I am the sixth girl of a family of 12 children. I live with my father who is a fonctionnaire à la retraite, these two wives and 6 other children. We live in a neighbourhood of Dubréka, a préfecture situated 50 Km from Conakry. This which makes that we are considered to be living in the top suburbs of Conakry. I am preparing for my entrance at university where I intend on registering in the faculty of medicine. This situation brings me to practice an activity that generates small revenue. I need some complementary resources to support my parents to support family costs and satisfy my certain needs. For this activity that I have business consists of doing the dyeing of Bazin. It necessitates : 1- the purchase on the market of white Bazin which needs to be dyed. I can also dye on request all other white fabrics ; 2- the purchase of colourants ; 3- the purchase of starch ; and qualified labour understanding the tailors and spongers of Bazin. The fabrics are cut into suits/sets pour men or women and truly dressed on the market

My business practices the dyeing of fabric. It consists of purchasing from the Bazin market where all other white fabrics which are then coloured by infusion with a natural or synthetic colouring substance.

Dyeing brings an added value to clothes in making them more beautiful and more luxurious. The dyed clothes and notably Bazins are very appreciated and are sought after for religious holidays, ceremonies of marriage and patronage, etc.

Moreover, dyeing Bazin necessitates colourants, starch and collaboration with tailors and spongers. The clients prefer dyed Bazins at our place here in Guinée car those coming from the Republic of Sénégal and Mali are more expensive and of very bad known quality. So I do this in their presence and they have even have the possibility of choosing the quality of Bazin and desired colour. The principal risks of dyeing are burns and staining of hands.

During a month I can make dyeing 10 pieces of Bazin at a rate of 450 000 GNF a piece. It is necessary of 60 bottles colorants at 50 000 GNF each, 150 000 GNF of starch and in all 600 000 GNF of labour. These 10 dyed pieces give 60 suits/set for men or women which are sold at 200 000 GNF in all so the basin can cost up to 350 000GNF. The total cost for dyeing of these 10 pieces is from 8 200 000 GNF for a price coming to about 12 000 000 GNF making a profit of roughly 3 800 000 GNF.

This profit is truly necessary to satisfy the needs of myself and that of my family. This is why I ask this loan of Zidisha for about 5 000 000 GNF equivalent to about 700 American dollars.

The business for which I submitted the application for Zidisha funding deals with dyeing. For this I buy white Bazin, or other white fabric, on the market. These fabrics are then dipped in colouring solutions with natural or synthetic dyes. This contributes to giving the beautiful fabrics a great 'look'. It brings added value to the garments making them more luxurious. The clothes that are the end result of this operation, especially with regard to the Bazin fabrics, are very popular and sought after for religious festivals, weddings, baptisms, banquets and official meetings. What goes into the dye is, in addition to the Bazin fabric, dyes, starch and cooperation with tailors and workers beating clothes for polishing and dressing. Customers much prefer the Bazin fabrics dyed by us here in Guinea, as those coming from the Republic of Senegal and Mali are more expensive and known to be of much poorer quality. Also I dye in the presence of the customers who have the opportunity to choose the quality of bazin and color they'd like. Under normal conditions the total cost for dyeing 10 pieces is 8,200,000 GNF [about 1,155 USD] for a price of approximately 12,000,000 GNF [about 1,690 USD], in other words the gross margin is 3,800,000 GNF [about 535 USD]. The results from the business is really necessary to meet my expenses at university and my family's maintenance costs. However the current level of the loans does not allow me to do ten at the time, what makes my profits very low.