Gambia Goat Dairy

The Gambia

The Gambia closed its borders for 21 days beginning on March 23, 2020. The Gambian Ministry of Health releases daily situation reports here.

Concerns, Challenges and Adaptation Measures

This week we had a Zoom call with Brianna Parsons and Corey Spires, Project Managers for Gambia Goat Dairy, to discuss the Gambia, the goat farm, and visions of the future.

Prior to the pandemic, Gambia Goat Dairy was conducting small-scale research on the West African Dwarf goat milk production, comparing the milk production of goats fed a veterinary-formulated diet to goats fed traditional feeds. Their objective is to create a West African Dwarf goat lactation curve—a graph showing how milk production changes over time since giving birth to offspring. This is a powerful tool for Gambian dairy farmers to manage their herds and does not currently exist for the West African Dwarf goat.

The following is a summary report by Brianna Parsons, Project Manager for Gambia Goat Dairy.

Gambia Goat Dairy, still in the early stages of implementation, employs only two Gambians at this time and has a limited outreach scope. The country itself has only a few confirmed cases, though preventative social distancing measures means the majority of businesses are closed, public transportation is limited, and citizens are having difficulty acquiring their basic needs. The difficulties faced by Gambians are in some ways similar to those we are facing in the US but in many ways, much more extreme, as lost incomes and disruptions to food supply chains exacerbate already existing food insecurity.

We wanted to share stories of how the coronavirus is impacting our employees. Even in a crisis, our goats need daily feeding and care. Our on-site goat caretaker and watchman, Sainey Badjie, has stepped up to fill this role on his own. In doing so, Sainey is ensuring our goat herd is cared for and that he and Sulay decrease potential coronavirus exposure.

Harness created by Sulay to monitor the goats’ weights

Our herdsman, Sulay Camara, significantly limited his trips to the farm and when necessary to do so, takes all precautions, including face mask and gloves. Despite being physically distant from the farm, Sulay is still thinking about farm operations. During this period of social-distancing, Sulay crafted a harness for the goats to allow for comfortable and safe weight measurements. This is a weekly process, done to monitor the goat kids’ growth to make sure each kid is gaining a healthy amount of weight. Like so many others around the world taking up new crafts and hobbies while sitting at home, Sulay got creative with his time and made a new tool to help improve our future operations.

We’ve had 10 goat kids born in the last month on the farm. Sainey is doing an incredible job making sure all the newborn goats are healthy while Sulay is missing spending time there. We are thankful for the health of our employees, their families, and our friends as we do our best to maintain farm operations during this highly uncertain time.

Update from July 2020

In response to the pandemic and prioritizing the health of their employees, Gambia Goat Dairy had to halt data collection in March 2020. 

Gambians have been dramatically affected by the coronavirus. Market closures in early weeks resulted in limited food availability, higher prices, and a loss or disruption of jobs. Public transportation fares doubled as drivers limited maximum passengers in cars and vans to half of their normal capacity. Recently, the country has begun relaxing some of those protective measures as case numbers remain low. Markets have re-opened but public transportation continues to operate at limited capacity. 

Emergency Fund

The Emergency Fund from Rockflower has supported investment in masks and protective equipment for their farm employees. Additionally, the funds allowed Gambia Goat Dairy to contract with local farmers to grow feed for next season. Many Gambians grow peanuts (groundnuts), a staple food in the region, as cash crops. After harvest, the remaining plant can be dried and produced into hay for livestock feed, an environmentally conscious way to repurpose crop byproducts. The economic impact of COVID-19 has affected Gambians through losses in employment resulting from lockdowns, declined remittances, and higher priced goods in the markets. This combination makes it difficult for Gambian farmers to purchase agricultural inputs, like peanut seeds, at the beginning of the growing season. Gambia Goat Dairy is using Rockflower’s Emergency Fund to finance the purchasing of seeds for farmers, who will grow, harvest, and sell the peanuts, and in return for the up-front financing, provide Gambia Goat Dairy with the hay-crop. Using the Emergency Relief funds in this way helps Gambia Goat Dairy to not only reduce farm feed costs for the upcoming year, but spreads the benefit of the relief fund to the agricultural families hit hard by the economic effects of the global pandemic.

Cherehani Africa

Kenya

Kenya has had a partial lockdown with travel restrictions to ban movement in and out of Nairobi, Mombasa, and two counties. Additionally, it has an overnight nationwide curfew, that has resulted in more than 400 arrests for violations.

Concerns and Challenges

COVID-19 affected the economy with an immediate effect in Kenya, especially small businesses. The imposed curfew has limited business hours affecting those that rely on their daily incomes.

As the pandemic has continued, the restrictions have put several women micro-entrepreneurs out of business and threatens countless others.

Adaptation Measures

The following is an excerpt from Cherehani Africa’s Newsletter sent on April 8, 2020.

Customers
We are leveraging our knowledge platform to support the government's effort to disseminate information on best practices during this period to all onboarded customers via SMS. The information shared is from the Ministry of Health and WHO. 
We have introduced check-in phone calls to active customers in a bid to reassure them of our commitment during this difficult time and to assess other ways we could be of help.
We are restructuring loans for customers who are facing financial hardship due to the coronavirus.
We are financing customers in essential businesses like FMCG retail to enable them to deliver essential products and services to their communities.
We have suspended physical group meetings by our customers and are encouraging them to use face masks at all times when operating their businesses. 

Employees
We have implemented a work from home policy for staff in our Nairobi office.
We are promoting regular hand washing and use of hand sanitizers. We have availed personal protective gear (face masks) for our field team.
We have reduced requirements to our relief fund to enable employees to promptly access emergency funds during this period.

We are supporting the prevention measures recommended by the government by ensuring our staff at the HQ work from home and that field staff are well trained on how to go about their duties (social distancing, washing hands and sanitizing).

Emergency Fund

Cherehani Africa received money from our Emergency Fund that will be used to buy face masks that will be distributed to women vegetable vendors in rural communities. The vegetable vendors are an important part of the rural communities as they each serve tens of community members daily. It is crucial that they acquire and use protective gear when serving customers to instill health, safety, and confidence.

Mamas for Burundi

Burundi

Burundi has yet to take drastic measures of lockdown, prohibiting social, official or public gatherings, but the government has suspended flights to and from Melchior Ndadaye International Airport, encouraged citizens to wash their hands, and provided a hotline for reporting those who could have been infected.

Concerns and Challenges

Access to face masks and sanitation products is difficult, especially for women and girls, epidemiological surveillance and investigation of cases, taking into account risk communication and community engagement, and prevention and management of false information are all challenges in which Mamas for Burundi (MAFOBA) is facing.

Adaptation Measures and Emergency Fund

MAFOBA is utilizing its experience with informative campaigns, such as the Promotion of Maternal and Reproductive Health in the Six Provinces of Burundi program, to inform their communities about COVID-19 and preventative measures on spreading and contracting the virus.

The members of MAFOBA and its volunteers have been hard at work raising awareness of the pandemic in the field.

They have been especially grateful for the infusion of funds from our Emergency Fund to allow them to work in an unrestricted fashion to determine, and meet, needs on a day by day basis within their communities.

Update from June 2020

MAFOBA is combining their information campaigns on reproductive health and prevention of COVID-19. This allows for more aspects of women and girls’ health to be cared for simultaneously.

Chitani Community Sustainable Development Organization

Malawi

Malawi reported its first coronavirus cases on April 2, 2020. The country declared a "state of disaster", closed schools, and cancelled all visas issued before 20 March.

The government attempted to implement a 21-day lockdown. However, it was temporarily barred by a Malawi high court following a petition by the Malawi Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) based on the grounds that it would harm the poorest and most vulnerable of society. Prior to the court backing the appeal made by HRDC, protestors took to the street with placards that stated it would be better to contract the virus than die of hunger.

Concerns and Challenges

Due to the coronavirus, schools have been closed in Malawi and ultimately Chitani Community Sustainable Development Organization’s (CHICOSUDO) operations have been affected. Schools are key in the fight to end child marriage.

An increase in misinformation and a lack of accessible correct information for populations in rural areas has been noted by CHICOSUDO as many do not have radios and advanced cellphones.

As seen around the globe, those that depend on daily incomes are struggling to survive without access to markets.

Emergency Fund

With access to Rockflower’s Emergency Fund, CHICOSUDO is providing multiple services to their communities as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. They have been promoting the importance of good sanitation and providing hand-washing stations. Due to the closure of schools, CHICOSUDO is introducing indoor education activities for children of primary school age. Disseminating correct information about the coronavirus is of the utmost importance. This is being done through door to door campaigns and via technology, such as SMS and social media campaigns.

Update from June 2020

CHICOSUDO has continued to respond to the pandemic through education and hygiene initiatives.

Schools remained closed in Malawi so community based volunteers provide home-based education. Additionally, community members are encouraged to turn their radios on to the education program conducted by the Government of Malawi.

WASHing (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is one of the most important preventative measures against the coronavirus. CHICOSUDO has reached over 6,500 people with their WASH-related messaging.

Traditional leaders have been oriented in their roles to inform and mobilize communities about COVID-19.

While the COVID-19 crisis is occurring, CHICOSUDO continues to advocate against child marriage and for gender-based violence protections by working within community structures, including traditional and faith leaders and clan heads. 15 clubs have been organized composing of 8 to 12 members throughout the Blantyre and Mulanje districts.

Currently underway are programs to create Chichewa videos about COVID-19.

Community Services Program

Pakistan

Prime Minister Imran Khan originally had Pakistan in lockdown until April 14. A two-week extension was added but some industries would begin to reopen in phases. The first will be construction.

Unlike around the world, mosques in Pakistan will be open during Ramadan, “as long as they followed 20 rules, including forcing congregants to maintain a six-foot distance, bring their own prayer mats and do their ablutions at home.”

Concerns and Challenges

Community Services Program (CSP) is one of Rockflower’s longest partners and maintains close communication throughout the year. Every day they face extremely challenging conditions to reach the most vulnerable in their communities, and the threat of COVID-19 poses yet another layer of concern for those hardest to reach. The key is in following the correct protocol in communication and awareness building to ensure that prevention and treatments are swift and efficient.

Adaptation Measures

For the last three weeks, CSP has been working with the National Institute of Health to train volunteers in 14 districts. They have held trainings with 26 female and 4 male volunteers on how to fan out and distribute information effectively. Each trainer is responsible for visiting 53 families within their immediate surroundings, and if they suspect any symptoms or potential infections, they will assist them in their travels to the hospital.

Emergency Fund

With funds from the Emergency Fund, CSP has been able to conduct these trainings, produce banners and posters, and also offer physical assistance to the most at-risk girls and women, with the provision of wheelchairs for two girls with Cerebral Palsy.

Update from May 2020

Youth and Women Initiative for Sustainable Development

Uganda

Uganda’s President Museveni originally placed the country on a 14-day lockdown beginning March 30. On April 14, the border closures and lockdown controls were extended for an additional 21 days.

Concerns, Challenges, and Adaptation Measures

Nankindu Angella, Chairperson and Co-founder of Youth and Women Initiative for Sustainable Development (YWISD), has been working from home with her family due to the lockdown. Everyone is confined to their homes, and as a result many people are struggling to survive as they rely on their daily incomes to feed their families. YWISD is very concerned for the vulnerable populations in their community that are at high risk of starvation.

Emergency Fund

YWISD received money from the Emergency Fund and was able to act quickly and put it to good use. They purchased essential food items to distribute to community members and are in constant contact with those who will be most at risk of hunger in the coming weeks.

Kinyamaseke Youth in Development

Uganda

Uganda’s President Museveni originally placed the country on a 14-day lockdown beginning March 30. On April 14, the border closures and lockdown controls were extended for an additional 21 days.

Concerns and Challenges

Information about prevention measures air on National TV. However, most people in rural areas don't own TVs and are unaware of the virus, how it spreads and how to prevent. This has led to some people believing the disease is linked to witchcraft.

Adaptation Measures

Biira Miriam, Chairperson of Kinyamaseke Youth in Development (KYID), has been working with two other team members to maintain the office. They developed simple, easily remembered concepts for preventing COVID-19 to pass information to members of the community.

Emergency Fund

With the money we secured for KYID through our Emergency Fund, they were able to:

• Purchase washing buckets with taps

• Purchase washing soap and distributed it to the members

• Purchase reusable facemasks

• Purchase boxes of gloves

• Compiled WHO health guidelines and translated them into the local language to provide to organization and community members

• Used airtime on the phone to mobilize members for distribution of the aforementioned items

• Hire a van (as public and private vehicles have been banned due to the lockdown) to transport the aformentioned materials from Kasese to Kinyamaseke for distribution

Update from June 2020

The continuation of our Emergency Fund gave KYID the opportunity to distribute essential food items, including cassava flour, maize flour, and beans, and sanitary pads to vulnerable women acting as single heads of their families.

Society for the Improvement of Rural People

Nigeria

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari originally announced a 14-day lockdown for the Lagos, Abuja and Ogun states on March 30. A 14-day extension was added.

Specifically in the Enugu State, borders, schools, inter-state transportation, markets, and airports have been closed, and gatherings have been banned.

Concerns and Challenges

Many people have experienced increased difficulty in accessing food supplies and medicines, especially women and children.

Adaptation Measures

Due to the ban on gatherings, the Society for the Improvement of Rural People (SIRP) has adapted in how to inform and educate their community. They stay in contact with beneficiaries via phone. Previously, SIRP held a Skills and Entrepreneurship training on soap making that has provided many girls with the knowledge that is in high demand right now. Additionally, they have produced posters and leaflets in lieu of trainings to inform the public on precautionary measures to be taken to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

Emergency Fund

With the emergency funds from Rockflower, SIRP was able to hold an educational program for 30 women and girls from the Ikirike and Idaw-River community. This included a knowledge sharing session about COVID-19 highlighting precautionary measures to take to avoid contracting the virus, the demonstration and distribution of facemasks and the distribution of essential food items. They were also able to provide posters to be shared more widely with the community.

Update from May 2020

The continuation of the Emergency Fund is focusing on adolescent girls. The majority of the project will be implemented on May 28, 2020, the International Day of Menstrual Hygiene.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, women and girls have had to sacrifice their maternal and reproductive health. Before the pandemic, gender inequality, discriminatory social norms, cultural taboos, poverty, and lack of basic hygiene often left menstrual hygiene needs to go unmet. Now these deprivations have become exacerbated. Resulting in far-reaching negative impacts on the lives of our adolescent girls and young mothers, including but not limited to restricted mobility, freedom and choices, reduced participation in school, work and community life, compromised safety, and additional stress and anxiety.

Under the continuation of the Emergency Fund, the following activities will be implemented:

• Education on how to prevent COVID-19 using the WHO and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) protocols.

• Discussions around the 2020 International Day of Menstrual Hygiene.

• Training on how to make reusable menstrual pads as skills training for economic empowerment for adolescent girls of Idaw River community.

• Distribution of IEC materials, Personal Protective, Equipment (PPEs), sanitary pads and food items to mitigate the challenge of hunger for these adolescent young girls during this lockdown period as a result of COVID-19.

Read about SIRP’s International Day of Menstrual Hygiene.

Women in Sustainable Development

Kenya

A dusk to dawn curfew has been installed nationwide by President Uhuru Kenyatta. In addition, travel restrictions increased to ban movement in and out of Nairobi, Mombasa, and two counties for three weeks.

Concerns, Challenges and Adaptation Measures

Most of Women in Sustainable Enterprises’ (WISE) activities involve trainings. Due to the ban on gatherings, these have been canceled. WISE continues to operate though as Caroline Odera, Founder and Director, and her team of volunteers works from home.

One of their main challenges at the moment is assisting their women entrepreneurs. Due to a lack of daily income for many households, those who are renting solar lamps are unable to pay. WISE is exploring how to combat this issue. Additionally, WISE was expanding to Mageta Island. However, the inter-county travel restrictions have put this on hold.

Emergency Fund

WISE received Emergency Funds from Rockflower. They quickly utilized the money and put many local interventions into action.

WISE issued 60 facemasks, bars of soap and cereals to the local women entrepreneurs that they engage within their programs.

They also involved the use of drama in the local language to better educate the women and the rest of the Dunga community on the importance of handwashing, wearing face masks and social distancing as part of the WHO preventative measures for contracting the coronavirus. 

Hope for the Future Organization

Uganda

Uganda’s President Museveni originally placed the country on a 14-day lockdown beginning March 30. On April 14, the border closures and lockdown controls were extended for an additional 21 days.

Concerns and Challenges

Hope for the Future has a number of concerns and challenges, including but not limited to lack of daily income for women, access to medical supplies and food, and the surge in reports of domestic violence.

The lockdown controls have closed businesses, markets and roadside stalls. Many of the beneficiaries Hope for the Future works with who are dependent on daily trade are unable to make an income. This results in a lack of basic necessities needed during this pandemic. Women who now have to ask their husbands for help are being met with violence in return.

“Accessing medical care and food is a far fetched dream to many. Domestic violence against women and children is on the rise as they demand basics from their husbands.”

Emergency Fund

Rockflower has sent money from the Emergency Fund. Hope for the Future has been able to provide powdered milk, maize flour, sugar, soap and cooking oil to elderly women with grandchildren, refugee families and those families headed by both women and children respectively.

Update from May 2020

Hope for the Future continued their food distribution program. Through their community outreach, they have seen an increase in domestic violence, families falling apart, and many young women unemployed due to the closing of the hospitality industry.

Women Advocacy Project

Women Advocacy Project (WAP) has been a partner of Rockflower since 2016. In 2018 they secured a Peace Fellow from The Advocacy Project (AP) in Washington DC. Rockflower and AP have continued to work together to ensure that WAP is able to progress in their vision to reduce the prevalence of child marriage in their communities. AP has sent two peace fellows since the beginning of their partnership with WAP. Iain Guest, Founder and Director of AP, visited WAP last November and produced the video of Evelyn found at the end of this news item. WAP was making great progress with their soapmaking business and was set to scale before the threat of COVID-19 shut everything down.

Zimbabwe

Beginning on March 30, Zimbabwe was put into a 21-day lockdown.

Concerns and Challenges

Women Advocacy Project’s main concern is the state of the Zimbabwean health system. There is a “dire shortage of ventilators, oxygen tanks, biohazard suits and N95 face masks for healthcare professionals fighting the coronavirus pandemic.” Additionally, there are inadequate screenings across the country and a lack of quarantine and isolation facilities.

Adaptation Measures

Constance Mugari, Executive Director of WAP, is already making soap in her home to distribute to beneficiaries. Once the lockdown is lifted, Women Advocacy Project is planning to train the women and girls to make hand sanitizer and masks.

Emergency Fund

Rockflower has sent funds to the Women Advocacy Project, to combine with those from AP and others supporting their work. This will help cover the cost of printing information pages on the virus, delivering small food parcels and making masks.

Update from June 2020

In addition to the continuous support from our Emergency Fund, WAP also received funds from Action for World Solidarity, The Advocacy Project, and the Pollination Project. This combined aid resulted in distribution of essential item parcels, including 10 kgs of maize meal, 2 liters of cooking oil, 2 bottles of hand washing soap, 5 face masks, and 1 informative poster, to 100 families in Epworth and Chitungwiza. Additionally donations were made, 200 masks, 150 bottles of soap, and 100 copies of information posters, to St Mary Primary Clinic in Chitungwiza and, 350 masks, 250 bottles of soap, 100 information pages, to Epworth Mission Clinic in Epworth respectively.

Foundation for Women and Children Empowerment

Liberia

Having been severely affected by the Ebola epidemic from 2014 to 2016, organizations in Liberia such as the Foundation for Women and Children Empowerment (FOWACE) understand the hardships that come with a virus like this more than most. Every day they work with those women and children who were most severely affected by the devastation of Ebola and are now anxious not to lose ground with the additional challenge of COVID-19.

Liberian President George Weah issued a 14-day stay-at-home order, prohibited travel, closed schools and has discouraged large gatherings.

The following are excerpts from correspondence with Haja Talawallay, Executive Director of FOWACE.

Concerns and Challenges

“People are so afraid and worried because of the differing news on the virus and our past experience with Ebola.

With the new measures of State of Emergency where people are restricted from leaving their homes, the disabled and disadvantaged women who struggle daily to feed their families are the worse affected people in the society. Liberia is one country that doesn't have social programs for these disadvantaged populations. If nothing is done to provide food and other preventive materials to these poor people, they might not even die from the virus but starvation.”

Adaptation Measures

“We have been reaching out to our beneficiaries with awareness of the virus and how to prevent the spread.”

Emergency Fund

“With the financial support from Rockflower, we purchased the soap produced by our project beneficiaries and rice which we are now distributing to the most vulnerable people in the communities so that they can have food and preventive materials for their families and stay home during these difficult times.”

Update from May 2020

“Schools and markets are still closed and large public gatherings are also still banned. These restrictions are necessary for the prevention of the virus but the effects on women and children are so high. Disabled people and disadvantaged women who depend on their daily incomes are on the streets begging. Informal businesses are highly affected by the crisis. The women have lost their sources of income. They are finding it difficult to feed their families. 

At FOWACE, we have been doing door to door awareness about the prevention of the virus along with food, soap, and reusable face masks distribution.”

Update from June 2020

“Foundation for Women and Children Empowerment (FOWACE) believes that the best way to protect vulnerable and disadvantaged women and children from the COVID-19 pandemic is to ensure that they have food and other preventive materials like soap and face mask. FOWACE continues to identify disadvantaged and vulnerable families and provide them with food, soap and face masks.”

African Youth Alliance

Cameroon

On March 18, 2020, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Health took 13 major steps including the closure of all air, land and sea borders into and out of the country, the closure of all schools, the suspension of entry visas and a call to the population to observe strict hygiene and sanitation rules prescribed by the World Health Organization Full Government Response Strategy.

The following is an excerpt from correspondence with Roseline, Executive Director of the African Youth Alliance (AYA).

Concerns and Challenges

“I will not describe how challenging it is to keep safe without a constant supply of running water, hand sanitizers are a luxury we cannot afford, and our anxiety is high as we know how broken our health system is, I am grateful as rains have started and we can have rainwater for now, the children are healthy, [as of April 1] our villages have not yet recorded cases so far.

As I shared with you in Canada, the communities in which we intervene are already affected by a socio-political armed conflict since 2016. AYA is the only organization supporting rural women and girls in those villages. This year, Rockflower is our only donor so far.

The main challenge is having basic funds to provide education on what COVID-19 is and the hygienic measures for rural women and girls in the local languages. Apart from the little education we started doing before we had to suspend activities, no information has yet reached our rural women and girls on the pandemic.”

Adaptation Measures

“To keep our three main volunteers in the village safe, we painfully agreed with them to stop activities for now, due to a lack of funds. I am writing to different people, asking if they can help support with funds for the education of rural women and girls on COVID-19.

They do not have access to information, there is no electricity or internet in the village. We are very worried about what will happen to all of them if the disease arrives in the communities. These communities already fragmented by war are just not prepared at all. We trained the volunteers in the village ourselves from information read on the internet so they have a basic knowledge. However, they need support in terms of protective wears while going around communities to do education (face masks, gloves, sanitizers). They also suggested that we distribute the hand sanitizers, provide buckets for handwashing stations in public spaces that women and girls frequent often in the village. Unfortunately, for now, we do not yet have support for that. We had already planned to train them on how to produce soap bars and detergents under our current Rockflower project, which will greatly assist them, as well as all surrounding communities.

“It is farming season already, rains have started and the crops are not waiting.”

The only activity we can keep running is the one categorized under the Access to Food and Water key. Organic agriculture, fruit tree planting and water catchment protection through tree planting. Women were already provided with farming and planting inputs. They have started their group vegetable gardens and farms. The volunteer in charge of that activity has requested to continue to monitor the gardens and farms with the women while respecting health and safety measures. It is the farming season already, rains have started and the crops are not waiting, they will grow.”

Emergency Fund

The Emergency Fund from Rockflower provided buckets with taps and soap bars that were placed in public village spaces to enable regular hand washing. The volunteers of the African Youth Alliance received face masks and hand sanitizers. AYA volunteers were trained on what COVID 19, the means of transmissions and how to prevent contamination at the community level. These volunteers will continue to provide awareness and education opportunities for community members.

Update from May 2020

African Youth Alliance is currently undergoing a project in partnership with Rockflower, Five Keys in Five Villages, that began in January. Progress was made throughout the first quarter of 2020. The COVID-19 outbreak caused major setbacks in March. Due to the rural setting AYA works in, there have been varying reactions by the community including fear, panic, disbelief, and mockery. AYA continues to provide educational opportunities on preventative measures and updates on statistics. Additionally, they have continued their work in the village of Tumuku. Read more on Continuing Reproductive Health through the COVID-19 Pandemic.

What To Do in a Pandemic: Send More Cash and More Love

Before the global pandemic struck, we were spending a lot of time working on a plan to scale Rockflower. We need to meet the demand of our existing partners and the increasing number of new applications we receive weekly. The world needs system-wide change in the next decade, not just to survive but to thrive and Rockflower’s role is to get more money into the hands of those with the vision and fortitude to make this happen. 

As an organization based in the United States, where the grave impact of the spread of COVID-19 is growing by the day, we have been on stay-at-home orders since mid-March. Banks are closed to in-person transactions, which presents a difficulty as many of the countries we work in require a physical presence to wire money. 

It is easy to get distracted during this moment, but you have to focus on what is being asked of you – what’s in your line of sight? 

We have reached out to all 34 of our current partners to get a sense of the challenges in their communities and to determine how best we can help.

The responses vary greatly in terms of government restrictions and mandatory lockdowns, but one sentiment comes through loud and clear. Those grassroots women’s organizations working at the furthest margins need something very basic - cash. 

With strict and sudden lockdowns in place, the ability to access food and medicine is becoming critical and those whose daily lives were already extremely difficult to navigate now have the added threat of this virus. 

Rockflower has set up an Emergency Fund to send small amounts of money via Western Union directly into the hands of our partners so that they can get what they need and utilize additional resources over the coming weeks. 

We firmly believe you can hold two ideas at the same time. We continue to work on our ambitious plan to scale up Rockflower, while at the same time knowing that putting money directly into the hands of those who need it right now is exactly why we call our philosophy, Radical Idealism, Practically Realized. 

Beginning tomorrow and continuing over the next few weeks, we will release a series of partner stories detailing their innovative and resilient approaches to this crisis. 

We will be participating in #GivingTuesdayNow to raise money for our Emergency Fund. Our fundraising campaign is ongoing but will officially launch on May 5 and run through May 10, Mother’s Day (US).

Pivoting from Entrepreneurship to Medicine

Last year, we began partnering with the Jimbere Fund. Their work to mobilize women in rural communities of the Democratic Republic of Congo aligned perfectly with one of our five keys - Economic Empowerment. Our partnership resulted in the Minembwe Women Entrepreneurs Project, which aimed to train and finance 30 women entrepreneurs who would launch businesses that would directly impact approximately 210 people.

The project was fully funded and we were looking forward to hearing about the innovation and results that would follow. However in November of 2019 that all changed. We were informed by Obadias Ndaba, CEO and Founder of the Jimbere Fund, and Sandra Uwiringiyimana, Co-founder and Director of Partnerships and Communications, that the country which had been in deep conflict for several months was reaching a tipping point. More than 200,000 people had fled fighting in the South Kivu highlands as a long-simmering struggle over land, power, and citizenship descended into village burnings and widespread killings. The violence was centered on the remote mountainous areas of Minembwe and Itombwe, where the Banyamulenge, a cattle-herding group of Rwandan origin, had lived for many generations. A coalition of militias from those who consider themselves to be “indigenous Congolese” have been attacking the Banyamulenge. A combination of washed-out roads and insecurity had led many aid groups to scale back and only be able to provide limited assistance to the displaced.

Given these urgent circumstances, and on the request of Obadias and Sandra, we made the decision to shift the money planned for the Minembwe Women Entrepreneurs Project to purchase much-needed medicine and support for the remaining medical staff on the ground.

“And because no one from outside can ever have as current and nuanced an understanding as those within, foundations need to work with local partners who do have that knowledge, and who are given the flexibility to respond to changing conditions.”

- “No Easy Answers for International Grantmakers” by Ruth Levine

We recently received an extensive report from the Jimbere Fund detailing the activities from December to February, the medicines that had been airlifted and of the 985 patients who were consulted in the Minembwe Health Zone.

Whilst this particular conflict is ongoing and thousands remain displaced and hunkered down in their attempts to find safety, we remain committed to trusting our local partners and their knowledge. Our model has proven that we can be adaptable to the changes occurring around the globe. It will serve us well in the coming months ahead as we navigate the impact of a global pandemic reaching into every corner of our work.

Water Security in Arusha

The Mategemeo Women Association recently completed their Shallow Wells for Water Security project.

The project included the construction of 4 shallow wells and 2 water kiosks resulting in:

• 300 households now have access to clean and reliable water

• Employment opportunities for the locals have been created through supplying and selling water from the two kiosks

• Some of the administrative costs of Mategemeo Women Association have been covered by the profits obtained at the kiosks

• Increase in children’s school enrollment and women’s farming activities (significantly contributing to households’ food security)

• Improvement of households’ hygiene and sanitation standards

While the project has had many successes, they were not without challenges. The local population has grown resulting in more pressure on water resources. While there have been improvements in hygiene and sanitation due to the access of clean water, some are still not practicing proper standards.

These issues will be solved by searching for more funding to continue the project in more areas, organizing hygiene and sanitation training sessions for community members, and prepare simplified health information materials to disseminate to locals.

Five Keys + Five Villages = One Holistic Project with the African Youth Alliance

The African Youth Alliance and Rockflower have been partners since 2017. Previously, we have supported them with an economic empowerment project, Empowering Women and Girls through Mentorship and Training. Their organization shows great promise and truly understands Rockflower’s vision as is evident in their newest project, Five Keys in Five Villages, based on our holistic model.

The five keys will be utilized in five communities in Cameroon. All the groups taking part in the project will have regular network and exchange visits to share their experiences on each pillar, strengthen their capacities and learn from each other. 

During the month of January and the first week of February, the African Youth Alliance met over 200 women and girls. The women and girls discussed the specificities of each project for better understanding, engagement, and implementation in order to achieve the desired impact through the improvement of their living standards and increased financial support to their families. Given the socio-political unrest in the region, the project will contribute to their overall peace and community development.

General remarks from the women and girls in attendance were of a great sense of satisfaction and appreciation as they promised to be active and highly involved in all project activities. They also attributed specific roles to all of the group members which will result in an effective implementation of the project.

We look forward to the progress that the African Youth Alliance makes on their Five Keys in Five Villages project.

Rockflower Partners with YWISD

Rockflower is pleased to announce a new partnership with Youth and Women Initiative for Sustainable Development (YWISD).

YWSID was founded with the purpose of increasing women’s participation in productive roles, reducing the increasing number of unemployed youth, bridging the gap of gender and economic inequalities, and reducing school dropouts, among other pressing community challenges of youth and women in Uganda, in particular, Wakiso.

The Weaving with YWISD Project aims to create employment opportunities for young women through non-formal education training in weaving baskets, handbags or wallets for women and entrepreneurship skills.

New Year, New Website for Hope for the Future

Our Youth Advisory Board members lead crowdfunding efforts for our partners’ project campaigns and locates content for our social media platforms as part of their requirements. Hannah Dawicki has brought her website creation skills to Hope for the Future. The website includes Hope for the Future’s programs, current appeals and so much more.

The website is live, but still undergoing some construction as a donation service is being researched for Hope for the Future to use in Uganda.

View Hope for the Future’s website here: www.hopeffo2020.wixsite.com/hope

WAP Working Hard to End Child Marriage

The Women Advocacy Project (WAP) has been hard at work this year to end child marriage in Zimbabwe. In the last few months, they have held a soap making training and a child marriage abolition campaign.

Soap Making Training

In September, WAP launched a soap making training for 30 girls. The purpose of the program is to economically empower the girls and resist the families’ pressure to marry them. Utilizing the donations from Rockflower and the Advocacy Project (AP) and a grant from Germany, a professional was hired to run the training sessions and supplies were purchased. “Clean Girl” soap is a household detergent The soap is sold by 5 girls at local “Tuck Shops”. Read more on the project through AP’s Global Giving campaign report.

Child Marriage Abolition Campaign

For International Day of the Girl (observed on October 11, 2019), WAP held a Child Marriage Abolition Campaign. The day was full of testimonies, activities, and speeches, including one given by the Provincial Head of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development. WAP ended with a call to action in abolishing child marriage and greater investments to improve girls’ education and economic empowerment.