Job Skills for Young People in Niger

DIMA finished the academic year at its main training center in June. The students are taking their summer break and the three master weavers who had been working at the school have returned to their village for the planting season. Everyone will be back in October.

We were pleased to learn that this spring the 30 leather working students (27 young women) started working on the weekends at two ateliers that export leather goods to France. Although the students have one more year of training to do at DIMA, their skills are already to the level that they are able to earn money.

In May, President and Founder Soumana Saley and two consultants, Genevieve Hill-Thomas and Judith Sen participated in a presentation about DIMA for Weave a Real Peace (WARP). WARP promotes handweaving around the world. WARP has awarded DIMA with a grant to construct a weaving center in the village of Kirubbe Keyna. Construction is scheduled to begin in August.

Also in May, Genevieve Hill-Thomas went to Germany to give a talk at an international conference on the innovations in Nigerien weaving that are taking place at DIMA. Dr. Hill-Thomas donated two floor looms to DIMA and gave a workshop to 6 weavers in December 2022. She helped the weavers adapt traditional Nigerien weaving to European-style looms. The weavers have been making garment- weight cloth which we believe is unique in Niger.

Dr. Hill-Thomas has put English captions on a video of a news story done about DIMA by a Nigerien TV station in January. You can view the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGQ6o_xlL_s

Soumana Saley went to Belgium in June to represent DIMA at a conference for the Nigerien diaspora in Europe. He made a number of useful contacts and we will let you know what develops.

Amanda Gilvin, an art historian working at Mt. Holyoke College, has finished a series of talks on Nigerien weaving and DIMA to six weaving guilds across the United States. She donated her speaking fees to DIMA and raised $1000 for the school.

Friends of Niger has awarded another grant to DIMA. The grant will provide equipment, training, and supplies to help 24 women in the village of Hamdallaye start a soapmaking business. Training is expected to start in early fall. In addition, three members of Friends of Niger made a site visit to DIMA in July.

Finally, the tailoring program for 30 women recuperating at the Centre National de Reference des Fisticules Obstetricales(CNRFO) is entering the final two months of a total of 9 months of training. The students have been making great progress and will be ready to work as tailors when they return to their villages throughout Niger.

We thank you for your support in making DIMA’s work possible and we look forward to sharing our progress with you in our next report.