Makhtar, can you tell us about yourself?
I am originally from the city of Louga, in the North of Senegal. I was raised by my uncle, who was a gendarme. As a result, we moved every two years according to his postings. As a child, I made it a personal goal to visit the administration center of every Senegalese department. It is partly thanks to him that I was able to take on this challenge. Today, I am married. My wife teaches history and geography. I have four children from one to eight years old. For the moment, I am not worried for them. However, I am afraid for Senegalese youth between the ages of 14 and 21. Many are literate: they can read a book, write or read a letter and watch a film. But that is not enough for them to find a job because there is a total lack of professional training programs.
You had the opportunity to finish your studies?
Yes, I studied economics in Senegal. Then when I was doing my masters in 1989, I took a written recruitment test completely by chance and without high expectations. It was for a Japanese program in the field of training. The question dealt with training from a global perspective. I only marked one choice: “I cannot conduct training for individuals that I don’t know of.” In fact, I think that it is necessary to be acquainted with the language and needs of people in order to train them in an efficient manner. Thanks to this idea, I was selected and it was at that moment that I made my entry into the non-profit field. Later, in 1997, I suspended my career for one year to study in France, in Lyon. I pursued a DESS of regional development at the Centre International d’études pour le Développement Local.
What interests you about teaching young people?
It’s the fact of knowing and seeing that in Senegal, for every 20,000 students enrolled in elementary courses, there will be 12,000 who will finish primary school, 4 000 who will finish intermediate school, and 2,000 will graduate from high school. I know that the rest are in the street, in delinquency. For me, the problem is political and I want to support the youths who quit the school system and help them to shape up and to develop an awareness of politics.
What exactly do you do with the Kora?
I work so that young people can receive professional training, for example in plumbing, in hairdressing, in sewing, or in woodworking. The opportunities for training are concentrated in Dakar and the youth in rural areas are left behind. The Kora-PRD offers professional training to young people in 7 regions. But you have to be careful not to reinforce the Government’s lack of action. Because I think it should be their duty to create these training programs and not that of non-profit groups. Right now we are considering strategies for training that would involve the government in the opening of training centers. To achieve this objective, there must be significant public pressure. We are pushing for communities to organize themselves, protect their own rights and constitute a legislative force within the country.
What have you learned working in this field?
Today we run into people who are still active, fifteen years after benefiting from an aid program for their first job. Similarly, I know an old artisan who, four years ago, didn’t know how to read or write. He can now fill out a check thanks to literacy campaigns that we have led. That’s an immense satisfaction.
Also read: Resonances Africa N°20 - January 2008
