Senegal Food Stand Feeds Community on a Few Dollars a Day

April 11, 2007

By Phuong Tran

Dakar

09 April 2007

audio clip

Breakfast diners at Diaw’s food stand

According
to most poverty indicators, almost half the population of Sub-Saharan
Africa is living on less than $1 a day. One Senegalese food stand owner
shows how far a dollar goes in this part of the world. Her
aluminum-sided, cardboard-roofed sandwich and coffee stand in Dakar has
become the community kitchen for hundreds of people, mostly men who
come from far away to work in the city. For a little over one dollar,
diners can afford breakfast, lunch, hot coffee, plus a helping of
morning news. Phuong Tran has more from Dakar, Senegal.

Before the sun rises, Astou Diaw, 47, and her daughter, Yoni, ride a
bus through Dakar’s faintly-lit streets to get to her corner breakfast
stand where she has sold bean filled baguettes and coffee for four
years.

Astou Diaw coffee: Astou Diaw

Astou Diaw

Before
sandwiches, Diaw sold local juices, water and peanuts. But a breakfast
stand seemed a better way to help support her family.

"I wanted to help out my husband and our seven kids," she said. "It
is hard work and sometimes I cannot cover my costs. But even though it
is really hard, I still am able to help out more than before."

A ten-minute bus ride later, Diaw arrives at her husband’s metal shop, which is also the kitchen for her food stand.

Mother and daughter work quickly.

They heat a bucket of water, and stir beans over a fire that will go
into her signature spicy lentil sandwich, a best selling 50 cent long
baguette.

While Yoni washes glasses, Diaw fills a large silver bowl with the
lentils. By seven thirty, she takes her seat for the morning rush.

Customer Mamadou Dieng

Mamadou Diop comes in for the local drink, a heavily-sugared frothy local drink that tastes like a spicy mix of coffee and tea.

He is a security guard who leaves his house before sunrise every day to travel 30 kilometers to Dakar.

"I come when I have the money. Sometimes, when I do not have money,
I will still come by and she will sell me on credit," he said. "Here I
can eat good home cooked food. Women like her help us out a lot. We do
not have much money. At Astou’s stand, for less than 50 cents, you can
be full."

A group of men debate the recent presidential elections in Senegal.

Four hours and dozens of customers later, Diaw counts her change.
She is short of the six dollars needed to cover her expenses on bread,
butter, coffee and beans.

"Mondays are the hardest because most people do not have money yet
to pay at the beginning of the work week," she said. "Maybe tomorrow
will be better."

Folding her apron, Diaw takes a lentil sandwich with mayonnaise.
Leaving her daughter to work the lunch shift, Diaw leaves and waits for
the bus to go home.

Despite her cash problem on most Mondays, Diaw was able to make $2,000 last year from her food stand.

This is in a country where about half the population is unemployed,
and for those who work, their average annual salary is about $700.

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