Progress on RUGLI’s Tailoring their Futures Project

Rwenzori United Life Group (RUGLI) has been a Rockflower partner since 2018. The success of the Bio Briquette project has inspired other innovative income generating ideas, including training and teaching women valuable skills in clothing alteration and sewing. This has also provided the necessary knowledge and capital to own and operate their own small tailoring businesses through the Tailoring their Futures project. This project allows women and girls who previously lacked or struggled with obtaining a source of income to have a means of providing for themselves and their families.

RUGLI sees this initiative as an opportunity to even the playing field for women, in what historically has been a male dominated industry in this region of Uganda. By providing women with the knowledge and skills to enter this space, RUGLI is working to break down barriers in the tailoring profession and provide a sustainable source of income for those in need of economic empowerment.

Recently, RUGLI Executive Director, Biira Mary, updated us on the progress of the project, and the great impact that it is having on the lives of women through a number of inspiring stories and testimonials.

Read on to hear the stories of the women who are hard at work, tailoring their futures and taking success into their own hands with the help of RUGLI:

Barbara’s Story:

Barbara is a RUGLI trainee who has greatly benefited from the Tailoring their Futures project. She is a widow, and in 2006 lost her job and found herself with no means of supporting herself and her daughter, Katrina. She heard about Rwenzori United Group for Life Improvement (RUGLI) from a friend, and applied for the tailoring/design course. Over the past few months, Barbara has gradually grown her business and she now shares a workshop with another woman and rents a stall in the market in Kasese a couple of days a week to sell her garments.

Barbara started out making one dress at a time because that was all she could afford. She gradually earned enough money to buy more materials and increase her stock. Barbara is now able to pay for her daughter’s school fees from the money that she earns through her tailoring business. Katrina is doing really well at school and she hopes one day to become a doctor.

Doreen’s Story:

Doreen, a now dedicated and ambitious tailor and entrepreneur, has seen significant improvement in her business and has recently begun selling additional materials in her store.  Doreen started her tailoring business with the capital she received from Rwenzori United Group for Life Improvement (RUGLI) and with the profit she’s earned, she started grain selling from Kiburara to Bwera, and Kikorongo downtown where she has made much more money.  

When she started, she profited from tailoring and began grain selling, but now it is the other way around — she gets profit from grain selling to support her tailoring business and now she earns double the profit.  Doreen still continues to trade grains to the 3 downtowns in Kasese District.   As a woman, she faces many challenges including theft and other security  issues, but her growth cannot be challenged. Even though she is in an industry mainly occupied by men, she has managed to compete strongly and equally.

Mbambu Jolly’s Story:

Jolly, a recipient of training and assistance from RUGLI and Rockflower, has gradually developed both her skills and business while her capital and stock have increased. The more active she is in her business, the more skills she gains. Jolly’s success comes from her ability to create fashionable items that her customers are excited to purchase. Sometimes, her customers bring her designs and she is able to copy them and make her bestselling clothes. Because of her business she can now afford to smile and has the ability to support herself— she has purchasing power and independence.

Musoki Martha’s Story:

Martha operates her business near the Mawa market. She has managed to gain valuable customers because of her innate customer service skills. Martha also adds value to her business by buying second hand clothes that she upcycles and sells at a higher price. Martha has turned her shop into a workshop where she also teaches those that want to learn how to create a tailoring business or how to use a sewing machine. She earns income through instructing others, which adds to her profits.

Martha’s work is not without its challenges though. One issue that she faces in her work is that some customers are unwilling to pay after their tailoring is completed. Additionally, poverty in the area makes it difficult for people to purchase new or upcycled clothes, and many opt for cheaper, secondhand items, which detracts from Martha’s business. These challenges, despite her innovative business ideas and hard work, make it difficult for Martha to afford her rent. However, Martha plans to continue pushing and innovating until her business truly succeeds.

Biira Agatha’s Story:

Agatha has been an extremely successful trainee of RUGLI’s tailoring project. As a result of the skills she gained from working with RUGLI, Agatha is currently employing four girls in her shop who help her with the daily running of the business.

Agatha is proud of the growth and success of her business, even after facing the challenge of a broken sewing machine that nearly forced her to halt operations. Agatha has since fixed her sewing machine, and is proud to report that some of her goods are exported to South Sudan where there is already a booming market for her items. Her business is extremely prosperous, and she is seeing a lot of changes in her life. Agatha is able to pay school fees and rent, and she now trains other women from different areas in her trade.

These stories are testimony not only to the strength and hard work of these inspiring women, but to the reach and impact of the work done by RUGLI. This project, which continues to gain momentum and success, still requires further funding. RUGLI hopes to expand this program, and continue empowering women, but requires more sewing machines, materials and space to do so. Please consider donating to Rockflower, so that we can continue to support this project, and ensure that RUGLI can help even more women break the cycle of poverty, and gain financial independence through tailoring.

Clean Girls Soap and the call for collective action on the prevention of Child Marriage in Zimbabwe

We have featured the work of Women Advocacy Project, Zimbabwe, several times over the five years that they have been a Rockflower partner. However, after a recent zoom call with the Catalyzer Collective, it felt important to mark the many milestones that have been achieved by WAP and to recognise the single-minded focus, grit and determination it takes to prevent early child marriage in the communities where they work.

Constance Mugari, Founder and Executive Director and Mr. Akenga Dickson Mnyaci, Deputy Director of WAP, spent over an hour sharing the daily challenges they face in this endeavor but more importantly describing for us the enormous strides they have made in addressing the myriad of barriers to preventing child marriage.

WAP was created by a group of women from the surrounding communities of Harare in response to the lack of attention on issues affecting women and girls, especially the pressure to marry at a young age. By committing to promoting and protecting the rights of vulnerable and marginalized women and girls in communities through advocacy campaigns, providing safe spaces through local club meetings and more recently, through the creation of their soap making brand Clean Girls Soap, WAP ensures that the girls are front and center in the effort to improve their lives and those of their families. The creation of Clean Girls Soap has provided a source of income as am alternative to child marriage being the only solution out of acute poverty. Through the education and training of the girls on how to make and distribute Clean Girls Soap, they have developed new professional skills providing a pathway to future prosperity that would otherwise be blocked.

Rockflower’s Catalyzer Collective, a group of individuals committed to supporting and promoting the work of all Rockflower partners meets once a month to speak directly with partners and hear of their progress. In the last meeting in April, the Collective members were able to learn about WAP’s work, the challenges being met, the progress being made, and more importantly the hopes and plans for the future.

One of WAP’s greatest skills is their ability to reach out to funders and organizations who will understand and appreciate the long term benefits of the work they do. Rockflower’s partnership with WAP began in 2016 and we continue to support them in whatever way is needed. WAP has since gone on to attract significant support from The Advocacy Project, who really deserve the credit for ensuring that Constance and Dickson were given the technical support for their ambitious goals. Action for World Solidarity and most recently Together Women Rise (formerly Dining for Women) and several others share in this collaborative investment into the dreams of Constance and the Girl Ambassadors which will translate into a shared vision of future possibilities.

To date, WAP has completed the first phase of the “Clean Girl Soap Making Project” and has now moved into phase two. In phase one, the organization worked with 40 girls selected from two of WAP’s girls clubs. The girls learned to formulate, produce, package and sell 6,330 bottles of premium dish soap to over 15 local shops. The organization has received an official business certificate for “Clean Girls” and are in the process of receiving their product certification from The Standard Association of Zimbabwe. They have also invested in a solar energy system that will generate enough energy to power their soap processing facility. As a result of phase one, each girl involved in the soap making process was able to earn $21 USD of income.

Many of the girls involved in the program were unable to afford school fees and had to abandon their education. They were struggling to help provide for their families in an area with an unemployment rate higher than 90%. Before the intervention of WAP, many were in a situation that pressured them to marry very young in order to relieve the financial burden on their families. Perhaps the most significant result of WAP’s work is that 80% of girls involved with WAP have re-enrolled in school.

The parents of the girls involved in WAP’s Soap making project have also been extremely grateful and amazed by the results of the program.

One mother shared the following with WAP, “I want to thank WAP, particularly our Chitungwiza ambassador Evelyn. I met her when she was visiting her girls and I told her that I wanted my daughter to also join her club. Ever since my child joined her team, she has improved a lot, especially during the lockdown. They were not going to school but they were always occupied with something to do. Also, the income generating project they are doing has empowered her so much. I no longer worry much about her pocket money. She is now able to buy things for herself, like clothes, sanitary wear and things she desires to have as a girl. Many thanks to WAP for their great work. My daughter has completely changed even in character and she is now different from many other girls in the neighbourhood.”

The organization reported on the immense challenges they faced as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, writing, “The girls could not meet as everyone was required to stay at home. The WAP team could not move easily from one community to another as the Police had mounted checkpoints almost on every route leading to Harare's central business district, stopping cars and turning away pedestrians who had no authorisation to be in the area. Hundreds of people who failed to comply with the restrictions were detained. Women and girls were restricted from going to fetch water at the nearby water sources in their communities. Many poor families suffered from shortage of food supply and lack of disinfectants.”

Although the organization continues to overcome challenges related to the pandemic, they have been able to continue the weekly meetings of their local clubs, and continue production and sales of Clean Girls Soap. Currently they are also struggling with providing a means of transportation for the women and girls, but are working to secure a new vehicle for this.

The future for WAP continues to look bright, considering the sheer scale of determination that exists both at the leadership of the organization and within the girls themselves. Their major goal moving forward is to secure a factory, (either through renting or purchasing) to enable them to grow Clean Girls Soap into a nationwide, and perhaps even an internationally recognized brand. In the shorter term, their goal is to produce 38,000 bottles of soap in the next year and create a greater revenue stream to both provide sufficient salaries to the women and to reinvest into the organization to create a self-sustaining model.

Overall, WAP has made great strides in not only addressing and preventing child marriages, but in providing underserved women and girls with education, a supportive community, employment, income, and a chance at experiencing higher self-esteem. Perhaps the most notable of metrics, is that of all the girls involved in the program, none have married under-age, and a great number have returned to their education. The passion and determination of the organization’s leaders has made this all possible, and the Rockflower Catalyzer Collective feels proud and blessed to have had this opportunity to connect with Constance and Dickson and looks forward to encouraging and supporting their continued growth and success. Perhaps this is best summed up by long-time Collective member, Taylor Washburn.

“I look forward to the day when I am buying Clean Girl Soap from Zimbabwe in my local supermarket!”

Reflections on completing the "Weaving with YWISD" Project

Rockflower is pleased to announce the completion of the successful “Weaving with YWISD” project created by Youth and Women Initiative for Sustainable Development (YWISD), based in Uganda. This twelve-month project sought to improve the lives of 200 women in the Wakiso sub-county by providing educational training in weaving (baskets, handbags and wallets) and entrepreneurial skills.

The dedicated women of YWISD were able to achieve and even surpass all of the goals set forth at the onset of the project. These goals included:

• Promoting gender equality by empowering young women
• Reducing dependency among women by equipping them with income generating skills
• Reducing the number of chronically impoverished women by 80% in the Wakiso sub-county
• Positively impacting the environment by creating reusable replacements for polythene bags

Of course this project was not without its challenges. The biggest obstacles faced by YWISD in implementing this project were the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and their struggle to meet requests of the growing number of women looking to learn these skills. Due to COVID-19, the project was paused temporarily, but was able to later resume with guidance from healthcare workers. The work became even more critical at this point, as many were facing even greater economic hardship in the pandemic.

YWISD also faced an overwhelming number of requests to learn weaving skills, and they expanded their training to include not only young women and girls, but older women as well. However, their resources limited them in the number of women they could train. The organization is looking to scale the program moving forward, and are utilizing the help of the women who have already been trained to spread the knowledge they have learned in their communities.

The women involved in this project have faced an overwhelming number of struggles including extreme poverty, unemployment, a lack of education, single motherhood and many have been personally impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. These women have now been provided with the skills necessary to support themselves and their families for a lifetime. The knowledge gained from this project is also being shared by participants in an effort to empower as many women as possible to achieve financial independence.

Nakatumba Joan, a twenty-one year old participant in the program explained, “I have been home for the last 3 years ever since I dropped out of school due to lack of school fees. I had never had a chance to learn any practical skills to change my life. People in this village have never taught anyone for free, but through YWISD and the help of Rockflower I am grateful for the skills which I acquired. I have already begun earning by selling my products. The market is readily available, and many people want my products. I also want to train as many youth as possible with the skills I have acquired so that they can overcome poverty too.”

Overall, this project drastically improved the lives of the 200 women who have been trained in weaving and entrepreneurship, and these women are continuing to pass forward the skills they have learned. Looking ahead, YWISD will continue to monitor the success of participants and will continue growing their program in other parts of Uganda. They plan to find new markets for women to sell their products in, and to diversify their training to include shoe-making. Rockflower is deeply inspired by the work of the women at YWISD and looks forward to their continued success in empowering women to overcome poverty.

Crypto Philanthropy: Why We Accept Crypto via The Giving Block

Rockflower began accepting donations in cryptocurrency back in 2017, and in 2020, Rockflower began partnering with The Giving Block. This partnership has allowed our organization to diversify its donation streams and increase our audience, while providing donors the potential to recognize additional tax benefits with easy, secure transactions. Through this partnership, supporters can donate several forms of cryptocurrency including BitCoin and Ethereum.

Cryptocurrency holders donating to Rockflower are directly impacting the organization’s efforts to ensure more money gets into the hands of women and girls in emerging economies by supporting our partner's innovative and entrepreneurial ideas to transform their communities and lives. Beyond supporting this critical funding stream for the improvement of life outcomes for so many women and girls, there are additional incentives to donating crypto.

“There are two major factors for why people donate cryptocurrency,” according to Alex Wilson, Co-Founder of The Giving Block. “The first is the tax incentive. Because the IRS classifies cryptocurrency as property, that means that donors do not have to pay capital gains tax and can write off the donation on their taxes. If they sell to cash first and then donate, that means getting hit with 20-30% in taxes. Second, donating crypto is faster and easier than using traditional methods. For most people, it takes just seconds to pull up their wallet and send a donation to their favorite nonprofit.”

Additionally, upon crypto donation your contribution will be immediately exchanged into U.S. dollars. This allows us to receive the financial value intended by the donor at the time of the donation while avoiding volatility in the market. It also makes it simple to put funds to use immediately to support our mission of ensuring that essential funding reaches those women and girls living at the margins with as little impediment as possible.

You can easily make a cryptocurrency donation to support our mission by clicking here or visiting the “Give” page on our website.

UWADS Continues Providing Women Marketable Skills for Economic Independence with New Project

Rockflower is pleased to announce the continued support of Uganda Women Advocacy and Development Services (UWADS), as they undertake a new project to economically empower the women of the district of Bududa. In the past, Rockflower has worked with UWADS to construct a local bakery in the district of Mbale and provide women the skills necessary to bake and establish their own small businesses. This project proved to be a great success as the women were able to learn useful skills, create their own small businesses and even move forward to create small savings programs in their communities.

In their new initiative, UWADS will replicate and expand this program utilizing the help of the women previously trained, to build a local bakery in the district of Bududa. UWADS will train women to bake, start their own small businesses and take strides toward economic empowerment and independence. This group of women includes single mothers, many of whom are still children, girls who have left school, and women and girls who have escaped abusive situations.

Given the success of the organization’s previous project, the potential for the women's success in this endeavor is extremely high. Rockflower looks forward to supporting UWADS in this new project as the women of Bududa gain skills, education and most importantly independence.

Charlot Magayi joins the Rockflower Board of Directors

Rockflower Partners Inc. is delighted to welcome Charlot Magayi to the Board of Directors.

Charlot is CEO and Founder of Mukuru Clean Stoves, a social enterprise that designs, produces and distributes improved, reliable and affordable cook stoves for low-income households. She grew up in Mukuru, one of the biggest slums in Nairobi. Charlot won the Waistlitz Global Citizen Award in 2019, the World Bank’s inaugural SDGs and Her award in 2018 and the AWIEF Empowerment Award in 2019. Charlot believes in a toxin and smoke-free world and has dedicated her time, skills and experience to fighting household air pollution. Charlot is also a 2020 Echoing Green Fellow.

"Rockflower Partners Inc. enables social entrepreneurs to accelerate their social impact. They did that with Mukuru Clean Stoves and I am proud and honored to join their Board of Directors, to lend my voice in their decision making process and contribute to their impact by ensuring that we provide better access to financing and resources for female entrepreneurs in under-served markets." Charlot Magayi, CEO and Founder, Mukuru Clean Stoves

Charlot has served as both a Global Ambassador and on the Partner Advisory Council for Rockflower over the last four years, and brings invaluable perspective and experience to our work.

“I have had the privilege of knowing and working with Charlot for a number of years. I was instantly struck by her drive, ambition and more importantly her heart. She has a unique set of skills to bring to the decision making of Rockflower and we feel extremely fortunate to have her on the Board. “ Tine Ward, Founder and CEO, Rockflower Partners Inc.

A Year in Reflection: African Youth Alliance Reports on Year One of the Five Keys Five Villages Project

In 2020, female-led and volunteer-run community-based organization, African Youth Alliance, overcame a number of unique struggles but still managed to persevere in their mission to empower rural women and girls in the North West Region of Cameroon. AYA has been a Rockflower partner for five years but recently undertook a two year, multi-key approach to prove the merits of community based education and empowerment. Since beginning their two year project with Rockflower, AYA has been able to develop and build the skills of over 350 women and girls from 5 vulnerable rural communities.

In this first year of the project AYA volunteers educated women on topics including female leadership, family planning, community health, agricultural practices, basic accounting principles and more. Early sessions on hygiene, community health and agricultural practices played a key role in community resiliency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the pandemic caused AYA to suspend operations temporarily, with the support of Rockflower the organization was able to provide its participants with critically important PPE and even began producing soap powder. In communities affected by conflict, the women focused on identifying challenges they faced in their current situations and collaborated to determine methods for acting as mediators of peace in their communities.

Despite the challenges faced by AYA and its participants, the organization has made great strides in educating and economically empowering women to become leaders in their communities. The women were able to move forward with producing goods like soap and body lotion as well as establishing and harvesting crops from farms and gardens. AYA has even been able to issue a number of loans to women looking to scale their agricultural operations. Looking ahead to year two, AYA hopes to expand their education sessions and ensure that all of the women involved are on the path to becoming fully empowered community leaders.

CHICOSUDO and the Fight to End Child Marriage in Malawi

Lesley Kapile raising awareness during a speaking event

Chitani Community Sustainable Development Organization (CHICOSUDO), operating out of Malawi, has made great strides in the second half of their campaign End Child Marriage Now!!! Protect Her Rights, which strives to prevent 500 child marriages from happening before March, 2021 by advocating for policies that would prevent such marriages. The goal of this project is not just to prevent these marriages from a legal standpoint, but to change hearts and minds within communities, and to empower young girls, both through the dissemination of education and by enabling them to have the freedom to fully enjoy their childhood.

Since our last update, CHICOSUDO has:

• Successfully halted three child marriages

• Sent six young girls who were arranged to be married back to school

• Involved men in the communities to work as Protectors for these young girls

• Convinced traditional community leaders to champion this cause and to advocate for changes to be made in community bylaws. 

Men from the community training to serve as Protectors for young girls at risk of entering child marriages.

By focusing not only on legislation, but by turning attention toward community engagement and education, CHICOSUDO has sucessfully influenced grassroots cultural shifts in attitude toward child marriage. CHICOSUDO is able not only to work on intervening in and preventing these marriages, but facilitates the girls themselves in becoming advocates against it within their own communities. 

Education has always been a big part of this campaign. Efforts on this front are primarily focused on teaching young women and girls about female sexual and reproductive health and safety, and how to prevent unintentional pregnancy. This is a priority because it helps to fight misinformation, and arms young girls with the knowledge they need to exercise their bodily autonomy, and to be safe. CHICOSUDO was successfully able to reach 155 girls from 18 youth groups and provide access to crucial reproductive educational information. In 2020, however, no public health campaign could be carried out without considerations made for COVID-19, and this one was no exception. In kind, some of CHICOSUDO’s health advocacy expanded to include reliable, consistent, and factual information about how to deter the spread of the COVID-19 virus. These educational efforts, much like the legislative ones, are centered within communities. A door-to-door COVID-19 prevention campaign was carried out and more than 3,500 people were reached with urgently needed information. 

Though 2020 is over, CHICOSUDO’s campaign will continue through the first quarter of 2021. We will leave you with a few words from their Board Chairperson, Brenda Nachuma.

“As we are entering 2021, don’t let us [be] alone. We expect more from you so that more lives of women and children may change. Youth and women should gain skills for self-reliance, girls should be free from any form of violence…”

Access to Education for Girls in Thanda Pani, Pakistan

Village Thanda Pani is located in District Neelum along the Line of Control (LoC) approximately 135km upstream from Muzzafarabad, near village Dodnial. Thanda Pani is one of the most populated villages in the Neelum district with the fewest educational facilities, particularly for girls. Since Thanda Pana is so close to the line of control, it is a low priority for the government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). There is extremely limited access. Currently, there are 2 primary schools for boys with none existing for girls. The existing schools are already overcrowded and due to persistent cultural norms, most inhabitants of Thanda Pani are against co-education so girls are not allowed to attend classes with boys.

Education is key to improved quality of life and female empowerment. The gender gap in Thanda Pani is widest in levels of literacy, school enrollment, dropout rates, and vocational training opportunities. While cultural norms exist around co-education, the population of Thanda Pani is not completely against young girls gaining an education. Findings of focus group discussions led by Community Services Program (CSP) in Thanda Pani revealed that 70-75% of school-age girls are not attending school primarily because of the lack of a facility.

CSP is proposing to create a branch of the Tine Girls Model School in Thanda Pani. CSP has located a facility to be rented as a girls’ primary school. The community will contribute to the rent. Teachers have been found in an adjacent village. The creation of this primary school will lower early marriage rates, empower the girls from a young age, and fight against the patriarchal norms in society.

Preventing Early and Forced Marriages in Malawi

Chitani Community Sustainable Development Organization (CHICOSUDO) is almost halfway through their 6-month project, End Child Marriage Now!!! Protect Her Rights. Their goal is to prevent 500 early and forced marriages by the end of March 2021.

Since September, they have held an orientation meeting, conducted needs assessment surveys, and completed three awareness campaigns.

Orientation Meeting

The orientation meeting was held with traditional leaders, community-based organization (CBO) members, village development committee members, a child protection worker, and the headteacher of Sukayakwe Primary School. The adoption of bylaws set, but not yet verified, by the Mulanje district council and how to reinforce them in the wider community were discussed. Capacity building with the traditional leaders increased as they agreed to work together with CHICOSUDO in the fight against child marriage.

Traditional Leaders attending the Orientation Meeting

“Traditional leaders are the key in the fight because they are gatekeepers and custodians of culture. Therefore, putting them in front is the key to promoting bylaws which were formed by different stakeholders in the area. At the same time, they are also the key to addressing harmful cultural norms that promote gender-based violence and violence against women and girls.”

— CHICOSUDO Executive Director, Mr. Samson W. Mulole

Mr. Bizwick Nakapa, Ntonya CBO Chair, speaking on the role they have in promoting bylaws to protect girls from early child marriage.

The Ntonya CBO strengthened their capacity building skills through greater knowledge of how to dissemintate information, taught by CHICOSUDO. According to Ntonya CBO Chair, Mr Bizwick Nakapa, “despite our efforts in promoting girls education in our respective villages, the [End Child Marriage Now!!! Protect Her Rights] campaign addressed the gaps, including capacity, financial and material, in support for the full implementation of the community bylaws. Although we were able to encourage parents to prioritize their girl child’s education, cases of child marriages were still happening. Now with the support available from CHICOSUDO and Rockflower, we are able to disseminate the bylaws so that more parents are able to know the consequences of child marriages”.

Needs Assessment Survey

A needs assessment survey was conducted using focus group discussions and in-depth interviews of 21 women and 11 men. The main aim of this was to assess the magnitude of early marriages in area, key drivers and how bylaws are used by both adolescence/girls and duty bearers. A total of 35 people were reached. Participants include: traditional leaders, head teachers, mothers groups representatives, CBO members, child protection workers, victim support unit, parents and guardians of girls 12 to 17 years old in and out of schools, and adolescent girls.

The survey found a high rate of childhood pregnancy and early marriages resulting in school dropout rates to increase. Almost 75% of parents interviewed confirmed child marriage is a prominent issue with negative impacts. These impacts include health implications. The Mulanje district has the highest HIV prevalance rate in Malawi at 21%. Cervical cancer rates are also high. In addition to health problems, 95% of respondents mentioned that girls who get married early are normally forced into poverty, experience abuse, lack an education, and more. 85% of parents interviewed expressed concern about girls moving back home with their children due to the marriage falling apart and their inability to find employment.

The key drivers of child marriage are cultural practices, economic pressures and lack of reproductive health education. There is a large gap around bylaws and their implementation by all parties that participated.

Focus Groups conducted for the Need Assessment Survey

Awareness Campaigns

Three awareness campaigns have been held. Read in-depth about one of the awareness campaigns held in October here.

Challenges and Recommendations

The COVID-19 pandemic has restricted gathering sizes causing CHICOSUDO to reorganize their efforts, but they continue to work diligently to reach their objectives. CBOs and traditional leaders had low capacity building skils before their trainings during and after the orientation meeting. Cultural norms continue to be challenging.

The project will continue by holding more awareness campaigns, in particular with CBOs and schools with constant access to adolescent children. Adolescent girls will be trained in peer education, reproductive health and rights to create opportunities to be change agents. The CBOs will be empowered to diseminate information regarding the advocacy focused community bylaws. Work with district leaders to formalize the bylaws. 5 CBO male members have been trained as protectors to counteract cultural norms.

Technology Has Proven to be Essential During this Pandemic, but How Do We Make Sure to Reach Those Women Who Lack Both Skills & Access?

Social distancing and remote work have become the norm as the world grapples with solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic. Collectively, our reliance on technology is greater than ever before and yet many still lack access to the most basic forms of equipment, knowledge and expertise. Many Syrian women face considerable roadblocks to meaningful and impactful participation in society, and having limited or no access to technology exacerbates the isolation and further impacts women’s labor force participation negatively.

The Center for Civil Society and Democracy have long been working to improve this technological gap. In March at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rockflower partnered with them on a pilot project, Supporting Syrian Women to Have Access to Technology. The two main goals of this project were: to provide Syrian women with equipment and to train them to be digitally literate. Not only did the project achieve those objectives, but it also created a safe and supportive environment and expanded networks for women to stay connected during a trying time for so many.

The pilot project began by identifying 10 Syrian women living in Turkey to participate. First, they joined a WebEx group session to learn more about technology. A consultative approach was taken in the form of one-on-one online sessions between CCSD staff and the 10 participants to formulate what was needed most, which lead to the final decision on what the main projects would constitute.

Each participant received twelve 2 hour sessions, in which the topics included: the importance of technology, navigating the Internet, social media platforms, Microsoft Word and Excel application features and mentorship on final projects.

Four laptops were distributed to women who completed a satisfactory needs assessment and did not have regular access to a laptop. This pilot project found that Syrian women in Turkey have access to the Internet on their phones, but to provide greater economic empowerment computers are critically important.

The pilot project was a vital starting point to build on a program that will prove to be extremely beneficial for a number of Syrian women living in Turkey. These training sessions have already resulted in a job offer for one of the participants, a support network for the women involved, both professionally and personally, an increase in their confidence and knowledge and of course, the acquisition of new skills.

New developments for the continuation of the program have also occurred, including splitting the course into knowledge levels, the addition of courses such as Turkish language tutoring and project management, and flexible times to allow for maximum participation.

The next steps for the program are to distribute more laptops and work on the next round of courses. Rockflower looks forward to continuing to work with CCSD to make this a reality.

Participants and Training Facilitators during the Presentation of their Learnings for the Entire Program - August 2020

Slides from the E-Government Presentation

Five Women's Stories of Capital Investment through Save Society Foundation

Michael Ariamba, Founder and Executive Director of Save Society Foundation in South Sudan, sent us a report of five women’s stories. The seed money received from Rockflower has helped women with their businesses that needed an injection of capital that couldn’t request loans at nearby banks.

Khamisa Stephen - Restaurant in Hai Jabel

“My husband and I have seven children. We have struggled to raise them due to a lack of income, we can’t pay for their school fees or their health bills. I started my business with a small amount of capital, less than $50 USD, which isn’t even enough to buy chairs or plates for my restaurant. 

I received the $200 USD (equals SSP 33,000) in seed money from Save Society Foundation and Rockflower as my first loan. Now, I can scale my business by buying 10 chairs and a number of plates. I have already seen an increase in my sales and clientele. 

My future plans include continuing to increase my capital to have a sustainable basis for my business to grow. This will increase my income and improve my children’s futures by allowing them to go to school.”

Maimona Stephen - Sells African Clothing in Hai Jabel

“I am a single mother of 5 children. My husband abandoned us. I started a small business selling secondhand and new African clothing. It was hard to start my business and did not thrive at first because local banks do not give out small loans. 

I received a loan from the seed money Save Society Foundation gave out from Rockflower. In one month, I have increased my inventory and seen a growth in sales. This has already improved my family’s living standards economically and my children will have a better future.”

Florence Sadia - Hair Salon in Hai Jabel

“In South Sudan, it is not easy to get loans from banks, especially since I am a widow and do not have a bank grantee. I lost my husband during the war and am a single mother of three children. 

The seed money has allowed me to scale my business. During the past month, I have added more materials resulting in more options in my shop. I’ve already seen a difference, my daily sales have increased.”

Joice Kila - Sells Vegetables in St Kizito Market, Juba

“I have lost my husband and was left a single mother. Due to medical costs I couldn’t afford, 3 of my four children passed away. My child and I moved from Khartoum to Juba. But I had no hope left, we had no money, nowhere to live and no employment. I was desperate for help and one day, someone gave me the advice to start my own business. I began a mobile business selling vegetables, such as casava and sweet potatoes, in the markets of Juba, South Sudan. With the seed money from Save Society Foundation and Rockflower, I was able to buy a wheelbarrow. Now I don’t have to carry the buckets of vegetables I can push them. This has also allowed me to have more product at one time and increased my sales. The small rise in profits has already increased our living standards.”

Loyce Hawa - Sells Soft Drinks in Shuku Libya Market Place

“A few years ago, my husband abandoned my children and me, leaving me a single mother. Life was hard to bear. I had no means of support. I had to change my living situation, so I opened a small business selling soft drinks. However, this did not sustain our household as the rent was high for both my business and our house. 

With the capital injection into my business from Rockflower and Save Society Foundation, I am able to support my family and improve my business.”

First Activity of the End Child Marriage Now!!! Protect Her Rights Project with CHICOSUDO

Chitani Community Sustainable Development Organization (CHICOSUDO) received funds in September for the End Child Marriage Now!!! Protect Her Rights project. We received a report from Leslie Kapile, Programs Manager for CHICOSUDO, about the first activity conducted earlier this month.

CHICOSUDO organized a community awareness event where youth, particularly girls and boys from 12 to 17 years old, were engaged. The meeting focused on disseminating information on sexual reproductive health and rights, the importance of education, and dispersing school materials, including notebooks, pens, and soap. A total of 30 youths, 10 boys and 20 girls, benefitted from the first event.

Aginess speaking with excitement to the CHICOSUDO Programs Manager, Lesley Kapile, about the project.

Aginess, a girl in Primary Seven at Pasani Primary School, expressed her happiness at having access to sexual reproductive health information and what her rights are. To her, the awareness was an eye-opener as access to such information remains a challenge in the local area of Ntonya. She also appreciated receiving school materials. 

The awareness meeting was attended by the key leaders, including the Chambe Ward Councilor, Child Protection Worker, Group Village Headman of Ntonya, Head Teachers from the Pasani and Sukayakwe Primary Schools. The Ward Councilor was happy with the approach stating, “We cannot end child marriages if we do not meet the needs of the girl child and in the absence of boys.” The Group Village Headman of Ntonya promised to engage the eleven remaining traditional leaders to promote education for girls in their respective villages and reinforce community bylaws that protect the girl child from any form of gender-based violence. He said, “We will adopt the community court and continue to strengthen our links with child protection workers, the victim support unit, and the government through the District of Ntonya’s community-based organization.”

Child marriage is a prominent issue that has negative impacts that range throughout the lifetimes of the girl child. Bridget Mkomo, CHICOSUDO Project Officer, explained that the idea of engaging girls at risk with information and support before they return to school from the long-term COVID-19 closure would help them remember the importance of education and empower them. She then added, “the CHICOSUDO campaign will continue to strengthen the capacities of traditional leaders, teachers, parents and other key leaders in the community to ensure that community bylaws are enforced thereby protecting the sexual reproductive health rights for adolescents and girls in the area and beyond. At the same time, through the campaign, adolescent and girls will be empowered to speak out and report any case of abuse if happen. We expect to reach 11 villages.”

Prevention, Protection and Preparedness for COVID-19 for 200 Rural Girls and Women in Nepal

Sunday, the 11th of October is International Day of the Girl and Rockflower is pleased to announce a new partnership with Janaki Women Awareness Society (JWAS) in Nepal. 

JWAS, a community-based organization established in 1993 by a group of women social workers, is undertaking a project to educate and protect the most marginalized of women and girls through a virtual and listening program on the threat of COVID-19. 

By utilizing the power of radio, picture books, and small community listening groups, JWAS is creating effective channels of communication to inspire and protect those most at risk. Information about COVID-19 prevention, preparedness and protection, and how best to access health services during this pandemic are of paramount importance in these communities. Read more about these girls and young women who are at high risk for child marriage and gender-based violence and how through this simple but effective means of communication JWAS will be stemming the tide of an inevitable surge in COVID-19 cases. 

COVID-19 Protection Kits Distributed to Rohingya Refugees and IDPs through Women’s Peace Network

Rockflower’s funding of the Women’s Peace Network’s project to provide COVID-19 Relief for Rohingya Refugees and IDPs has begun in earnest.

In late August, 1,000 kits for COVID-19 protection were distributed to elderly women, widows and orphaned girls in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Each kit included: 2 reusable face masks, 2 bottles of hand sanitizer, 1 large towel, a scarf, 1 kg of flour, and 2 kg of sticky rice.

The kits were well received as the items differ from what other NGOs are supplying the refugees with.

“This is the first time that I am going to eat sticky rice* since I fled from Myanmar three years ago. I have never received a donation like this before.”

— WPN Beneficiary

*Sticky rice is one of the most popular breakfast foods among Rohingya.

Another beneficiary said she was happy to receive the flour and protection kit so that she could make traditional foods during the holy days. One beneficiary who is only 17, was very grateful for this support as she was running from the prospect of a forced marriage and as yet had not received help from any other source. There is a great deal of work to be done to ensure that those living in such dire conditions are given as continued support.

Rockflower Partners with the Save Society Foundation

Rockflower is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Save Society Foundation.

The Save Society Foundation works at the community level in South Sudan to build the capacity of the marginalized communities, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, women, youth, and peoples with disabilities, to enable them to have a better standard of living through economic transformation, improved health, quality education and promotion of peace, conflict mitigation and democracy.

Due to wars and illnesses, such as HIV and AIDS, Sudanese women have lost their husbands. The Improve Standard of Living for Homeless Sudanese Women project will help them to start earning an income and improve their housing conditions with their savings to pay land title deeds, land surveys for permanent ownership, pay school tuition fees for their children, and/or healthcare.

Graphic Design Course with the AVAZ Association

Rockflower’s ongoing commitment to the AVAZ Association to Establish a Women’s Technology Education Center has begun a Graphic Design course. Instruction will begin during the first week of August. The Public Health Directorate has granted permission to the AVAZ Association for in-person instruction.

The subject will be taught to two groups of 12 female refugees, 24 in total, over the course of 6 months. Over 50 applications were received. The intention is to provide the refugee women with economic empowerment opportunities in areas other than the typically gendered options, such as sewing, embroidery and hairdressing. The study plan for the course can be viewed below.

COVID-19 Relief Project in Northern Pakistan and AJK

Rockflower is continuing its long-standing partnership with Community Services Program (CSP) by extending the initial relief from our Emergency Fund into a six month administered project specifically targeting at-risk women’s groups and female-headed households.

The COVID-19 Relief Project in Northern Pakistan and AJK will provide training and education on how to protect and encourage behavior change to limit the rate of infection and transmission rates. Continued distribution of food items and WASH kits will be an integral part of the project.

Given how much the consequences of the pandemic have been exacerbated by the socio-political situation in Northern Pakistan and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir region, this additional assistance is extremely timely and necessary.

To donate, please visit our Give to the Garden page.

Rain for the Sahel and Sahara

Niger

Niger declared a national state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 27.  The measure was extended for another three months starting July 12.

Challenges and Concerns

The following is excerpted from a summary report by Katherine Kolios, Executive Director of Rain for the Sahel and Sahara.

This has been an especially challenging period in Niger. The country had its first case of coronavirus in late March and the government reacted swiftly - they shut the borders, limited transit within the country, closed schools from Kindergarten through University, and asked people to remain home if possible. The government's reaction was necessary - Niger simply doesn't have the medical infrastructure to deal with a widespread outbreak. Unfortunately, as we've seen in many other countries, the impact of the virus goes well beyond the virus itself. Closing borders and limiting transportation made it harder to access basic necessities. As stockpiles dwindled, prices soared. RAIN's partner communities - poor, remote villages - are some of the hardest hit. 

In April, David Beasley, the head of the World Food Program, announced that we could expect to see famines of "biblical proportions" across the globe. This is what our partner communities feared - not coronavirus, but starvation. In this way, COVID reiterated the importance of communities being able to meet their basic needs locally. Rural and nomadic communities without access to safe water are at significant risk if the coronavirus or another disease infiltrates the population. They are also most vulnerable to price fluctuations as they have limited access to markets and goods. Now, more than ever, our partner communities need support – and Rockflower stepped in to help. 

Adaptation Measures

RAIN’s Field Team, led by Director of Programs Boube Aw, was committed to standing by our partners, especially during these challenging times. The team applied for special dispensation to travel and pivoted from running education and livelihood programs to delivering emergency aid and training. 

In recent weeks, RAIN’s staff:

• Distributed over 40 cartons of soap – over 1,000 extra-large bars of soap. Soap was given to 101 women mentors in the Agadez region of Niger in the villages of Aouderas, Batarmatas, Tinteloust, Etaghas, Eferouane Nord and Soulefet. In turn, these women coordinated distribution to students and families across all 6 villages.

• Established 5 washing stations to serve local middle school students and to decrease their risk of virus transmission as they return to school.

• Delivered awareness building & training seminars on the transmission of COVID-19 - encouraging people to follow the five steps outlined by Niger’s Department of Health (wear a mask, cough or sneeze into your elbow, avoid shaking hands, wash your hands with soap, & remain at home or, if out, retain at least one meter of distance from others).

Emergency Fund

In June, Hassana Alidou, the Former Ambassador from Niger to the United States and Canada spoke about how, in these rural communities, ceasing programs to limit the spread of coronavirus posed a greater risk than the virus itself. With Rockflower’s support, we were able to help supply the resources for our partner communities to continue programming but also to do so safely.

“We believe in the power of these entrepreneurial women, these curious children, and these committed families to build their own futures – but we also know how hard that is to do without support. They are grateful and we are grateful to Rockflower for pitching in to ensure that these basic vital needs are met so that education and opportunity do not need to be put on hold for COVID.”

— Katherine Kolios, Executive Director of RAIN

Rockflower Welcomes Caroline Bracken to the Catalyzer Collective

Rockflower is pleased to announce the addition of Caroline Bracken to our Catalyzer Collective.

Caroline is a recent graduate of the College of Charleston where she studied Political Science with a minor in International Studies and Geography. While at Charleston, Caroline studied Modern Standard Arabic and dedicated her senior year to write a thesis about the different peace and security outcomes of the Arab Spring of 2010. She is passionate about the social, cultural, and political dynamics of the Middle East and North Africa and is interested in pursuing a career in research and policy related to the region. Caroline firmly believes that peace and security isn’t possible without the empowerment of women and girls.

We are excited to welcome her to our Catalyzer Collective!