SPARK IGNITE: University of Ségou Summer University Kicks Off!
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By Ruud van Soelen
After months of preparation by our team in Ségou, in close collaboration with the University of Ségou, the Centre Sociale as the representative of the Internally Displaced Persons and the National Agency for Youth Employment, we successfully launched the Segou Summer University project on Saturday 15th of February.
Among the participants of the Summer University were officials of the municipality of Ségou, the representative of the governor, the rector and deans of the faculties, representatives of local NGOs, a team of the National Television of Mali and several journalists were also present to witness the launch of the course.
The opening ceremony consisted of speeches by the University, the representative of the governor and the country manager of SPARK. In the meantime, a welcome meal of one sheep was prepared to celebrate the opening of the course. After the ceremony, the first session (out of ten) started. A total of 123 participants spent all day listening to the teacher on the basics of entrepreneurship. The set-up of the course is based on interaction and dialogue with the participants. At lunchtime, a meal was prepared for the participants.
After lunch, the first session continued till late in the afternoon. The second session was held on the next day. Every weekend until the 29th of March will be used for training participants on entrepreneurship.
*Ruud van Soelen is the Country Manager for SPARK Mali
SPARK IGNITE is SPARK’s blog of stories, updates and opinions by SPARK staff, on relevant topics in the news, stories from the fields, and what inspire us to do what we do. We welcome external contributions; to contribute please contact media[at]spark-online.org.