Businesses for 60 Changemaker Women in DR Congo

Happy Giving Tuesday (and beyond!) to all!

We have much to celebrate: The women's business literacy program is moving into a new, more advanced stage; we are poised to hold our third biennial peace summit; and recently, special achievement and recognition came to practicing women botanists of Rwenena. They may not hold a diploma, but they know the plants around them and have found uses for them in innovative and practical ways.

Last month, a Rwenena delegation of 7 Pama Kaci women and 2 men attended a workshop held by a team of experts at FOPAC-SK, including our project co-director and senior agroecologist, Jean Marie RUHANAMIRINDI. The theme was bio-pesticides in the face of climate change, with a focus on controlling insects and fungi that devastate crops, livestock feed, and more. Contingents of agricultural producers from 7 communities throughout South Kivu Province earned invitations based on promising innovations.
 
Day 1 featured presentations from each delegation on theoretical aspects of their work. Subsequent discussions provided a platform for sharing experiences and new ideas. Each innovation used commonly found plants and other attainable materials.

Rwenena’s presenter was the community’s respected and credentialed veterinarian, who has steadfastly accompanied Pama Kaci women on their journey to entrepreneurship from the time an earlier livestock production program launched in 2018.
 
On Day 2, all participants traveled to the vocational agriculture school in Luberizi. There, the women’s contingent from Rwenena demonstrated the mixing and processing of two formulas. The first calls for garlic, onion, and chili. It is used for livestock feed and in the production of a versatile, organic bio-insecticide associated with liquid soaps to improve its adhesive power. For the second formula, they explained and demonstrated the anti-fungal power of tobacco mixed with palm oil.

Day 3 brought all the applications to specific plants in demonstration plots, including eggplant, rice, corn, and tomatoes.

Products presented and demonstrated by all 7 groups were judged. The Rwenena contingent placed third – not bad for a community that was routinely disparaged in the not-too-distant past! For this recognition, they received the gift of a goat and two pans of preparation of each product presented. 
 
Each team received a kit of equipment for packaging the bio-pesticides.

With the workshop results affirming the value of women’s skills and accomplishments, some participants marched to demonstrate the great demands and burdens placed on women. In Congolese society, women are expected to assume total responsibility for financial contribution as well as to keep up with household chores and the labors of motherhood.
 
We are proud to reflect on the steady progress of people in Rwenena. Many men there - though not yet all - have seen firsthand the socio-economic advantages of dividing responsibilities among family members. In the first quarter of 2024, we plan to offer a male sensitization summit aimed at skeptics.

For this and other goals to become reality, we rely on your generosity. Our programming has proven successful and impactful as we continue to advance different facets of community-led development.

Thank you for your kind support.

Links:

• Insect Control: Soaps and Detergents
• Chemical Basis of the Fungicidal Activity of Tobacco Extract
• Maintaining the Efficacy of Foliar Fungicides for Tobacco Diseas

Little by Little. It’s much more than a GlobalGiving campaign the week of September 18 (in which donations up to $50 are matched 50%; see end of this report). It’s an expression of long-term progress of the Rwenena community. Sometimes, it’s what may seem like little occurrences. But upon reflection, we recognize mile markers of progress. Two recent cases mark turning points: A changemaker paving a new path, and several women entrepreneurs recognizing the familiarity of numeracy.

Women in Rwenena have come to love rearing small livestock. In 2018, an earlier project provided chickens, goats, and hogs to women. Distribution called for either 1 chicken per household or 1 goat or 1 hog shared between 2 households. As litters emerged, owners were responsible for distributing some of the offspring to women in other households.

Those who reared hogs were unfortunate at this early stage. African swine flu was prevalent and wiped out most of these animals. But not all. Some of the changemaker women, with assistance, learned best practices through instruction and experience about the animal’s health. An improved breeding system followed. The learning and the litters grew: There have been no cases of swine flu in  Rwenena for more than 3 years. Owners now reserve resources for care & vaccinations to maximize hog wellness.

Despite the early setbacks, hog breeders appreciate the animals for their prolific and profitable offspring.

Recently a hog (sow) of one of Rwenena’s entrepreneurial women ("Denise") gave birth to 8 piglets (see them on YouTube!). She decided it was time to pursue a longstanding dream: She purchased a calf for dairy farming.

Not long ago, cattle were owned only by men. But now, women entrepreneurs are demonstrating innovation in their activities.

Men’s perception of this woman’s purchase of a calf has caused a shift in mentality – another “Little by Little” mile marker of progress. Our FOPAC Project Leader in DRC, Jean Marie Ruhanamirindi, explains it this way (translated from French):

“There is a difference between women raising small livestock and women raising cattle. It is significant that as a small-business entrepreneur, Christine sold her piglets and acquired a calf through a business transaction with a man. She did so without the involvement of her husband and for the advancement of the household and the community. Her husband was proud.”

We will see what long-term effects might emerge. While Denise waits months for her calf to mature, she is using her remaining hog to maintain income. The hog is now pregnant again.

Our remaining “Little by Little” progress concerns ongoing business literacy training. Jean Marie reports that the women participants are happy with how the activity is going. They are currently undergoing numeracy training.

The students are excited to realize that the numbers they are now studying correspond with formerly meaningless numerals they had memorized (with assistance) for their business transactions. This learning builds trust between the women, including in required reports to the educated leaders of their Village Savings and Loan Associations. It also provides accountability with household finances, particularly at weekly planning meetings.

As the Level 0 students have advanced, they have merged with the Level 1 students for classes. Paired women from both groups meet steadfastly for study sessions among themselves. They no longer need the presence of the teacher.

We join the women of Rwenena in celebration of their progress with our programming and in their lives. We also applaud the growing number of men who are opening their minds based on the women's business success that cannot be denied.

Despite these positive mile markers, much work remains. Our priority is to hold this year’s Peace Summit in the next few months for continuing dialogue between different groups and regional authorities such as the police and the military. But to make this happen, we need more donations totaling $500 from folks like you.

The Little by Little Campaign is a perfect time to reach our goal. Please visit our project page between Monday, September 18, 2023, at 00:00:00 (midnight) Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and Friday, September 22, 2023, at 23:59:59 (11:59 PM) EDT: For every donation up to $50, GlobalGiving will match it by 50%. Higher donations are welcome! You can always designate your own amount to give on the donation page in the blank cell at the bottom of donation options. We would also love it if you could share this project with your networks both in-person and online.

Thank you!

Links:

• A video of the recently born piglets before they were sold.