Help Vulnerable Women Become Leaders of Change

Global Grassroots held an Academy for Conscious Change in October 2013 that included a cohort of 33 individuals (7 teams). These indviduals came with the shared goal of returning to their communities to solve a variety of complicated water issues as well as build their skills in social venture development. Six of the teams were from areas surrounding Kigali and one team was from Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Collectively, the teams represent 113 others from their extended communities.

Each group touched on universal, shared problems involving access to potable water with varying approaches and priorities for how to tackle them. 

They all seek to:

• eradicate waterborne diseases
• promote community health
• end violence and sexual exploitation women face when collecting water for their families
• ensure children attend school (without complications from collecting water or missing classes because of poor health relating to water-borne diseases.)

At the start of the October Workshop, fifty-seven percent of the group felt mostly or very ready to work on the root causes of the their water problems.  At the end of the workshop based on post-assessment responses, ninety percent of the group surveyed felt mostly or very ready to create social change.  This was promising feedback and points to how they perceived the effectiveness of the training.

During the Workshop, trainees had a chance to visit a successful, existing water venture.  It was a powerful experience as they got to see first hand what is possible to accomplish with some perseverance and trust in their process.  With a first grade education, a past trainee from a previous workshop showed these teams how she and her community team had set up a water tank and started delivering potable water to homes in their community.  She also then discussed how she was able to turn the profits from the water tank back into the community’s sustained well-being through the purchase of livestock.   

Thanks to you, and other Global Grassroots supporters, these water ventures are now further shaping the activities that they seek to initiate in 2014.  We look forward to updating you on their progress.