Souleymane Ouattara

Souleymane Ouattara is making employment accessible to young people in Burkina Faso by training artisans in professions such as tailoring and weaving, and by providing them with the support they need to enter the work force and contribute to their local economies. His work training has not only transformed the current system of apprenticeship, but is also helping rural youth earn the money necessary to finance their own small businesses.

Souleymane’s design is based in the notion that artisans can directly impact the future of their community through the skills they pass on to the next generation in their field. By radically transforming the relationship between artisans and their apprentices from one of domination and exploitation to that of family and fellowship, he hopes to improve the employment and educational opportunities for adolescents in rural areas of Burkina Faso. To carry out his vision, Souleymane created the organization Association des Tailleurs Tisserands et Associés (ATTA) which brings together tailors, weavers, and similar artisans to aid in fostering stronger economic growth. Individuals participate in training sessions and create new workshops for younger artisans looking to break into the field. In doing so, the elders gain both new skills as well as access to new, larger markets, which has a widespread positive impact on the community at large. For young people to reap the benefits of his plan, however, Souleymane believes artisans must lead professional endeavors with high quality production and management. As such, his program offers specific management training to help artisans accurately evaluate their costs and time in production as well as marketing and creative capacities. Assuring a high quality of training for those partaking in his program is important because it will be these artisans who will ultimately serve as the primary trainers and supports of young people establishing new workshops in the years to come. Today the system Souleymane has set up is not only effective, but also expanding. When he began, he taught primarily tailors, but he has since enlisted trainers in a variety of fields and has expanded his programs to other professions such as mechanics, wood working, weaving, and masonry. Many different authorities have recognized the importance of his design, including the government, as he is currently working to provide services across all of Burkina Faso, and beyond.

Many young people in rural areas of Burkina Faso do not have access to the formal education system, resulting in an illiteracy rate of 70 percent or more across most of the country. This severe disadvantage is the result of a flawed system ill suited for rural youth: a fact clearly evidenced by the high drop out rate even among those who have access to schools. Those who do not receive their formal education face few opportunities and are often forced to immigrate to neighboring countries. If they stay in Burkina Faso, they face a continued cycle of poverty through low paying jobs in which they receive very little respect. Further, their educational and early work experiences can be extremely difficult depending on their superiors, who sometimes deliberately mistreat youth from poor rural families and also withhold key learning points as long as possible to take advantage of cheap labor. A general lack of guidelines and standards prevents youth from gaining the skills necessary to become independent artisans and breadwinners until after years of working essentially as indentured servants.

Souleymane first designed and implemented his training model in Toussiana, working with tailors. In addition to training young people in management, marketing, and literacy, he also trained individuals to become trainers themselves so apprentices could leave his program able to contribute further to the future growth of the profession. In doing so, he fostered a spirit of service and kinship among artisans that could be passed down through generations. So far, Souleymane has established training centers in five other towns including Bobo Dioulasso, Gaoua, Kenedougou, and Cascadeby. He has also made contacts with each town’s Bureau des artisans to share the tools he has developed in management and marketing as well as the curriculum he uses to train new artisans. This allows a group of people that were previously looked down upon due to low-paying jobs to be not only visible but also vital members of their community, further enriching its economic fabric. Souleymane’s larger goal is to improve the lives of working people by training them more effectively and helping them establish sustainable workshops. In doing so, he is creating a new culture amongst artisans that includes professionalism, empathy toward young learners, and financial awareness as important values.

Souleymane was born to a peasant family in Toussiana, and struggled throughout his youth to pursue an education within a system that did not favor his success. He was the only child registered in school in his large family, but ultimately dropped out in primary school. By the time he was thirteen, he started working as an apprentice for a tailor, but when he wanted a higher level training he learned that he needed to finish school, so he re-entered the formal system. During this time, Souleymane began working in sugar cane to support his family and to pay for his own training as a tailor in the government sponsored program. After losing a finger in the factory, he used the money he was compensated to pay for his training, after which he proceeded to start his own business and begin creating opportunities for young people like himself.