By Annette Scarpitta | Director and U.S. Liaison
Adele, age 34 and a resident of Rwenena, tells us about the improvement of living conditions in her household.
I am Adele. I am married since 2008. I have given birth to 8 children, but only 5 are alive. My husband had made decisions about everything: What he deemed good was done. I lived mainly from the products of the fields that I had to plant, maintain, harvest, and transport to market as well as to prepare for my family’s consumption. Sometimes my husband would beat me because the food was either insufficient or prepared late.
At the time of the first FOPAC-facilitated General Assembly of Peace in 2019, I went there to participate. But when my husband arrived, he asked me to leave as I did not have his permission to attend, so I returned home. In the evening he came home and asked me to forgive him. The Assembly was good, he reported, with new opportunities for women to expand economic development in the community.
He asked me to participate in the women's meeting that was held the next day. I did so and I shared with him the minutes of the meeting, which asked parents of children to reserve at least one day of family dialogue during the week. At this household-level discussion, he would assign tasks to all the children so that each one would know what the other would do during the week. This method would be useful for him to get the support he needed.
The following week, my husband started to accompany me to the field and to divide the tasks to the 3 older children. Until then, as the female head of household, it was my responsibility to work the field and it was not easy. Since 2019 and, despite community setbacks of food insecurity and lockdowns in 2020, we expanded the production spaces in our field. Under our new system of household-level organization following the Assembly, now everyone knows what to do. This is how my household lives now.
I have learned how to sell. Buyers are interested in and purchase my products. With this income, my family’s health has also improved and we are able to pay for medical expenses. We know we are contributing to the economic success of Rwenena.
I thank our team at FOPAC SK. They raised awareness and sensitized community members who have come to recognize women’s valuable role in improving family economies.
Here is a record of how Adele’s income has improved since she received small-enterprise business training from the FOPAC team:
In March 2022, Adele received small-enterprise training from FOPAC-SK and received start-up funds totaling $25, or 50000fc. From this payment, she used $1 for family health expenses. April brought 15000fc, or $7.50; and May earned 28000 or $14.
Adele is also a member of the Pama Kaci licensed and registered enterprise. She participates in its meetings as well as those for women and the greater community and serves as a model of success to others.
We hope you will contribute well-utilized funds to continue providing training, materials, and other services for more women in the Rwenena community.
By Annette Scarpitta | Project Leader of FOPAC SK
By Annette Scarpitta | Project Leader of FOPAC-SK
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