Welcome to Ivory Coast, where Tearfund is challenging gender inequality and empowering women to start small businesses.
You’ve arrived in Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa supplier, providing nearly a third of all the beans used to make chocolate. But, sadly, women here suffer badly from discrimination, and three-quarters of rural Ivorian women live below the poverty line.
Come with us and see a World of Difference in central Ivory Coast, where Tearfund’s partners are breaking down barriers and supporting women to claim their rights and overcome inequality.
Adeline is 15 years old. She has already faced huge challenges in her life. But, as you will find out when you read on, her life – and that of her mother and sisters – has turned a corner and the future looks much brighter. She wanted to share her thanks for all of you who support people like her…
‘Thank you and please continue to help people like me across the world,’ says Adeline. ‘And I pray that God will help you and make you successful in all that you do.’
Adeline, age 15, has been able to continue at school because her mother, Albertine, benefited from livelihoods training to start up a small business.
Listen to Adeline pray in French, the official language in Ivory Coast, and join in with this English translation:
Lord, my God. My King of grace and faithfulness. Father, I pray that you will give a smile tomorrow to all those, like us, who suffer now because they have nothing. In Jesus' name, amen.
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Ivory Coast, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country located on the south coast of West Africa that borders Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana and the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean).
25% of girls are not enrolled in primary school
65,000+ school children have benefited from Tearfund life skills training
5,000+ women have been supported to set up small businesses
25% of girls are not enrolled in primary school
65,000+ school children have benefited from Tearfund life skills training
5,000+ women have been supported to set up small businesses
Tearfund’s work in Ivory Coast dates back to the 1980s and expanded in response to rising conflict over the next few decades. That resulted in desperate need and deep poverty, which has continued into the last decade, even while the country has been largely peaceful.
Ballo’s nephews Eric (left) and Brice (right) in their uncle’s field, he has seen his income improved from a Tearfund partner food project.
Albertine and her daughters were deemed worthless by her husband, now they have everything they need by taking a stand...
Despite being dismissed as useless by her husband because of her gender, Albertine now sells necklaces and beads at the market in Bouake, Ivory Coast.
Albertine came back to Diabo in central Ivory Coast, her home town, 12 years ago when her husband rejected the family. He believed Albertine and her six daughters were useless because they were all women. ‘My husband started neglecting the children, saying that female children are worthless.’
She decided to live back with her aged mother and her brother. Life was tough, Albertine struggled to make a living selling attiéké, a traditional west African cassava-based dish. But it did not provide enough income, and she had to take her children out of school.
Then one day, Albertine was invited to a meeting at church. She was surprised by what the organisers had to say: ‘They told me to relax. They were going to help me to take care of the kids.’ It sounded too good to be true, but it wasn’t...
A selection of beautiful beads and necklaces, created and sold by Albertine, whose business is a great success.
The meeting was organised by Tearfund’s partner Association des Femmes pour le Développement intégral en Côte d'Ivoire/Association of Women for Integral Development in Ivory Coast (AFDI). Albertine’s daughter Adeline takes up the story…
‘I remember my father saying that, because we were all girls we were no good to him,’ says Adeline, who was just three at the time. ‘That’s why we came here. But when we arrived we suffered from hunger because of a lack of support. None of us children went to school.
‘Then, one day, AFDI came. They asked my mother to come to a gathering at church, where they asked her what problems she was experiencing in her life. After she explained her difficulties, they said they would start to help her.’
‘I thank God, that this year my troubles are gone,’ says Albertine, who loves her new business selling jewellery.
‘‘Whenever I have a need, I can stand up for myself and find my own way’’
One of the first things AFDI did was to make sure that Albertine’s children returned to education by providing books, school clothes and backpacks. While children’s education is free in Ivory Coast, parents still have to pay for and provide school equipment for their children to attend.
Then, AFDI supported Albertine with a grant to start up a small business. ‘I now sell clothing at the local market,’ she says. And it’s proving to be much more rewarding than selling attiéké.
‘I am so delighted about the help that AFDI has given me. It helps me forget about my sorrows. I thank God, that this year my troubles are gone.’
‘Now we are happy,’ adds Adeline. ‘We have everything that we want. Thanks to this support, we children can go to school.’
And Albertine no longer needs to seek support from others. ‘Whenever I have a need, I no longer visit people for loans, I can stand up for myself and find my own way.’
‘As a village Zambako is very welcoming,’ says Mum PMEC. ‘Because the Bandama river is so near we have many interesting things. We have fish, we grow cassava for attiéké, okra and tomato. There is such a variety of food here…’
Here’s a few examples of the abundant produce available in Zambako, Diabo and beyond:
A bowl of okra, a flowering plant in the mallow family, freshly picked from Koffi Yao Marc's field in Simonkro, Ivory Coast.
Aubergines, onions and pepper cultivated then sold at the market by Kouakou Amoin Emilie.
To preserve the flavour and keep it stored for longer, red hot chilli peppers are dried out in the sunshine.
An opened cocoa nut: the fruit of the cacao tree is the source of all chocolate and Ivory Coast is the world's biggest producer.
Attiéké, a side dish made from cassava, which is a popular, traditional cuisine across West Africa.
This local delicacy is a cake made with coconut and cassava, a nutty-flavoured, starchy root vegetable.
Time of worship at the Christian Alliance Church of Zambakro, Ivory Coast.
Meet Kouassi, who claimed her calling and now encourages other women to do the same.
‘Tearfund came to Zambakro in 1998. They arrived on a Tuesday. I said I wouldn’t go to their meeting – there were already too many meetings at church. But I realised it was possible to get a good job by joining the projects Tearfund were proposing.
‘I trained as an insurance agent. But I couldn’t get a job so I left the city of Abidjan to join my husband in Zambakro. I became a trader, I cook and sell cakes and doughnuts at the local market.
‘We study the Bible which helps us see God’s vision for our lives. That we have a purpose. Now I teach other women to have a vision and they embrace it. Some of us can witness. Some can work on farms. Others sell fish.
‘Whenever we meet with the women, they tell us how happy they are to have this training and assistance. I am full of joy when I hear about Tearfund.’ Kouassi likes to be called Mum PMEC, which is the name of the training process that AFDI uses to transform the community, Processus de Mobilisation de l'Eglise et de la Communauté (Church and Community Mobilization Process). She is literally the mother of transformation!
Koffi, who was also helped to start a business, knitting wool to make clothes for sale in the market of Diabo.
We hope you enjoyed your time in Ivory Coast. But there’s another exciting destination on the horizon... But to find out where, you will have to wait and see!
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