For years, Felekech and her village friends used to spend any money they got right away, but now they have learned how to save it for future use. Many women from her village save money so that they can buy salts, grains, small livestock, small sheep and goats, fruit and other goods from far away in Konso, so they can sell them for a small profit in villages and at other markets.
As their business grows and after some training, women have the option to join the savings and credit co-op. They can present business plans to a review group in their region and if their proposal passes that review, they can then apply for a loan. A local Mercy Corps team, comprised of Ethiopian loan officers, reviews the plan and determines whether the loan is approved. Loans range from $60-180. One side benefit from this training is a welcomed surprise: the women say they are much more patient with solving problems with respect to their business….and at home.
In addition to her other duties, Felekech is also a Mercy Corps Volunteer Community Health Worker. She teaches the women of Fuchucha village about health education: sanitation, vaccination benefits, and overall maternal health. The village women learn how to better organize their homes, balance their meals with various nutrients, and how to store their food to prevent contamination.
Since Felekech is spending more time with her small business and other responsibilities, Mercy Corps donated a fuel efficient stove to the Fuchucha village. These stoves have a 50% fuel efficiency improvement over burning wood. They also need less fuel, which means less time a woman needs to spend gathering wood.
Felekech, we are honored to meet you. You are a great influence to many.
Kanessa Ayano, 24, owns a shoe making business and through her Mercy Corps facilitated business classes, she has learned how to increase her profit margins by creating an enhanced product which has created a stronger demand for her shoes. The original shoe was made entirely from tire rubber. Now, she is using discarded skins from animals after harvest to make more decorative sandals.
She has also expanded her inventory to include belts and bag straps, which are also sold at the market. Kanessa is happy to report that her village cannot keep up with the demand, so they are looking at employing more people from neighboring villages. Kanessa works five hours each day making shoes, and she is very proud of her village’s ability to create something that many people love to wear.
Through the same Livelihood Program, many women are learning how to run a small business and how to save and re-invest earnings. They express joy that they can now read the numbers in their savings account, whereas before they had to rely upon others to relay this information.
They sit in the shade and practice writing for one hour each day, for five days a week. This is usually done in the morning, well before their daily chores begin. While they do this, their older children take care of the younger ones in order to support their mother’s education.
Mercy Corps facilitates fourteen of these learning groups in the Konso district in Ethiopia. The groups are still in a pilot phase, but each group we visited were clearly passionate about their learning, and their enthusiastic thirst for more advanced topics was apparent.
Some of the women’s children have been exposed to a bit of education. When asked about how the children feel about their mothers being educated on reading, writing and math, one woman, Korate Sagoya, was quick to answer: “My children asked me if I really was still in the first grade! They tell me: Be strong. You can do this.”
The show will open to the public during 9/2 First Thursday. Come out to encourage and celebrate these women as they turn their lives around!
Huge shout out thank you to PushDot for the amazing prints.
The experiences have been stunningly difficult, with many situations that are quite surprising to all of us. Stay tuned for more on this!
Many thanks to ProPhoto Supply for their support of this project.
I have been asked by Mercy Corps to be a judge for a photo contest that is being held in Gaza. I just received the most remarkable email from the coordinator. I can’t imagine this life.
Since two days now, we’ve hand-carried photo-frames from Israel’s border, to
the Gaza strip; Walking through a long silent tunnel and crossing a high
cement wall, we got 10 frames in Gaza for the photo exhibition: 20 more to
go. As you watch these picture, please try to live the real story of this
photo-exhibition : 100 Students take pictures in Gaza where quality printing
and framing is nearly impossible. Two weeks ago, In a petite flash-disc we
“smuggle” the whole pictures from Gaza to Jerusalem. In one week, we finally
have beautiful photo-prints, elegant thin silver frames. Next puzzle to
solve: how to get them back from Israel in Gaza. No mailing service and no
transportation of goods either.
I tremble from the fear that the Israeli Soldier who sits at the border will
not allow the frames to enter in Gaza with me. As I expect, she (the
soldier) is suspicious when she sees me with frames almost as tall as me-
hanging on both my arms. I look more like a décor for the frames.
“What do you have in your bags?” Asks the soldier.
“Picture frames”-I answer
“What kind of photos”- she says
“Hmmmm….They attempt to capture those moments that make us all recognize
our humanity in each-other”- I answer.
Pause.
“Open them , please”- says the soldier.
I rip the seal off the frames who are compressed together and she gets a
quick peek.
Pause. Phone call. Hebrew. Than English again
-Dou can go.
Deep breath and absolutely happy I walk through. 10 frames are in Gaza now.
20 more to go between tomorrow and after tomorrow. Convinced that the frames
will be there, students are assigning a place for each frame on the walls of
the hall we rented for the exhibition. It starts on Saturday. I doubt we
will get them there on time and express frustration. One of them tells me
quietly : They will be here on Saturday.
I need to trust her. After all this photo-exhibition has a message:
“Recognizing Our Common Humanity”.
While we still struggle to get photos in Gaza, one by one, -in a just an
hour- we uploaded all of them online and will share them globally. Some,
may call this (f)act ironic, I call it “heroic”.
Thank you again for being part of this effort. Please view the pictures and
good luck in selecting the best of them. We will keep you updated of the
Photo-exhibition in Gaza.
http://www.globalcitizencorps.org/about.htm?page=about_contest_photo
We will feature this on the GCC homepage, in the newsletter and on our
social networking sites this week.