Alassane

Ziguinchor, Senegal

Funds disbursed

$0 to go

100% funded of $789 goal

0

days left

Entrepreneur

Name

Alassane

Member since

July 2010

On-time repayments

28 installments  •  18%

About Me

My name is Alassane Diop. I am an artist who dies cloths and sells them. I learned this trade from my mother. From a very young age this trade fascinated me, I was always very moved to watch her put so many colors on a single cloth. I graduated high school though could not continue my education, because my aging parents could not afford it. Since then, I chose a career in dying cloths, which allows me to make a living and take care of my parents. I make and die bed sheets, blankets, table cloths, shirts, and pants. I sell these products to make a living.

My Business

I've been working with cloth-dying (Batik) for over 10 years. This is a traditional manual craft that consists of putting different colors on a white cloth and then tailoring the cloth to make dresses, pants, bed sheets or table cloths. I also teach batik dying classes to people who are interested.

Loan Proposal

The loan that I would like to have will be used to produce traditional hand-dyed batik clothing. This is my trade, in which I have over ten years of experience. I would like to replace worn-out tools and equipment, and avoid ruptures of inventory - often clients come to buy clothing from me and find that I am out of stock.

Show original Français  

About Me

je m'appelle alassane diop. je suis artiste teinturier. je fais ce metier que j'ai apris de ma mére, quand j'étais plus jeune ce métier me fascinait déja, j'étais trés ému quand elle arrivait a mettre a la fois plusieurs couleurs sur un meme tissu. j'ai eu une scolarité normale jusqu'en terminale, mes parents devenaient vieux et ne pouvaient plus payer ma scolarité j'ai été obligé d'arreter c'est ainsi ke j'ai chosi la teinture et qui me permet de gagner ma vie et a mon tour d'aider financiérement mes parents. je fait des draps de lit, housse de couette, nape de table débardeurs, chémises pantalons, que je vends pour gagner ma vie

My Business

la teinture (batik) est un travail que je fais depuis plus de 10 ans, c'est un travail manuel qui consiste a mettre differentes couleurs sur un tissu blanc aprés, le tailler pour avoir une robe, chemise, pantalon, draps de lit, nappe de table... je donne également des cours de teinture a des personnes interressées.

Loan Proposal

le pret que je souhaite avoir est destiné a faire de la teinture,c'est mon travaille j'ai plus de dix ans d'expériance,
je voudrai aussi renouveler mon outil de travail,
ne plus avoir de ruptre,des fois un client vient acheter et il se trouve que j'en ai plus,

Feedback

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$789.00

Date disbursed

Aug 24, 2011

Repayment status

Late

Projected term

18 months

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Ask Alassane a question about this project, share news and photos of your own, or send a simple note of thanks or inspiration.

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  • lucafrangi    Jul 13, 2013

    Does anyone know what happened to Alassane Diop?
    The political situation seems relatively quiet now in the country and Mr. Diop doesn´t live in an area close to Mali.

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  • lucafrangi    Jul 13, 2013

    Does anyone know what happened to Alassane Diop?
    The political situation seems relatively quiet now in the country and Mr. Diop doesn´t live in an area close to Mali.

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  • Alassane    Feb 16, 2012

    Hi everybody,
    I live in a very tense political climate. I am writing you to update everybody on the socio political situation as well as the rebels for the past few days. The electoral campaign started a week ago. The candidates are going everywhere with their thousand supporters but their arrival in Ziguinchor is a major problem because of the rebels presence around here. This past Saturday, the President came in the south of our region but in a helicopter. I never saw in my whole life so much military and law enforcement personnel. The scene in front of me was just like a country at war. The phone lines were down, nobody could dial out or receive any calls and I could not take any picture for fear of being taken. The President ‘campaign lasted few hours only.
    On the other side, there was shooting amongst the rebel’s army. Cases of fraud make the front page with the military vote that is going to occur this Saturday and Sunday. There will be no vote counting as the ballots will be kept until the night of February 26th. The military vote has been imposed by the President Wade but the Senegalese army has always been neutral. Their priority is to protect the population.
    The president injected more money in the military budget. The military is sent in different missions in the countries at wars and after each mission they received approximately 3 million dollars.
    The school year is invalid. Since the beginning of school year the students did not have any grades or test or evaluations. It’s been four months that they are not in school.
    Everywhere tires are being burned, the traffic is intense and impossible to beat. We are constantly breathing the smoke of bursting grenades. The army does not hesitate to shoot in the crowd.
    To come back on the subject of “Daniel” Youssou Ndour has not been validated by the constitutional council. They are saying that he did not pay his taxes and did not present 12 000 signatures which is totally false. He is definitely a menace to the president popularity. He is on the movement side and he is sick and tired of the M23 movement.
    The first movement is consisting on a citizen who is patriotic and wants a system change agreeing on freedom and democracy.
    The second movement is to march against the law to elect 25% of the suffrage. In the entire country we usually elect at 51%
    I hear some noise outside, it is getting dangerous. I need to leave it is safer. Talk to you later.
    “Viva la democracy “

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  • Julia Kurnia    Feb 9, 2012

    (Received from Alassane Diop by email on February 9 and posted here with his permission)

    je vous parle de la situation chez moi,vous pouvez demander aux autres emprunteurs de zidisha
    qui sont au senegal
    la situation chez moi est trés tendue surtout a ziguinchor ou je vis
    pour ce qui est de l'élection présidentielle toute la population se souléve contre un 3e mandat de notre président abdoulaye wade qui a 86ans,vous imaginez ,c'est le plus vieux président du monde
    il avait écrit dans la constitution que son mandat s'arrette en 2012 mais a quelques mois des élection il dit etre candidat
    donc il viole la constitution du sénégal
    sa candidature a été accepté par la cours constitutionnelle que lui meme a élu,donc des amis a lui,qui ne pouvaient faire rien d'autre que de valider sa candidature
    ce sont 5magistrats a qui il a offert 5millon et des voitures,cela est une pure corruption
    c'est cequi a entrainé le soulévement de la population
    les etats unis,la france et l'union européenne ont tous parler pour qu'il laisse le pays a la nouvelle génération mais il fait
    toujours la dure tete,
    le sénégal est trés mal géré,la vie est trop chere la gens ne mangent plus a leur faim,ce qi entraine la perte de nos valeurs,ce qui poussent les jeunes a se suicider enprenant des pirogues pour espagne...
    ce qui coutait 10f ya quelques années est passé a 250f,la vieille femme qui vend des arachide devant chez elle,elle a besoin de 500fpour donner a manger a ses enfants,elle paie un impot de 200fpar jour,quand est_ce que ses enfants finiront de mourir de faim?
    ya pas un secteur qui marche,
    par exemple pour l'éducation son budget représente 40pour cent du budget du sénégal,imaginez vous qu'on va direct dans une année scolaire blanche car depuis octobre les éléves n'ont pas étudié un mois ferme,tout le temps c'est des gréve,les professeurs sont en gréve parcequ'ils n'ont pas recu leur salairs,les étudiants nouvau bacheliers ne sont pas orientés dans une université,or c'est 40pour cent du budget du senegal qui est injecté dans ce secteur,nous dit notre vieux prési
    parallélemnt a cela,c'est encore plus complexe dans le sud,chez moi,ou il ya des infiltrations des rebelles aux manifestations de la population
    c'est ce qui explique la mort de poplulation car l'armée et la police tirent des balles réeles
    c'est aussi pourquoi madame la directrice de zidisha je ne peux pas sortir tout le temps et avec mon téléphone,c'est le seul moyen rapide de me mettre en contact avec vous,donc je veux pas le perdre

    ce qui fait la particularité de ziguinchor est d'ordre géographique,culturel
    il faut savoir que la région du sud est en frontiére avec la gambie,la guinée bissau et la répuplique de guiné et a l'ouest par l'océan atlantique
    on y retrouve tous les peuples de la sous région et de l'afrique de l'ouest,d'ou une diversité culturelle trés importante
    c'est une région naturelle,verte ou la nature nous donne tout,mais aujourd'hui le conflit a fait son enclavement,tous les ziguinchorois sur une meme voix luttent pour une paix définitive pour que la casamance retrouve son sourire sa vraie identité,pour que la population ne meurt plus de faim,que justice soit faite,pour que les jeunes ne se sacrifient plus,que des embauches soient crées,plus de mines,que tout le monde puisse faire tranquil ses activités
    ps tout le sénégal dit merci aux etats unis et a l'union européenne pour avoir mis les points sur les i a notre vieux prési qui aura bientot 100ans,
    merci a vous de vouloir partagé avec moi le mal de chez moi
    toute l'opinion internationale saura

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  • Alassane    Feb 9, 2012

    In my place, it has been very tense for a few weeks because of the presidential elections that will happen within a few weeks. This caused demonstrations during whose houses have been burnt, cars have been destroyed and some people has passed away. To face this situation, I don't want to take risks for now. Then, everything will be back to normal and I will transfer the money quietly. It's not my first loan and I know I will have to pay even more.

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  • Alassane    Jan 25, 2012

    Hello I am failing to attach photos so I will just leave this small comment. I’ll post more photos later, as I have just left the bank to make my payment and I was in a rush so I forgot to bring my camera’s cable for the photos. Regarding my previous comments, the situation here at home has not changed, and in this moment we are living in a very tense situation. I am doing my batik in between students throwing stones who have been on strike since October and police with teargas.
    In fact, it is a fierce battle between students and government forces, to the point where a student was killed by a bullet. It is because the presidential elections are in a few months so nothing works. All sectors have been on a strike against the government because of the cost of living, imagine that today there is not transportation, no bread, no fish—everyone is on strike because the cost of gasoline is too expensive, the professors are also on a strike for months because they have not been paid.
    I am writing all of this quickly because I am doing many things at once. I will take the time to tell you all about the tranquility, also the sides that are not negative. Ziguinchor is a beautiful region full of live, it is paradise on earth. I am telling you all, I am showing you all, and now you all know.

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    • Daniel    Jan 25, 2012

      Thank you Alassane for your excellent write-ups. Please do keep them coming -- I learn much from your observations. I hope the political unrest will calm after the election. I don't know anything about Senegalese politics, but I do like Youssou Ndour's music. Whether that means he'd be a good president... well, Haiti has been experimenting with this by having elected Michel Martelly (also a musician), though thus far it's too soon to tell how successful he'll be. All I know is that I hope someday soon Ziguinchor will be famous only for its beautiful countryside and world-famous batik!

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  • Alassane    Jan 10, 2012

    I said that my work allows me to make a lot of orders for festivals... I didn’t know another person could do it without me. Recently, there was a festival in Abéné where I went with a team of guys and girls who had a fashion show for me with my batik clothing.

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  • Alassane    Jan 10, 2012

    I’m not afraid to say that this is a way for me to denounce the rebellion that has made us endure suffering and losses, a way for me to share my troubles with anyone who wants to hear it. When I was a student, I wrote to the President to let him know that we need peace, not to destroy this beautiful natural region. There are clashes between the army and the MFDC (Movement of Democratic Forces in the Casamance). There are talks and plans to stop the conflict, but the MFDC remains.
    Because of the presence of rebels on the road, everyone wanted to travel by boat to Dakar and that is why a boat called the Diola overloaded and capsized on September 26, 2002. I don’t know if you heard on the news, but there were more than 2000 deaths and only around 60 survivors. As you can see, it is awful. Traveling by airplane is best but it is also the most expensive.
    Have you heard about Senegalese people who take canoes to go to Spain? Hundreds of thousands of young people have lost their lives at sea. All of this has a direct impact on my work, because as you all know, everywhere I go, I am a witness to all of this awfulness.
    I am a young person who believes in myself. I am not tempted by foolishness; I make a living by the sweat of my brow. This comment is like a drop of water in the ocean.
    Also, as for the camera, the only problem is that if I take more than 10 photos, it is full, so I think I need to change the memory card. I must select photos to post because there are people who don’t like their photos on the internet, for ladies it is not a problem.
    Thank you for sharing with me this moment from my heart.
    Bye

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  • Alassane    Jan 10, 2012

    With the consent of the director I would like to talk about the uniqueness of my region. You should know that Ziguinchor is the victim of a rebellion called MFDC (Movement of Democratic Forces in the Casamance). This rebellion has been around for almost 30 years and now people criticize and denounce it but it is still there. They are mostly in remote areas and attack people traveling—they rob cars and make all the passengers get out to steal their goods. The unfortunate ones are killed in cold blood. After these actions the rebellion returns to the bush. It is in this atmosphere that I still live. I’ve seen a lot of people killed, houses burned, women raped, and people who are taken away and never return…

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  • Alassane    Dec 9, 2011

    The reason I would like to reschedule my repayments is that I was ill for several weeks, during which time I was not able to work. Prior to that I had to travel a great deal for my business activities; I was away from home for almost a month, traveling to various tourist lodges to give batik classes and fulfill orders.

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  • Julia Kurnia    Nov 30, 2011

    Dear lenders,

    I spoke yesterday with Mr. Diop, who has been ill and in the hospital for the past two weeks. He was just released today, but is still too weak to work, or to travel to the bank in Ziguinchor to deposit his loan repayments. Mr. Diop sent the following update by SMS and requested that it be shared with lenders.

    Translation: "I have just spoken with Julia over the telephone to tell her that I have been ill, and was in the hospital for two weeks. All is well, except that I'm a bit lacking in strength to go to a cybercafe and access the internet. [in response to Zidisha's offer to reimburse the fee he had to pay to retrieve his digital camera that we mailed to him from Customs in Senegal by crediting the amount back to his loan account] Please do not deduct the cost of the camera from my loan balance: I have undertaken a commitment to you lenders and I intend to keep it. Thanks for your understanding, Alassane."

    Original French: "je viens de parler avec julia au tel pour lui dir ke jetais malade jai fait 2semaine a lhopital,tout va bien seulement je mank un peu de force pour etr sur le net,svp ne deduisez pas le prix de lapareil foto,jai prix lengagement avec vous et je le respect.merci pour votre comprehension, alassane"

    Best,

    Julia Kurnia
    Director, Zidisha Inc.

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  • Julia Kurnia    Nov 4, 2011

    Dear lenders,

    We have been in regular contact with Mr. Diop by telephone and SMS since his loan was disbursed. He has attempted repeatedly to deposit his September and October repayment installments, but each time he has made the long (and sometimes dangerous) journey to Ziguinchor city where the nearest bank branch is located, there were so many customers waiting to be served that he was not able to make the transaction. This is a common occurrence in African banks, where people often must wait in line for hours to make routine deposits and withdrawals.

    On a positive note, Mr. Diop reports that he received the camera which we sent as a prize for winning the borrower comment contest last month. He looks forward to using it to share photos of his incredible batik creations with us soon.

    Please don't hesitate to contact me should you have any inquiries or comments concerning this loan.

    Best,

    Julia Kurnia
    Director, Zidisha Inc.
    [email protected]

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  • Alassane    Oct 19, 2011

    Hello everyone,

    I've finally returned from my trip, and all is well. Diembering village is a tourist site, and doesn't have much in the way of internet access. They have pretty campgrounds and tourist lodges, a good seaside and very pretty jungle. The delivery of batik that one of the tourist lodges had ordered was a success. Everyone liked my batik, and I was even able to make contact with new customers in other villages. The order I delivered this time consisted of dying all of the tourist lodge's sheets, pillow cases, tablecloths and cloth napkins with batik designs. I just had to come once a week to take care of my family and other business.

    I was fortunate to have other very rich experiences: the people of the village came to see my artwork, and we talked and they told me about their lives. During school vacations the village regains all its children. Their livelihood comes from farming, fishing and raising animals. The natural surroundings are green and abundant because it rains well. All the youth of the village farm rice and corn, and they are able to harvest enough to feed them throughout the year. They make baskets from palm leaves and sell the baskets, and this allows them to have a bit of cash to buy school supplies. There are big traders who come from the city of Ziguinchor or from other regions to buy mangoes in the village and resell them in Dakar, Senegal's capital city in the north. I don't have a camera, but the people I worked for took photos and I hope to show them to you soon.

    I've become a big fan of this village because of its leadership and cooperation. I have so much to tell you, I just wanted to give you a foretaste. If you find it interesting, I'll be happy to tell you more about my travel experiences.

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  • Julia Kurnia    Oct 11, 2011

    Votre financement ma permi d'avoir des contrat avc les campement vilageois,tout se passe bien ici mon batik plait seulement je ne rentr a zig ke les jeudi,ya eu un bracge des rebelle sur la route on _t_ oblig_ de retourn_,jeudi je vien a zig pour le versement

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  • Alassane    Sep 5, 2011

    Just a big "hi" to everyone. I have not forgotten anyone, I have not wasted time since I received my loan, I have put myself directly to work, all this time I was busy making the dye, I bought the fabric, colors, renewed again my tools for working, my workshop right now is like a 5 star hotel, whoever would like to take a tour, also I have people who do courses, one hour is 2500f [$5], ultimately everything will be normal apart from the rain which sometimes slows me down. Talk to you again later.

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  • Alassane    Aug 24, 2011

    Thanks to all the people who financed me, I have received my check, now my vacation is finished, I am spending time at work, thank you once again to everyone, until next time

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  • Alassane    Aug 19, 2011

    Hello, just to tell you that it is very cool that Zidisha, as well as giving us loans, gives us gifts, I have not done a comment in a while because I am very busy with work, I think like the other borrowers, we cannot stop thanking Zidisha and all the goodwills that accept to finance us, me, I am the kind to think a lot, I have ideas all the time, work plans in my head, but the funds are still lacking, and the day that I saw Mack, an intern with Zidisha who came to see me at my work place to talk to me about Zidisha, I said to myself: My God that this isn't a dream. At then end of a few weeks, Steve called me to congratulate me because I was going to be financed, it was very good, apart from it, my work reflected another figure, it was going to become more professional, this money permitted me to do repairs first of all, I bought gloves, goggles, masks, basins, and a workshop with a different look from the offices of professionals, all the necessary material was there. This permitted me to have the stock all the time and every time a person wanted to see or buy something there they always had multiple choices available, I did fashion shows on tour. Financially, it was better. With my finances I help my family from time to time pay the bills to buy food, I had had an accident with work, I almost lost my eye, it is thanks to the funding from Zidisha that I succeeded in saving my eye, my mother was very sick, I paid for the medicine and her hospitalization until the day she died, I had a profound thought; if I had not had money, she would have have passed away earlier, I paid the last months of tuition for my brother who had to pass the baccalauréat, the test before entering university, he found that financially it was expensive but I could not leave it one month to his exam, finally, he passed and in the dedications he thanked Zidisha. Today I can but thank all those with good intentions who have the confidence and the firm belief like us as well, we have the firm will to prosper in our work, a gesture that is small for you but makes a dream a reality. All my thanks to Julia, Steve, Mack, Allen, Sarr to everyone who has financed me or who has financed others like me.

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  • Alassane    Aug 12, 2011

    Now I am offering rate of 10%

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  • Alassane    Aug 10, 2011

    I decided to raise my interest rate to 8%, I always had to firm wish to continue my work, like I told you in my last comments, I had a strong demand that my finances could not cover, I would not like to miss this, even if with 8% it is still more expensive, thank you for your understanding.

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    • melliecarma    Aug 10, 2011

      salut alassane,

      there seems to be a technical problem here as lenders' interest is still shown at 0,00%. i can just guess but when you put in the interest rate maybe it is not saved? if you change something you better double-check afterwards if the change took effect (for example, refreshing the page might do the trick. if the new value shows up everything is allright. if not, something has gone wrong.)

      i try to get steve and/or julia to have a look into it. i learned that at least julia knows about the zero interest rate problem and her team tries to fix it already. until changes are in place they will have to update it manually.

      au revoir,
      melliecarma

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      • Julia Kurnia    Aug 11, 2011

        Dear Melliecarma,

        Thanks so much for getting in touch to facilitate a resolution of this. In fact, due to Alassane's request to increase his interest rate and need to be financed quickly, we asked our IT team to prioritize adding the ability of borrowers to modify interest rates in their fundraising applications ahead of other ongoing enhancements to our site. This was finally completed early this morning, and Alassane's rate has been increased to 8% (3% for lenders) as requested.

        Going forward, this enhancement will allow borrowers to continually modify their offered interest rates in response to lender demand while applications are fundraising.

        By the way, Steve has completed his internship with Zidisha, and is now working with UNESCO in Paris.

        Best regards,

        Julia Kurnia

        Director

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    • Julia Kurnia    Aug 11, 2011

      Bonjour Alassane,

      Je présente d'abord mes excuses pour le delai dans la réponse. En fait afin de modifier votre taux d'intérêt il fallait d'abord que nos techniciens modifient la programmation du site web même, et je leur ai demandé de prioritiser cette modification le plus vite possible afin qu'on puisse modifier votre taux d'intérêt.

      Donc j'ai déjà fixé votre taux au niveau de 8% (c'est à dire 3% pour les prêteurs). Desormais, vous pouvais le modifier vous même en suivant le lien "Candidature de prêt". N'hésitez pas de me faire signe si vous avez des questions ou des difficultés.

      Meilleures salutations,

      Julia

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  • melliecarma    Aug 9, 2011

    bonjour alassane,

    you mentionted on august 1st you set the interest rate at 8% but this is not reflected on the site. it says zero interest to lenders (0,00%) when it should state 3% (5% go to zidisha + the local mfi, anything above to lenders). you should check that and get in contact with julia or smonroe about it as this may be the reason your loan is slowly funding.

    i like what you're doing and would chip some money in but i want a little motivation in the form of interest. as i have to work hard for my cash i wont part with it for nothing. i guess you will understand that...

    once the interest rate of 8% (i.e. 3% to lenders) is reflected on the site your loan will fund more quickly and i guess it will be funded at august 29th at the latest.

    une bonne semaine à toi,
    melliecarma (allemagne)

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