Women have the power to bring change to their communities. They are the ones who care for children, look after the home, and work in the community.
Our women’s project supports women to set up self help groups. Group members are carefully chosen to help them work together – they come from the same area, have the same levels of income and share hopes and ideals. Often they express this by choosing to wear the same clothes.
Self help groups make a real difference to their lives and enables them to impact their local community.
Saving is a key part of the project. At first they think they can’t afford to save, but they start with small amounts, a few pence a week, and are amazed to see how this can grow. The money saved is banked and provides loans to start businesses and help in emergencies.
They meet regularly, usually weekly, and discuss their lives and their needs. This leads to big results, especially over child support. Several Self Help Groups come together to form a CLA (Cluster Level Association) which shares knowledge and experience, and extends the influence of the movement.
Aweke
Aweke says: ‘life is hard here and many children can’t go to school because of poverty. So we say that JeCCDO is ‘the father of the poorest’. They helped us to set up a sub-committee which works on child protection. Volunteer staff make sure that the poorest people are the ones who get chosen for support’.
Selam
Selam values the weekly meetings of her SHG. She receives training on child protection and ensures children in her local community are safe.
‘Before our meetings, female genital mutilation was common – now its stopped. We’re also concerned about child labour and we check door to door to make sure there is no abuse of children and if we do find cases of child labour we report it and follow these up’.
Asnakech
Asnakech looks after a special need child.
‘I’ve started my business. I make injera (local bread) at home. I can sell these in the market for 10 birr (14p) for each injera. This earns me 300 birr (£4) a day. I can buy clothes for my children and provide medical care’.
Genet
Genet is proud of her SHG. When she was invited to join the group she started saving. She started small, putting aside 5 birr (7p) a week, but now she saves 20 birr (60 p). This has built up so that the group now has capital of over 38,000 birr (£533). She has taken out a loan to start selling vegetables.
‘JeCCDO trains us to keep the area clean; they show us how to be alert for cases of exploitation which we report. Our life has changed’.
Ayalech
Ayalech set up a business trading in foodstuffs. She started by buying and selling sugar, then added edible oil. She now has a regular income from the business.
‘Before I joined the SHG and started saving my children were hungry but now life has got better. I was worried that my neighbour was beating her child so I shared this issue with the group and we reported it to the Women and Children Office of the regional government who intervened to warn the woman and this resolved the situation’