Helping women reach beyond where they are to where they dream of being!
On our visits in our partner communities around the world, two things are clear.
The projects for women and girls– from microloans to skills training to scholarships – are going very well. Women are starting businesses, gaining self-esteem and finding strength in working together, and girls are getting educated.
“We are no longer completely dependent on our husbands! And we have found our hidden capacity as women to make something of our lives.” – Mar Mar Win, leader of women’s group, Tha Kan Ngu, Myanmar
AND they have bigger dreams! They tell us they want to expand their businesses, have more training and more capacity, further their education, and even plant trees!
“We have a bigger vision for this group, but our capacity is not enough.” – Madera Grace China, member of South Sudanese refugee women’s group that has received NCP support
Most of these are single women heading households. How can you help them do even more for themselves and their families? Take on any of the projects below or give an undesignated gift to the She has a Dream campaign.
Sewing machines
Who: Rwandan, Batwa (pygmy) and Congolese tailoring course participants
Why: not enough machines for training courses; women want to buy machines to start businesses (repaying over time)
Cost: 50 sewing machines @ $125 per machine, along with $450 for 2 machines to make sweaters. And Congolese women need $50 per woman to join a tailoring cooperative to avoid heavy taxes on small businesses.
“We were considered useless in our society. Now since these projects, nobody is hungry, we have enough clothes, and others see us differently.” – Nyirankumoumukiza Christine, Kabumba, Rwanda
Microloans to further expand their businesses
Who: South Sudanese refugees, women in Myanmar and Malawi struggling against climate change, and Rwandan women’s group
What and why: Woman who previously received small loans to start businesses now want to expand, making it easier to keep their daughters in school and to provide more security for their families, as they are often single mothers – and to overcome climate change impacts
Cost: $50 - $500 per woman
“It was important to me to have this small business. I was no longer alone—you helped me come out of my loneliness. I’m now in the market, but hope to expand.” – member of women’s microloan group, Rwanda
Education
Who: women in Congo and Rwanda
What and why: some women haven’t finished high school, others want to go on to college
📷Cost: $250 per year for two years for Nyirankumoumukiza Christine (left), a young mother involved in our microloan project in Rwanda, to finish high school; $750 per woman per year for three years for the women at right (Antoinette, Claudine, Furaha) to get a degree to work in the hospitality sector (they will cover $150 of the $900 tuition themselves); $1300 per year for Reima Gishena of the DR Congo to go to med school for three years
Who: Queensland Girls’ Boarding School (NCP raised funds to build this school in 2014)
What: classroom, school bus, bunk beds, mosquito nets
📷Cost: a new 3-room elementary classroom to replace the stick structure at left ($8000); school bus to transport day students and teachers and for field trips ($9000); beds, as many girls are now sleeping three-to-a-bed ($100 per 3-stack bunk beds, 60 needed); mosquito nets @ $6 per net, as the girls cannot afford these and malaria sickens 5-6 girls per week (see our Keep Kids Safe page)
Reforestation
📷Who: women’s groups in Balaka district of Malawi and in Kabumba and Gisenye, Rwanda, all areas of rampant deforestation
What and why: reforestation for food, income and environment
Cost: 10 cents per tree for nursery costs; $300 per year to rent plot of land to plant trees (Rwanda)
“Trees provide good air, they sustain our lives, and bring joy. Poverty has pushed people to cut trees for firewood and charcoal. We want to plant trees to improve our community. Women do not do these things—it will be a surprise – we will impress the authorities and society.” - Nyiramahirwe Antoinette, Gisenye, Rwanda
Donate via the special tab on PayPay, or send checks to NCP, 117 Nature Road, Blue Ridge, VA 24064.
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