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Safeguarding Access to Basic Healthcare in the Kasigau Corridor, Kenya
In the southeastern part of Kenya lies Marungu, a village surrounded by highlands. Once a week, community members converge in a hall to discuss social matters, usually in the presence of an area chief and other local representatives. But this time a different kind of discussion emerged: one designed to bring men together to discuss community health and family planning topics. In the presence of the area chief, a community health assistant, nurse, and the Wildlife Works team, the dialogue focused on health services available, in aim to improve attitudes towards family planning services and the different methods of contraceptives. “Why are you against our wives having children and what…
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Against All odds: Janet Wanjala’s Determination to Succeed
By Jane Okoth If you happen to pass by Wildlife Works’ organic greenhouses, chances are that you will notice Janet Elina Wanjala. The shy petite woman is always busy; if she is not taking care of the tree seedlings, or harvesting jojoba seeds, she is packing the soil into the potting bags. Janet’s day begins with a 2-hour walk from her home to Wildlife Works, ready to commence her usual duties. On this particular day, she is helping out peeling the mango seeds for drying and replantation. “I take my work seriously, with much dedication and hard work because I find morale and stimulation in it,” she says. According to…
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Keeping Girls in School: Women Receive Training to Make Sanitary Towels
Wildlife Works, the world’s leading REDD+ project development and management company, is dedicated to supporting and empowering women through community initiatives and specialized training. Women are key pillars of society, and our aim is to ensure that they receive the support they need. This past week, a team from Wildlife Works spent time with the Tumaini Women’s Group, a lively and well-organized group consisting of 24 women. These free spirited women have every reason to smile because Wildlife Works has been a key supporter of their projects. This particular visit was focused on teaching the ladies how to make reusable sanitary towels and how to turn them into an income…
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Women’s Economic Empowerment Event
Wildlife Works strongly values women in the community and their autonomy to assume influential roles and set their own course. Last week, several members of Wildlife Works attended a women’s economic empowerment speech within our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project area in Kenya. The meeting featured Rachel Chebet, the wife of Kenya’s Vice President William Ruto, and focused on ‘table banking’. Table banking is a practice that Mrs. Chebet started four years ago in the Taita Taveta region (where our project is based) to strengthen womens’ groups and promote economic stability. Table banking is a practice through which women organize into registered groups where each member contributes to a ‘group bank…
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Eco-Loans from the Zawadisha Fund to Boost Women Entrepreneurship in Kasigau Corridor
At Wildlife Works, we believe in empowering women to overcome societal limitations imposed on them by continuously supporting and investing in projects that enable women to make an independent livelihood. We are proud to announce the inclusion of our newest partner in these efforts. The Zawadisha Fund, a non-governmental and non-profit microfinance organization that provides affordable loan facilities to groups of women around Kenya, began work in the Marungu area of the Kasigau Corridor late last year and is already tremendously influencing the lives of marginalized women in the area. On their arrival to Marungu, leaders of the organization met with us to discuss the scope of their project in…
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Grace Wanjala: Sewing her own future
Grace Wanjala began school as a young girl, but was forced to abandon her studies at age 14, due to a lack of funding. Grace, now 22 years old, remembered putting away her school uniform at Class Eight, knowing in the back of her mind that she would never put it on again. This was a real blow for the young girl, but Grace had no one to pay her school fees expect for her father who had lost his job. Grace accepted her situation and tried to make the best of it. Regardless of the setbacks, Grace had hope that there would still be a great future for her…
