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A Word of the President


This Foundation would have been created in memory of my grand-mother who played a tremendous role in my child development as well as thousand children and women that she taught, educated and saved lives. Instead, I choose to name it after my late sister.

During my career as a journalist, I had the privilege to meet many women from every African background. I was touched by the spirit survival demonstrated by these women as well as their desire for entrepreneurship. The African women that I met in rural areas told me about their desires to earn a profit from their farm production. One of the omnipresent elements in our discussions was the urgent need of getting prompt financial help to support them in their immediate needs. Powerless and facing enormous demands, I thought about a woman who has been an important part of my education and my life, my grandmother, Marthe. She used to tell me “Begging creates dependency and the key of success is going to school and work”.

I started to analyze their social situation and all the socio-political and cultural factors that keep them in that situation. If my grandmother, who came from a rural environment, was able to return to « Sous-l’arbre » school in her 50’s to learn to write and to read in French, in light of all the social barriers impeding her to do so, why couldn’t these women do the same? The answer was not as simple. First of all, my grandmother went to this school during the 20’s, in an era when women were not interested by the professional sector. She became teacher in the 30’s, a nurse in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s and then farmer in the 70’s, during her pre-retirement years. Her mental strength and all the experiences she had over the years predisposed her to entrepreneurship and a return back to school.

When I came back to Canada, I mulled over the long term strategies that can help these women to achieve independence and financial stability. I then thought of another woman who had a strong impact on my life and whose beauty and generosity glowed during her short lifetime. This woman spoke up for women’s individual freedoms and would often help them for all sorts of reasons. This woman was my sister, Madeleine Sanam. I then combined the values of these two women who had different ways of leading in the same fight. The Madeleine Sanam Foundation was founded on April 28th 1999 to help African women in need who live in rural environments in achieving personal autonomy.

— Chantal Londji Dang, President