Happy Thanksgiving: To Be Grateful Through Giving

Happy Thanksgiving. I have so much to be grateful for; you first and foremost. Friends and families--people--are what make life worth living and so beautiful. In this season, what better way to be grateful than to share with those less fortunate than us. Please consider, when you are giving thanks for what you have, to remember the beautiful people I have come to know here in Africa. It’s ripe time to talk about and present to you Abdoulaye and Zacheria’s letters. I believe that this process is the best way that I can envision helping them. I am sharing their stories with you so that, if compelled, you can share some of your financial resources to help them realize a better life. And in the spirit of giving, please take the liberty to share this blog entry, and earlier ones about them, with others who may be open to helping. In this age of the Internet, it would be wonderful to reach a tremendously large audience and together create life-changing realites for my friends here. The two men are not related, but have become my closest and most reliable Senegalese friends. Unfortunately, most formal avenues for aid, especially in the form of start-up funds/capital formation, are not available for individuals. Most of that money goes to cooperatives, groups of villagers, and women, since females have traditionally been marginalized in their income-generating potential in many poor countries. In short, a hard-working man here has few avenues to escape his dead-end reality. I cannot change all of Africa, but with your help, I am determined to help Zach and Abdoulaye. With that said, they and I are continuing to research non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Dakar and in cyberspace for other avenues of support. It has been a humbling and a learning process for me, and an empowering and hope-filled one for them. The collection of funds will last as long as it takes to help them get started. If you feel you can help, with ANY amount (the cost of a latte or of a Lazyboy), please let me know by emailing me at eliasjkhalil@yahoo.com and we can arrange the logistics of your donation. You can also choose to remain anonymous, and I will respect that request.

I do not want to inundate you with sadness, because the reality is that they have both a resignation to their situation and a resiliency to do whatever it takes to make life work. In the process they love to laugh and have good times, as do we all.

Following are Zach and Abdoulaye’s letters, respectively:


Dakar, 24 November, 2008

Dear Friends,

I would like to begin with my most respectful and cordial greetings. My name is Zacheria and I went to school through the 9th grade, which is the end of middle school here (High school is the equivalent of 10th to 12th grade). Afterwards, I stopped school, but not of my own volition. My mother fell gravely ill at the start of the new school year, which would have been the beginning of high school for me. As we are a poor family, we had to choose, with the little money that we had, to take mom to the hospital or to register me for school and buy school supplies. I chose to take care of my mother. Afterwards, I went out to look for some work to help feed the family. Two years later, my dad died. A few years later, I lost my mom as well. Truly, it’s really difficult, and I am the only son of my mother.

I am a security guard at an apartment building, and I earn $160/month. I work 60 hour weeks, which translates to about $.65/hour. With that amount, I have to pay the rent, food, transportation, electricity, and water. I buy all my water, as I don't have running water in my rented room. Currently, I share a single bedroom with a friend, and we are obliged to share the bed, because I do not earn enough to rent my own room. In the end, I cannot escape from the vicious circle. I am 30 years old and have been working in the same job for 8 years, with which I really cannot envision a future. With my youth behind me, I would really like to begin a project that could help me create a future.

Thus, I would like to be helped with some capital to either buy a taxi or begin raising cattle. To purchase a used taxi, I would need approximately $8,000. After living expenses and the cost of gasoline, I would hope to bring in a profit of $75-$90/month. To buy 3 cows, which would be the minimum number necessary to make the change from my current position worthwhile, would cost around $1,500. By raising the cows and starting to breed and sell them, after living expenses, I would envision being able to save about $50/month, which would allow me to start building a future. The difference between the two projects is how soon each would generate revenue. The taxi would be immediate, while the cattle would necessitate months before realizing any revenue.

I am relying on your comprehension to appreciate my sentiments, and I am grateful for any consideration.

My sincerest gratitude,

Ngor Zacheria Bakhoum


Dakar, 24 November, 2008

Dear Friends,

I am a young Senegalese man who is 31 years old, originally from the village of Palmarin. My name is Abdoulaye Diop. I am the oldest child in a polygamous family with many children.
I did university studies in Dakar, and I have two degrees in Business Management. Currently it is impossible to find work which is commensurate with my education, and I have been looking for such opportunites for years now.
I am forced to do manual labor in a warehouse, and I earn $190/month, which is not enough to live on. Moreover, my younger brother, who studies at the unversity, is living with me, and he receives no financial aid for his education. I share my salary with him, which means that there are days where we do not eat.
I would like to start my own business in transportation, that is, buy a station-wagon taxi (seats seven passengers), which would bring in daily revenue. That income will enable me to make a better living and break out of the vicious circle that is my current situation.
I am requesting financial aid to purchase a vehicle that would cost around $6300. I ask if you could contribute according to your ability. I will be very appreciative if you could help me start my own business.

Thank you very much,

Abdoulaye