Empowerment projects benefit 250 women in Sengerema

Women of the �Kazi na Malengo� group at Kabusuli Village in Sengerema District harvesting fish from one of their fish ponds, which has now become a major source of income for the group and its members. Photo: Courtesy of EPF

Over 250 women of Kabusuli Village, Sengerema District in Mwanza Region, have benefited fromeconomic empowerment projects, which have seen them transform their livelihoods that has had great impact to the community.

 

The women have through the help of Emerge Poverty Free (EPF), an organization that operates in East Africa, formed a group known as ‘Kazi na Malengo’ that has assisted them in many different ways.

 

EPF CEO Jeremy Horner, who was in Mwanza to tour the projects over the weekend, said they were impressed by the strides the women had made within a short time.

 

He said they used the Mwanza based Sustainable Investments and Development Initiatives (SIDI) to help the women start a fishing and environmental conservation project in the area. So far the women have five fish ponds and planted over 6000 trees in the area.“These women have worked so hard and we are glad to note that they have already harvested fish from the ponds and sold some while the rest was used for food,” Horner said and applauded the women stressing that they have been good ambassadors of change.

 

He said EPF received maximum support from Tanzania Cigarette Company (TCC) to run the project and they hopeTCC will continue supporting them so they can reach many other village women across the country.

 

SIDI CEO Martin Malongo also lauded the women saying they formed the group in February this year with only 15 women but today there are more than 250 active members who are involved in various economic and environmental conservation activities.

 

“These women have become great role models in the community as they have defied all odds and decided to work for the betterment of their families and the entire community and we hope to soon fully hand over the fishing project to the women to let them carry on with it as they now have a lot of experience,” he said adding that this would not have been possible without TCC’s funding throughEPF.

 

The group’s secretary, Aneta Dodo, said the women have achieved a lot in the last 10 months since they started the group as they have managed to save enough money to take children to school and plant over 6000 trees for environmental conservation. 

 

“We have gained a lot of expertise in finance issues, fishing, environmental conservation and we are able to do most things by ourselves without having to depend on men,” she said.

 

She called on EPFto help them improve further by among other things helping them fence their fish ponds, facilitating study tours for them to learn more and also beefing up their savings and credit kitty so that more members can benefit from the initiative.

 

EPF is an international non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It seeks to empower people to fight poverty themselves by giving them the tools, knowledge and support they need.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN