Yes, you heard me right: you have to learn to fail!

Don’t ask me where I heard that phrase – I can’t remember. But what I am certain of is that it had a profound effect on me. It reminded me that failure need not be inevitable, nor a reason to be discouraged. On the contrary, failure should be a driving force, a springboard to go further. But to fail, you have to dare. And that’s where audacity comes in.

For me, audacity means acting in spite of your doubts and fears. It’s saying to yourself, “I can do it”, even when you know full well that you don’t have everything under control. So is being bold always a good thing? I’m not sure. It all depends on the context, no doubt. In any case, I’ve experienced boldness… and failure.

My story

It all began in my community of assignment in Fordiokh. Since October 2024, I have been a CorpsAfrica/Senegal Volunteer in this locality. At CorpsAfrica, every volunteer is encouraged to take the initiative to help communities achieve their own development. Right from the start of my mission, I worked with the community’s women’s group. Together, we launched several activities: bleaching, dyeing, and saponification.

And it was during this last activity that I experienced my greatest failure – but also my greatest lesson.

I was convinced that I had mastered saponification. When I was in high school, I used to help my mother make dermatological soap, so I had a feeling of know-how. I was confident and enthusiastic. The women financed the purchase of the equipment themselves, so everything was ready. The day before the training session, I just consulted a few online tutorials to refresh my memory. But reality caught up with me: I hadn’t mastered anything. On the day of the training course, the women arrived with all the equipment. We settled in. I explained the procedure, then we got down to the nitty-gritty. I poured the soda into the basin, then we added the oil… And then, disaster! Instead of a homogeneous mixture, a white mass formed in the liquid. No matter how hard we stirred, nothing would set. The failure was obvious.

I didn’t know where to put myself. I was ashamed; very ashamed.

I finally said, “Let’s stop, there’s no point in mixing anymore. The soap has failed.”

The sympathetic women tried to come up with explanations:

“It’s too crowded”,

“We didn’t stir in the same direction…”

But deep down, I knew that the only one responsible was me. They had invested their money, their time, their trust. And I had let them down.

I went home, closed my bedroom door… and cried my eyes out. Those sobs were a sign of shame, regret and desolation for the funds and energy I’d just wasted.

I thought about what they must think of me. I was devastated.

And then, in the midst of my tears, a little voice inside me whispered:

“Don’t be discouraged. You’ll make it.”

So I wiped my tears away. I decided to try again, but this time, properly. A few weeks later, my partner from Saint-Louis, with the backing of our coordinator, invited me to a three-day training session organized in her community. I learned, observed, and asked questions. And when I came back, I was ready.

This time, the training was a complete success.

The women made their own laundry soap. They now produce it regularly and sell it throughout the village. More than 30 women now generate income from this activity. I was proud. Proud of our success, but above all, proud that I hadn’t stopped at failure.

My greatest lesson in this story was personal responsibility, i.e., not blaming others, but first recognizing one’s mistakes and trying to correct them. Another thing I’ve learned is that learning is a continuous process that requires a lot of patience. To you who read me

Don’t be ashamed to fail.

Learn to fail.

Failure is not the end.

It’s often the beginning of a beautiful story.