A women group's bid to make a difference in the society

 Activities

 

1. Tree nursery

The group engages in tree nursery where they sell the seedlings to members of the community during the rainy seasons. With water being scarce in the area, the members have come up with a duty rota for watering the tree seedlings .The tree nursery is established in Elizabeth Kinyungu’s homestead who is the Chairlady of the group.

2. Bricks making

The group undertakes this activity once every year. The members contribute water and manual labour for the project but engage outside labour for actual making of the bricks.

“We do manual labour like fetching water, making mud and making kiln so that we cut the cost’ says Elizabeth adding that sourcing for outside brick maker costs kshs.1 a brick. They then sell the bricks locally to community members.

“This year, we made Kshs 6,100 from the seedlings and Kshs.25, 000 from brickmaking, “says Ednah William, the group’s treasurer. "Out of this we have been able to purchase food and other basic necessities for some of the neediest children," she continues.

3. Money lending

The group gives soft loans to its members whereby they repay the money with interest. This interest boosts their finances.

In 2003, the group wrote a proposal to the National Aids Council (NAC) and got funding for a year. “However, the funding did not cover basic needs and so we relied on our activities for providing the same to the beneficiaries” says Elizabeth.

Since 2009, the group is under a three (3) year funding from African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) where they hold Capacity building, HIV/AIDS prevention and also care and support of OVCS

Accomplishments 

There has been positive change within the locality especially on HIV/AIDS issues. Says Elizabeth “More people are now seeing the importance of visiting Voluntary Testing and Counseling (VCT) centres to know their HIV/AIDS status because of the extensive capacity building that we have carried out.”

Also, the members have made a positive an impact to the children through supporting them with basic needs.” We are glad that we have touched a child’s heart, no matter how small a way it is,” continues Elizabeth

Challenges

The group lacks youth membership and  ¾  of the members are over 60.Most of the youth members fall out for  according to Ednah, they don’t see any financial benefit for their efforts.

In addition, the members are not equipped with counseling skills and as such do not have know how to approach conflicts within beneficiaries and guardians

There is negative perception by the community because of their gender and age. Most community members especially men view the women as old and uneducated.

Community expectations are very high in that they expect handouts especially during outreaches.

Way forward

The women’s group plans to increase their activities to reach more people within the district through more sensitization.

They also plan to sensitize women in family planning especially to widows and single women as according to them, some of the women continue giving birth after their spouses’ death and yet they do not have the financial capacity to provide for big families.

Increase membership especially the youth because most of the members are old and the work load is large.

The members also plan to build an office at a central place for smooth operations. ''We have already purchased a piece of land and will start constructing the office very soon,” says Ednah

Improve networking to increase knowledge. The members also plan to seek support from different organizations for more knowledge and funding to reach a wider number of children. 

Starting a greenhouse as an income generating projects. Elizabeth says that they have already paid for the same and they are expecting delivery the soonest possible.

 Conclusion

Despite the low membership, low levels of education and the age factor, these women have surely made a mark in this community.” Although we have been as branded as old and lacking, we are happy that we have made it to this point,” concludes Elizabeth.

Contacts

Elizabeth Kinyungu: Chairlady: +254713551531

Ednah William: Treasurer: +254713049936

Florence Katunguu: Secretary: +254727460583