are taught that their role in the community is limited to being a good wife and completing domestic duties. Bélya hopes that by establishing a safe and dynamic workspace where women will gain skills and confidence, girls and women will realize that they are able to fill many different roles in their communities, and people will see that investing in women is worthwhile. This includes language instruction for women, most of whom are illiterate. Furthermore, Northern Senegal is part of the Sahel region, a semi-arid band south of the Sahara Desert that suffers from chronic food insecurity as a result of climate change. Teaching a trade to community members improves their resilience against these hardships.

All of those who donate at least $10 will have their names engraved on the first wall constructed of our Lompoul workshop. To thank you for your financial contributions, Bélya will offer and send you any of the following items from its newest collection that match the amount you donated. Feel free to claim the item of your choice.

Risks and Challenges

In rural West Africa, businesses and NGOs too often misinterpret the needs of the people they are trying to support. When projects are not in line with community goals and aspirations, they are highly unlikely to be sustainable in the long run. Communities come to distrust outside actors who implement projects in their villages and fail to follow-up once they have left. We expect that building community trust will be an important challenge for us to overcome. For this reason, Bélya's founder has selected Lompoul, a village in which she has strong familial ties, to pilot the first of many workshops. Bélya has already done the groundwork of meeting with key community members in Lompoul and of identifying women eager to participate in this initiative. Since Lompoul is only a 4-hour drive from Dakar, the Bélya team will able to keep in close contact with those operating the workshop on a daily basis. This proximity will also enable those in Lompoul to participate in the creative evolution of Bélya.

100% of Bélya's products are hand-made. Already, this requires a significant commitment of time and resources. With the opening of its Lompoul workspace, Bélya is now shifting from its previous model, which included exlusively buying ready-made textiles, to overseeing the production of its own fabrics. Such a transition will slow down textile production, especially in the earlier stages of the workshop. This is another reason why Bélya stresses the importance of long-term investment in communities. Through continuous training, the women working for Bélya in Lompoul will become more knowledgeable and efficient. Trainings on sewing will be led by Bélya's primary tailor, a trusted professional with much experience training people new to the field.

Other Ways to Help

Your financial support will greatly contribute to our work, however, if you are unable to donate at this time, there are other ways for you to support our work! Please share this campaign with those in your social networks, visit our website www.belyashop.com, like us on facebook: www.facebook.com/cridejoie, and follow us on instagram @belyashop and Twitter: @belyamode