Enactus Partners with Gambian Tailors

A pop-up store is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Thursday, Dec. 1, in the Health Sciences and Business Administration building lobby. Proceeds from Kultured Kampus help provide job opportunities to tailors in The Gambia and fund the education of Gambian school children.

VSU Community Invited to Shop Today, Tomorrow, or Online

VALDOSTA — When Mamsai Secka, a senior international business major from the Republic of The Gambia, learned that Enactus was looking for an international project, she suggested the group help meet the employment and educational needs of the people of her home country.

Through Kultured Kampus, VSU works with three tailors — one who makes ties and bowties, one who makes book bags, and one who makes long-sleeve and short-sleeve dashikis as well as clothing for children. An overseer manages the production and ensures the tailors have what they need to create these goods.

VSU Enactus takes these items and makes them available for purchase through an online boutique (https://www.facebook.com/The-Kultured-Kampus-1825901557625868/?fref=ts).

A pop-up store is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Thursday, Dec. 1, in the Health Sciences and Business Administration building lobby. Proceeds from Kultured Kampus help provide job opportunities to tailors in The Gambia and fund the education of Gambian school children.

“We want to provide job opportunities to tailors in The Gambia and teach them how to be self-sufficient,” said Secka, VSU Enactus international project chairwoman. “Gambia is an Islamic country, and it is the smallest country on the mainland of Africa. Many of the older generation have multiple wives and no education; therefore, they have to rely on their talents to provide for their large families.”

Secka said that education is very important for the Gambian children, as it can lead to a decrease in the poverty rate and improvements in health conditions.

“I was born and raised in The Gambia,” she continued. “I lived with my grandfather. Education was not a priority because he could not afford to send us to private school with the small amount of money that was made from farming. We went to public school every year we got passed to the next grade. I made it all the way to middle school before my father realized that I needed to come to America to get away from marrying young and a lack of education. When I arrived here, I could not read a kindergarten-level book and I did not know how to write the letter 'q.' It is very important to provide education to these young children, so that they can be independent. By them having an education, they can provide for themselves and not feel like they have to marry a man with multiple wives to take care of them.”  

Enactus is an international organization that connects student, academic, and business leaders through entrepreneurial-based projects that empower people to transform opportunities into real, sustainable progress for themselves and their communities.

Guided by academic advisors and business experts, the student leaders of Enactus create and implement entrepreneurial projects around the globe. The experience not only changes lives, but it also helps students develop the kind of talent and perspective that are essential to leadership in an ever-more complicated and challenging world.

VSU Enactus students are currently working to inspire and motivate young women at the Methodist Home for Children and Youth to realize their dreams for the future; help homeless men and women learn budget, life, time management, money management, interview, computer, resume, and cover letter skills at Lowndes Associated Ministries to People Inc.; end poverty by building a hydroponics and aquaponics greenhouse out of recycled two-liter bottles; mentor children between the ages of 4 and 15 at Hudson Dockett Housing Authority; teach music, art, internet research, science, mathematics, and more to children between the ages of 5 and 15 at Ora Lee West Housing Authority; introduce students at S.L. Mason Elementary School to the power of recycling; guide after-school students at the Boys and Girls Club through a series of fun, hands-on activities designed to teach them about the importance of recycling, money management skills, and basic economic principles; and empower women in Kenya to achieve success through the management of a poultry business.

VSU Enactus plans to expand the range of goods offered through Kultured Kampus and host another live event during the spring semester.   

Contact Alison Mgbeke, VSU Enactus president, at anmgbeke@valdosta.edu; Keona Hill, vice president, at knhill@valdosta.edu; Christopher Brown, vice president, at christopherbrown@valdosta.edu; or Alex Segars, vice president, at afsegars@valdosta.edu to learn more.