Lamin is a school teacher, barber, and retailer of printing and other services. Since the training he has felt he can expand his business.
Pre training:
Lamin is a school teacher (morning shift) at Gunjur Upper Basic School and has a small shop at the marketplace where he does photocopying, typing, printing, battery charging and cuts men’s hair (‘barbing’). He sometimes had help from a girl in the shop. He had worked as a teacher for two years at the time of the first interview, but is unqualified and wants to go to Gambia College to train as a teacher. At the time his salary was divided one third to his parents, one third for personal use and one third saved. He studied commerce at school. After the electricity came to Gunjur he saw the gap in the market for his business and used his savings to buy the equipment, plus he had a loan from the GYDBP. His school and students often needed photocopying done and this could not be done in Gunjur until the arrival of electricity. The shop itself is about two meters wide by 3 meters long and contains the printing and ‘barbing’ equipment as well as items for sale. Even at that time he talked about having a second shop but could not afford to stop teaching to just run his business.
Response about his levels of confidence at the end of the training:
– “I’m more than confident in running the business because I gain more knowledge now than ever. Thanks Nikki & Trevor for the lecture”
Follow up interview 2 months post training:
Lamin has taken on a second shop and is going to separate barbing and photocopying. However he is still teaching. He has a brother (Jarju) he is training to work with him. Indeed he made him apply (successfully) to attend the second pilot training. He feels he has better ability to manage his money and also knows his expenses better. He intends to work with Jarju and will share the workload.