Micro-Insurance: Small Premiums With Long Term Benefits For Women

Salima’s husband was an outgoing man and a prominent member of his community. The couple lived together on a farm in a village outside of Nairobi, where they worked hard to support their seven children and five grandchildren.  In August 2009, Salima’s husband was admitted to the hospital and one month later he passed away.

Coping with the emotional shock that accompanies the death of a life partner can be staggeringly difficult. Coping with the financial shock at the same time, however, can make the situation seem unbearable. Typically, a Kenyan woman in Salima’s circumstances would have two options to cover the hospital and funeral expenses: take out a high-interest emergency loan, or approach friends and family for money.

Salima had a different alternative. When her husband was admitted to the hospital, she was informed that he had bought health and life insurance two months earlier. The policy paid out $330 USD to cover hospital bills, a weekly stipend of $25 USD for the family’s living expenses during the hospitalization (which Salima used to continue paying the children’s school fees), and $400 USD toward the funeral, which was attended by over 1,000 people. She’s now learning how to run the farm on her own and grateful not to be in debt.

Salima’s story is certainly the exception among poor women struck by crises.  Micro-insurance aims to help low-income people manage risk and reduce their vulnerability to shocks.  However, it’s estimated that only three percent of low-income people in the world’s 100 poorest countries benefit from a micro-insurance, leaving approximately two billion people unprotected. Of those two billion, more than half are women.

Women in Tunisia Start Small Businesses

Tunisia is exemplary among countries in North Africa. Over the last 50 years, women have enjoyed the same rights as men and contributed at least as much to the development and prosperity of their country.

As a result of a half-century of legislation favorable to women, Tunisian women can freely choose their partners, decide when and how many children they want to have, go to school, apply for any job and obtain any position. Yet women do not enjoy equal access in the fast-changing job market, which demands knowledge of computer science, the Internet, languages other than Arabic and finance.

         Traditional education emphasizes Arabic, history and law. Furthermore, educated women are encouraged to focus on the humanities, because their role within Tunisian society is still seen to be first and foremost that of mother, caregiver and keeper of traditional customs. Men have greater opportunities for finding work because they are more mobile, have greater resources and are perceived by potential employers as the primary breadwinners who must work to support their families.For centuries, Tunisian women ensured that their families had enough water, planted and took car of their crops and drew from the local environment only what was needed.  

          Now there are programs in Tunisia that teach women to use these skills to start small businesses.  In addition these programs use innovative teaching methods that emphasize women's rights, leadership skills and methods that are environmentally sound that will not overuse critical natural resources.  As a result, women in Tunisia learn how to overcome poverty, confront unemployment, stand up for their political and civil rights and develop conservation programs, while gaining confidence to change society for the better.

Anastasia Denisova-Human Rights Activist Harassed By Government

Anastasia Denisova is a human rights activist and an expert in combating racism living in Krasnodar Russia.  She is also the head of Krasnodar Krai, a non-governmental organization that works with the ‘Youth Group for Tolerance’.  In addition Anastasia serves as a consultant to several international projects concerning human rights issues, a member of the Coordinating Council for the International Youth Human Rights Movement, an employee of the Human Rights Center Memorial and co-coordinator of the Green Alternative group in Krasnodar.

On January 10, 2010, Anastasia was summoned to the Krasnodar Police Department of Internal Affairs where she was informed that criminal proceedings had been initiated against her.  A person in an official position charged her with having unapproved computer software on her computer and creation of “computer malware” (software designed to infiltrate a computer system without the owner's consent).  These charges were based on the examination of computer equipment that did not belong to Anastasia or any of the organizations that she works for.

The day after she was charged,  Anastasia’s apartment was subjected to a three-hour search by three police officers from the Krasnodar Crimes Department, who were searching for pirated software. The police officers told her they had a warrant that was issued during the 2010 New Year holiday, but refused to show Anastasia a copy of this warrant. The laptop of Anastasia’s friend, an external hard drive and a USB stick were confiscated in the search.

The Russian government for some time has targeted Anastasia Denisova and the Youth Group for Tolerance.  The official police have continually harassed her because of her human rights work.  On October 12, 2009, officials from Krasnodar Economic Crime Department and the commercial firm “SPECTR” raided the premises where Anastasia  was working to search for counterfeit copies of software. However the address in this complaint did not coincide with the address of the premises. Three computer system units, none of which belonged to Anastasia,  were confiscated in this raid.

Also, in  October 2009, Anastasia  was prevented from traveling to the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw by a representative from the Russian Service of Aircraft Security, who refused to allow her to carry her laptop as hand luggage on board the plane.  Despite interventions by a representative from Austrian Airlines the security officer would not allow her to bring the laptop on board the plane citing “internal instructions”.  After this incident, the official newspaper “Kubanskie Novosti” (‘News of Kuban’) published several articles targeting Anastasia  stating  that she was “inciting ethnic hatred”.

In August 2009, Anastasia  along with a photojournalist were returning from a trip to Abkhazia when customs officers stopped them for 7 hours. Anastasia’s luggage was searched and the customs officials and Russian border officers questioned her about her human rights activities. The photojournalist accompanying her was also searched, and more than 20 gigabytes of information were copied from his laptop and confiscated.

It is believed that Anastasia Denisova is being targeted as a direct result of her work in the defense of human rights issues, in particular her work with the Youth Group for Tolerance.  There has been a pattern of ongoing harassment against her and there is concern for Anastasia’s physical and psychological well being. 

UPDATE:  It was reported that on  May 11, 2010 Anastasia’s lawyer received a letter from the Prosecutor’s Office informing them that the criminal case against Anastasia was closed on April 19 because of insufficient evidence. It also stated that an official apology on behalf of the Prosecutor had been sent to Anastasia. To date, she has not received this letter.  There is constant concern that this case will be reopened and that she will continue to be harassed because of her human rights work.

Women and Global Warming

     Women are much more vulnerable to climate change than men because in many countries they make up a larger share of the agricultural work force.  This is made worse because women tend to have limited access to other income-earning opportunities. Women manage households and care for family members limiting their mobility and increasing their vulnerability to sudden weather-related natural disasters. Drought and erratic rainfall force women to work harder to secure food, water and energy for their homes. Girls drop out of school to help their mothers with these tasks. This cycle of deprivation, poverty and inequality undermines the social capital needed to deal effectively with climate change.

     Research shows that natural disasters, drought, famine and poverty all have a profound effect on women. These situations are significantly influenced by climate change.   A warmer world will potentially intensify gender inequalities.

In sub-Saharan Africa, women are responsible for collecting water and firewood. Decreased rainfall brought on by climate change will undoubtedly make these resources scarcer. Women will need to spend more and more time searching for these items, meaning they’ll have less time to engage in money-making activities or attend school.

 In Kenya, poverty brought on by drought has been linked to a decrease in school attendance and parents are more likely to withdraw girls from school than boys.

In Uganda, what has come to be called “famine marriages” are all too common. Less rainfall brings agricultural losses, which means increased poverty in rural areas that depend on farming. To combat poverty, many families are marrying off their daughters at younger and younger ages in order to secure a dowry or bride price.

As climate change continues to spur drought and agricultural losses, the situation will only get worse for women.  Efforts to help women to become financially independent must also include education on climate change.  Empowering women to make decisions about issues that profoundly effect them will help efforts to stop global warming.

In Uganda: Disabled Women Experience Double Discrimination

In Uganda women with disabilities are stigmatized, discriminated against, violently attacked and usually live in absolute poverty….but the greatest challenge for many of them is centered on reproductive health issues.  They bear the brunt of being discriminated against for two reasons….because they are women and because they have a disability. 

Typically social programs in Uganda that deal with empowering women and gender equality issues do not target these women because of their disability.  Uganda has a disability policy including a People with Disabilities Act.  It is also a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that calls for the protection of rights for people living with disabilities.  But there are no efforts to incorporate reproductive health services into such legislation. 

Giving birth in Uganda is a dangerous and dirty business. The clinics where the impoverished can afford to give birth are so awful, unclean and ill equipped that many women would rather take the chance and birth at home, even though they may not have the proper or sanitary instruments necessary to guarantee a healthy and safe delivery. As a result, both infant and mother mortality are heartbreakingly high because of infection and lack of proper care. Often the mothers are left alone, in their pain and without support, only to be treated indifferently and harshly during the birth itself.

Many women are even hit by their midwives if they cry out or scream. Also, because of high instances of untreated malaria, mothers often miscarry in the second trimester. Caesareans are practiced with unnecessary frequency, abortions are primitive, and often mother's with HIV/AIDS aren't given the drugs available to prevent mother to child transmission at the time of delivery. All too commonly, the disease is passed to the child through her breast milk as a result.

Midwives have almost no training on how to handle expectant mothers with disabilities.  They don’t know how to move them properly or about the complications that specific disabilities can cause during delivery.  Making matters worse these health care facilities have beds that are not designed for women who have difficulty with mobility.  The beds are very high and cannot be adjusted.  The lack of special  beds often requires the mid-wife to squat on the floor to deliver a baby.

Midwives also cannot communicate with women who are visually impaired or deaf.  They cannot give vital information to expectant mothers about pregnancy or to new mothers on how to care for their babies.  There is a great need to train health workers — particularly midwives - on how to communicate with and educate women with disabilities.

The reproductive health rights of women with disabilities are not only violated during childbirth. Sexual exploitation is another huge problem that subsequently leads to unwanted pregnancies and complications during childbirth. It also increases the chances of these women contracting sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS.

Women Entrepreneurs In Vietnam Face Many Challenges

Although women have established themselves as entrepreneurs in Vietnam, many businesswomen do not enjoy the same level of services and support as their male counterparts. While existing laws and policies in do not overtly discriminate against female entrepreneurs, cultural factors in Vietnam such as dominant gender stereotypes pigeonhole women into domestic roles or into employment sectors that are undervalued and poorly paid. 

These factors have a direct negative impact on the education of female entrepreneurs in areas like marketing, business expansion and business technology.  There is also a lack of services tailored to meet specific women's needs, especially time management, skills training, leadership development and human resource management. 


Business development is widely recognized as contributing to economic empowerment of women and promoting gender equality. However, not all women are born as entrepreneurs; instead, business skills must be learned from colleagues, family and friends, formal training, or from experience. A recent nationwide survey found that businesswomen in Vietnam are crying out for additional support that can assist them in growing their businesses.


In order to promote female entrepreneurship in Vietnam there should be business support and facilitation that address the needs of women, specifically in the areas of business planning, financial management, marketing, and quality control.

Women entrepreneurs face a number of barriers preventing them from expanding their businesses.   These barriers include:   1) a lack of sufficient business management knowledge and skills, 2) being disconnected from the larger business community, and 3) a low level of encouragement and support from the government and society. During the past few years, a number of work related programs initiated by women's unions and some NGOs have mostly targeted poor women in rural and remote areas. However, middle class businesswomen in Vietnam also need support in order to catch up with male entrepreneurs. 

Empowering women: More Education + Better Health Care = Less Poverty

A young girl from India in the fifth grade says goodbye to her classmates because she won’t be attending school anymore.  Her mother died recently and she  has to stay home to cook and bring lunch to her father in the field where he works. Her grandmother is very old and blind, but she scolds her son for withdrawing his daughter from school. The grandmother says that she will do the cooking and tries to make her son recognize how important his daughter’s education is.  Nonetheless, the father doesn’t understand….to him it is more important for his daughter to keep house for him than go to school.

Poor, overworked and illiterate--this is the profile of many adult, rural women in a majority of developing countries. Although more girls and women are entering school now than ever before, huge gaps still exist in women's education and literacy, especially among adult women ...the caretakers and providers for whom the ability to read and write can make a world of difference.

If women are to contribute effectively to their community and the development of their country, they must be sufficiently equipped to actively participate by receiving quality education that will prepare them to enter any field, expose them to science, technology and communications and stimulate their creativity.

Women's health and access to health care are also of major concern in developing countries.   The health of the people in a country is pivotal to its prospects for sustainable development.  Women suffering from poor health status typically lack knowledge, information, work skills and access to essential health services.  Despite the fact that women are the primary providers of health care for their families (and sometimes for an entire village), they often lack access to such care for themselves. Statistics show that in many countries there are fewer women than men receiving timely treatment for illnesses, hospital care if needed, and receiving prescriptions for medication.

Women comprise a disproportionate share of the world's poor. Over the past 50 years, the number of rural women in developing countries living in absolute poverty has risen by about 50%  versus 30% for rural men.  Female poverty is a persistent and unevenly distributed liability that threatens the sustainability of developing countries.

DID YOU KNOW? More Than 1 in 3 Native American Women Will Be Raped In Her Lifetime

Native American and Alaskan Native women are greater than 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than other women in the United States.  Making matters worse, there is a complex maze of tribal, state and federal legal systems that gives perpetrators of many of these rapes impunity and in some cases even encourages assaults.  Sexual violence against Indigenous women in the USA is widespread -- and especially brutal.   Some Indigenous women report they didn’t know anyone in their community who had not experienced sexual violence. Though rape is always an act of violence, there is evidence that Indigenous women are more like than other women to suffer additional types of violence at the hands of their attackers. Statistics gathered by the US Justice system show that in at least 86 per cent of the reported cases of rape or sexual assault against American Indian and Alaskan Native women the perpetrators are non-Native men. Sexual violence against Indigenous women is the result of a number of factors including a history of widespread and egregious human rights violations against Indigenous peoples in the USA.   There are many infamous historical events (including the Trail of Tears between 1790 and 1830) where settlers and soldiers  raped indigenous women. Such attacks were not random or individual, but were the tools used to take over and   colonize the west. The underlying attitudes towards Indigenous peoples that supported these human rights violations then continue to be present in society and culture today. They contribute to the present high rates of sexual violence perpetrated against Indigenous women and help to shield their attackers from justice. There are three justice systems -- tribal, state and federal --  that are potentially involved in responding to sexual violence against Indigenous women.  Before any action is taken,  there has to be a determination of which of these systems has authority in the case.  The main factors that determine which system has authority to prosecute such crimes are whether the victim is a member of a federally recognized tribe or not and whether the offence took place on tribal land or not.  The answers to these questions are often not self-evident and there can be significant delays while police, lawyers and courts establish who has jurisdiction over a particular crime. The result can be such confusion and uncertainty that no one intervenes and survivors of sexual violence are denied access to justice. Tribal prosecutors cannot prosecute crimes committed by non-Native perpetrators. Tribal courts are also prohibited from passing custodial sentences that are in keeping with the seriousness of the crimes of rape or other forms of sexual violence. The maximum prison sentence tribal courts can impose for crimes, including rape, is one year. At the same time, the majority of rape cases on tribal lands that are referred to the federal courts are reportedly never brought to trial.  As a consequence Indigenous women are being denied justice and the perpetrators are going unpunished. In failing to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence, the USA is violating the rights of these women.  Indigenous women’s organizations and tribal authorities have brought forward concrete proposals to help stop sexual violence against Indigenous women – but the federal government has failed to act.

In Honor of Cambodian New Year - Status of Khmer Women

Cambodian woman are often compared to the celestial goddesses on the walls of the great temples in Angkor Wat. The pleasant smile and distant gaze are symbols  representing  water and purity… virtues that are responsible for upholding the family name.  But after twenty years of war, genocide and suffering both Khmer society and its people have redefined the roles of women in the Khmer culture.  These new roles have proven challenging in many ways and makes it almost impossible  to preserve the traditional identity as Khmer women.

Traditional Cambodian gender roles have relied on a unique concept of "gender equality" which is quite different from the "equality" considered by American standards.  Khmer women's roles and their behavior are connected to and greatly affect the status of their husbands, sons, and fathers.  As described in Khmer literature, the Khmer woman, must remain virtuous to uphold the image of her family. She is required to speak softly, walk lightly and be well mannered at all times. It is required for her to stay at home and serve as the caretaker and preserver of the home. A Khmer woman must be a virgin when she marries and be faithful to her husband after marriage, even though he is allowed to have extramarital affairs. It is assumed that if a wife is virtuous, the husband will not need to look elsewhere for happiness. A wife must be clever and wise bringing greater wealth and status to her husband.  Heavy consequences exist for women who disobey Khmer social standards.  Khmer women who are not considered virtuous are often punished by rape or end their lives in suicide from shame.

This traditional role is enslaving and has caused extreme hardship to women living in the new Cambodian social structure.  Many Khmer women, especially single mothers, have suffered through tremendous atrocities.  During the reign of the Khmer Rouge, women were often viewed as being less threatening to the regime and their lives were spared while they faced the death of their husbands, sons and fathers. Many continue to carry these painful memories throughout their daily lives.  Many of the widows believe that if they remarry it would be a betrayal to their deceased husband.  Even the women who try to establish themselves in the Cambodian labor market, lead lonely and celibate lives continually grieving for their husbands.  For the fortunate Khmer women whose husbands survived the war life can be even more difficult.  In many cases the husbands remarried and try to maintain both wives.

Khmer traditionalists compare a Cambodian girl to white cotton. A boy is compared to a gem. It is said that when white is soiled, it can never be washed to the purity and cleanness it once had. Gems, on the other hand, can be cleaned to shine brighter.  The atrocities of war, the violence and the hardship have made it necessary for women to take responsibility for their children, earn a living and become financially independent.  The male traditionalists feel that empowering women makes them dirty.   These men also feel  their own power has been undermined by the  new roles women are taking on.

Unfortunately, the women, caught between the responsibility of fostering the Khmer identity for future generations and finding their place within the new Cambodian culture are blamed (and blame themselves) for the re-shifting of gender roles.

Khmer women who are eager to take advantage of new opportunities have yet to gain the recognition from their communities. They find themselves alienated from family, friends and neighbors because they have lost the traditional traits of Khmer women. They are regarded as defectors if they remarry or even take a job. They are considered antagonists if they voice their opinions within the community.

Slowly women in Cambodia are emerging as an economic power within their society. Many younger women are realizing the task ahead is to rebuild their country.   They know they must eliminate the gender barriers in order to have a viable labor force.  Many younger women are trying to get an education so that they will be able to take an active and meaningful role in rebuilding their country. After twenty years, Cambodia is just starting to emerge from the depths of war and destruction with the Khmer women leading the way.

A Thought About Peace

http://chiefrabbi.org/ReadArtical.aspx?id=1616

This Sums It All Up.....

"When women are free to develop their talents, all people benefit: women and men, girls and boys. When women are free to vote and run for public office, governments are more effective and responsive to their people. When women are free to earn a living and start small businesses, the data is clear: they become key drivers of economic growth across regions and sectors. When women are given the opportunity of education and access to health care, their families and communities prosper. And when women have equal rights, nations are more stable, peaceful, and secure."
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton from her remarks at the UN Commission on the Status of Women http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/03/138320.htm

Vietnamese Women and Children Sold As "Sex Slaves"

The Vietnam government published a paper this week that documents statistics from 1998 to early 2010 showing that approximately 5,000 women and children have been taken against their will across the borders of Vietnam in the hands of sex smugglers.   Children are being sold in internet auctions to the highest bidder and women are forced off the streets at gunpoint. 

Recently photos of a young Vietnamese woman and two Vietnamese teens were posted on eBay’s Taiwan website.  They each had a starting price of $5,400 and were listed as “items” from Vietnam that would be shipped only to Taiwan to be picked up from there.  An eBay spokesperson responded to outraged activists that the company did not screen auction items before they went live on the site, but it usually halted products that were deemed inappropriate or illegal and reiterated that EBay strictly forbids the sale or purchase of humans, alive or dead

             The practice human trafikking  started in Vietnam in 1987 when Hanoi opened its borders and became a market economy.  Without regulation the opening of the borders  caused widespread corruption involving local authorities and middle class businessmen.    Intervention by NGOs and charities operating in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand has had little effect.

              In 2009, joint interventions by the Vietnamese and Cambodian governments led to the arrest of 31 traffickers and saved the lives of 70 victims that were about to be smuggled across the border into Cambodia.  While this was a sign of progress traffickers still smuggled 981 women and children to Cambodia or China to be sold as slaves.

              The greatest number of women smuggled is at the border between China and Vietnam.  Women are placed into the prostitution market,  sold as brides to the highest bidder or forced to do hard labor in unregulated factories.  Many of the women are taken across the border into Cambodia where they are forced to work as prostitutes.  Cambodia also serves as a transfer place for women to be given over to buyers from England, France and Germany.  In some cases, the victims  are brought to the Vietnam ports of Tan San Nhat and Noi Bai to be shipped off to Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau or to  Europe, Africa and the USA.

              When the authorities in Thailand recently started to  crackdown on prostitution, especially child prostitution, Vietnam  became the new base for sex tourism industry in Southeast Asia.   The bars, discos and resorts in Vietnam offer a constant supply of unsuspecting young women for the traffickers to smuggle away.  

Anganwadi Workers In India - Women Teaching Women

Anganwadi work in rural India has proven to be a beacon of hope for women. Under the Integrated Child Development System, an Anganwadi worker is trained as a para-professional to provide children with basic health care, nutrition and pre-school education.  They do routine health check ups on children including administering immunizations.  They also teach women about proper nutrition, sanitation and childcare skills. 

In the Rajasthan region of India these government centers have motivated women to bring changes in the lives of their families and communities. Poverty, ignorance and a patriarchal mindset often leave women in rural India in despair and apathy. Learning to become an Anganwadi worker gives women a fresh start towards self-reliance and knowledge.

This is one story of the value of this system.  Becoming an Anganwadi worker not only saved Kalini’s life, but also helped her to make sure her children were educated and had a good future to look forward to.  Kalini became a young widow at 23.  She became the sole guardian and breadwinner for her family of three boys, the youngest a three month old. Tied down by sorrow and economic hardship, Kalini became an Anganwadi worker in her village to earn money.

Very soon she realized that being an Anganwadi worker was much more than just a job. It gave her the opportunity to meet other women and interact with them.  This support group helped her to overcome the grief over the loss of her husband.  Her new job helped Kalini to become self-assured, secure and experience happiness once again.

The Anganwadi training taught Kalini about health care, hygiene and sanitation.  The skills she learned helped the people in her village and also helped her to improve the standard of living for her family.  Kalini is proud of the responsibility that she carries and how the villagers respect her. 

WTW Celebrates Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month and to celebrate WomenTeachingWomen.org will introduce you to women from around the world who are working hard to change their lives and the incredible things they are doing: Today it is 'Women Farmers In Tanzania'

http://vodpod.com/watch/706322-women-farmers-in-tanzania

Women’s Cooperatives: More Than Just A Workplace

        Cooperatives provide women with the support and resources to become financially independent without inhibiting their individual identity.  Artisans with specific skills are encouraged to start their own businesses with help and support from the coop.  Their products are sold at fair trade prices and are often marketed by the coop to international retailers.  When evaluating economic growth in the context of reducing poverty, inequality and social justice, it is evident that cooperatives create direct opportunities for the poor to earn enough money to sustain a decent level of living.

Over the last few years women’s cooperatives have become more than a workplace.  Case studies show that the cooperative movement can alleviate poverty both by providing the basic needs of the poor and by tackling some of the causes of poverty. They help to solve housing needs, improve access to capital, mobilize savings, develop women's potential in generating income and improve health and nutrition.  Many of the women involved in coops have lived through unspeakable atrocities and violence.  The coops have offered these women a support group where they can heal from these horrible acts and hopefully move forward. 

In the Congo, women’s coops not only help women to become financially independent, but they serve as a place for survivors of the war that has plagued the Congolese population since the 1990’s to tell their individual stories about how they were affected by the conflict.  The process of discussing what they went through to the other members of the coop, who share similar experiences, serves to put closure to these horrible episodes and allow them to move on.

In one of these Congolese coops a woman named Clara recently told her story.  She was tied to a tree and blindfolded.  She listened to her sister sobbing and screaming while armed men violently raped her.  She waited in terror knowing that she was next.  After the rape both women were beaten and left to die.  Clara survived.  She attributes the women’s coop as instrumental to her recovery.  Today she has a profitable soap business and has enough money to be able to send her son to school.  The cooperative has allowed her to take charge of her life and look to the future.

African Women Start Agriculture Businesses

African women are the glue that binds the society's fabric together. Even in urbanized African societies, women are the backbone of family and national stability.  Despite the enormous contribution women make to all aspects of the culture they are often forgotten and rarely consulted when new initiatives and technologies are implemented.   This is especially true with respect to agriculture and food security.  Despite the fact that African women do most of the farming and produce 70% of farm produced food they are the ones to bare the brunt of the worsening food security situation on the African continent.

Researchers maintain that even though women are the pillars of the African agricultural sector, they lack the technological skills to boost productivity.  Technology can help women farmers by reducing their workload while increasing their productivity and income.  By using a value chain approach that places emphasis on all aspects of the production process and teaching basic business skills designed to view the farm as a small business, agriculture can be a profitable business for African women.  With the establishment of micro finance funds poor subsistence farmers would have access to small loans enabling them to buy seedlings and other farm equipment needed to expand their farm into a small agricultural business.

This strategy was implemented in a Kenyan village where the women maintained acres of banana trees.   Teaching these women new technologies along with business skills enabled them to increase banana production.  This greatly reduced malnutrition in the community and significantly increased the average income.  The development of these women owned banana farms not only led to the economic empowerment of women in the village, but also appreciably contributed to the reduction of poverty by providing food, education and better health for many families.

Women's Cooperatives Empower Maasai Women

In traditional Maasai communities the main economic activity is raising livestock, but Maasai women are culturally not allowed to own livestock and are expected to depend entirely on the men for their survival.  They rarely finish grammar school and are usually married in their teens.  The establishment of Women’s Cooperatives in these communities has helped to empower the women and facilitates their financial independence.  These cooperatives also help women to become more self-assured and have helped them find their voice so they can contribute to village meetings on social, cultural, economic and political affairs.  The Maasai women who are involved in the cooperatives have become role models to other women in their community.

Directly outside of Tarangire National Park is a Massai Women’s Cooperative where women work together making traditional beaded jewelry and woven baskets.   By pooling their resources, the women are able to sustain their own business and also establish a sustainable business community.  The NGO that started this cooperative provides the women artisans with financial and management support through a series of initiatives including creating direct market linkages for the products they make by coordinating the sales of these products to retailers and on-line stores around the world.  They also help to finance cash flow by providing upfront micro-loans for the production of high quality goods and hands on training in basic business skills such as new product development, strategic planning, bookkeeping, marketing, and quality control.

Now that Maasai women have their own business center life is much easier for them. They have a stable market that enables them to budget and maintain financial control over their lives.  Many of the women have used some of their profits to set up other small income-generating businesses and their success has given them access to bank credit so that they can further expand.   Not only are they learning new skills, but they are educating their children and look forward to a brighter future.

Micro Loans Provide Light In Remote Parts Of The World

      When night falls in remote parts of Africa and the India, millions of people are without access to electricity and must rely candles or flammable and polluting kerosene lamps for light. 

     Slowly through small loans for solar powered devices, microfinance is bringing light to these rural regions where a lack of electricity has stymied economic development, literacy rates and health.  These solar powered devices have allowed people to increase their productivity, improve their health, socio-economic status and in general the way they look at their future.

     A vegetable seller in northern India took out a loan to buy a solar lantern that she uses to light up her stall at night. The lantern costs about $75 USD or about her weekly income.  The vegetables look better with light, it’s cheaper than kerosene and it doesn’t smell.  The investment in the lantern allows this woman to increase her income by 300 rupees ($6) more each evening.

     In India, solar power projects funded by micro loans are helping to reduce carbon emissions and achieve the goal to double the contribution of renewable energy to 6%, or 25,000 megawatts, within the next four years.

Off-grid applications such as solar cookers and lanterns provide several hours of light at night after being charged by the sun during the day.  They help cut dependence on fossil fuels and reduce the world’s fourth biggest emitter of the carbon footprint.  In addition, these projects significantly improve the quality of life and reduce the carbon footprint.”

     In Africa too, micro-loans are bringing solar systems to homes, schools and cottage industry businesses in remote regions that are off the grid.

Poor people use money they would have spent on kerosene to pay back their loans for the solar devices.

Women Find Economic Freedom Through Microfinance

     For too long Latifah, a Kenyan cloth merchant saw her slim profits slip away as fast as they came in. Daily expenses quickly ate away at her earnings as she struggled to keep her business afloat and supplement her husband’s meager pension so that they could provide for their five children. She never imagined she would ever be able to save over $1,000 until she learned about an organization in Nairobi that was giving women entrepreneurs micro-loans.

     Latifah’s mother started the business and together mother and daughter have been selling colorful African cloth for many years.  They have a small stall in the marketplace near their village.  Over the past few years the area has become quite popular with tourists going on Safari. In order to compete with other cloth vendors they needed a larger space and more inventory for their business.   To make matters worse, Latifah’s family needs and expenses kept increasing.  

     When she heard about a non-profit organization in Nairobi that was giving small loans to women to start businesses, Latifah thought it was too good to be true, but set out on her own to Nairobi to apply for a loan.  Much to her surprise (and relief) she was granted a $60 loan that she used to purchase cloth in bulk.  This purchase significantly increased her profit margin.  It took only six-months for Latifah to pay back the loan and put $60 in a savings account.

     Over the last two years Latifah has received more small loans and repaid them quickly.  Her life has changed dramatically and her business is flourishing.  Since she started saving, Latifah has bought bedroom furniture and a refrigerator for her home.   Her children are regularly attending school and are doing very well.  The micro loans gave Latifah the freedom to be able to earn her own livelihood and build a future for herself and her family