Help Rural Women Start Income Generating Projects

The project finally kicked off in June. The following pictures show Mrs Dube, the project coordinator arriving at the village with the spawn. During the kickoff phase Mrs Dube trained 7 people in the village how to grow mushrooms. These seven people will be reponsible for training the other people in the village.

On December 24, 2011 Chipo Dube visited Rimbi village to meet with some of the women who will be participating in the Mushroom and Beehive projects. The agenda for this meeting was to discuss the way forward since we havent raised enough funds to launch the projects.

The decision was to go ahead and start the beehive project. Also it was decided that we needed a  project coordinator from the village who will help manage the project. Muzongomerwa, the gentleman standing on the right hand side, wearing a cream shirt in the attached pictures was selected to serve as the project coordinator.  Muzongomerwa brings a wealth of experience implementing community based economic empowerment and poverty alleviation projects. One of the projects he launched, a tomato growing project is greatly benefiting Rimbi village.

Our focus for the next two months will be raising funds for the Mushroom project. The mushrooms need a lot of water so we need to raise enough funds to drill a borehole. In addition, since mushrooms are highly perishable and deteriorate within a day after harvesting we need to purchase a refrigerator and a mushroom drying machine.  

Please help us bring hope to the women in these rural areas!

I thank you in advance for supporting this cause.

Best Regards,

Thelma

The Mushroom and Bee Keeping Project is at the heart of the Tekeshe Foundation and our strategy in the fight to combat the underlying causes of poverty and poor health among disadvantaged rural women in Chipinge.

WHY THIS PROJECT IS VERY IMPORTANT

We strongly believe that improving the socio-economic status of women in the developing world is key to fighting and ending global poverty. They are the linchpins of their families, and therefore of their communities. With education, skills and basic resources, they can become catalysts for change. Women can help build a better world for all. When their livehoods are improved they can earn enough income and be in a better position to feed their faimilies, send their children to school and they will have access to better heath care.

 Women’s health is very important in the fight against poverty. When a mother is ill and cannot work or care for her children, the whole family suffers. Basic health issues, from the dangers of unassisted birth to preventable diseases such as malaria, TB and AIDS put women and their families at terrible risk.

Thelma

Together we have the ability to empower these women and put them in a better position to help their families.  This holiday season as we go out and buy gifts for our friends and families let us take time to remember those who are less fortunate than us. 

Best wishes and Happy Holidays!!!!!!

Please donate as little $10.00 this Christmas to make 2012 a better year for disadvantaged rural women in Chipinge!

Thank you in advance for supporting this cause.

Our mushroom project has not taken off as anticipated because we have not raised enough funds to launch the project. We are appealing to donors to help the women in these rural areas. These women are very hard working. They spend hours and hours in the fields tending crops but unfortunately this area of Zimbabwe experiences droughts quite often. Despite all the hard work, these women end up with no crops. The mushroom and beehives will really help these women. Not only will they use the mushrooms and honey to feed their families but they will also be able to sell the mushrooms and honey and earn money to support their families. This project has a trickle effect. When women are empowered they are in a better position to feed their families and they can afford to send their children to school. They can also afford better health care. As a result, whole communities and societies benefit when women are empowered.

For the past 4 years, through partnerships with local churches in New England, we have managed to send 440 foot containers of food and clothing, medical supplies and school supplies to Zimbabwe to help these women and their families. The donated items really helped these families during this very difficulty time that they are experiencing. They are very grateful to receive outside help, however they dont want to rely on outside help in perpetuity - they are willing to work hard to lift themselves out of poverty. All they need is help to get back on their feet.

The Tekeshe Foundation firmly believes in lifting people out of poverty and building a culture of economic independence. We are guided by the old saying, "When you give a man a fish he will eat for a life time. When you give him a fishing rod and teach him how to fish he will eat for a life time." This holistic approach ensures that families have enough food to eat and looks out for their long term economic propspects.

We are asking donors who care about women empowerment to help us help these women. I thank you in advance for supporting this cause.

Links:

• Food and Clothing Program

The four major tasks that were set for phase one of our Mushroom and Beehive Projects are:

• ·         Identifying a project leader
• ·         Identifying the women involved in the project
• ·         Acquiring land for the project
• ·         Fundraising
• ·         Form a partnership with a local organization that specializes in Mushroom and Beehive projects

 1.    Identifying a project leader

 We are pretty excited to bring Chipo Dube on board to spearhead our Mushroom and Beehive project. She brings with her a wealth of information from the United Church of Christ where she held a position as a National Project Coordinator. In this role her major responsibilities were planning, and managing projects. She also provided skills training for projects. Chipo Dube holds a diploma in Development Studies and Women Empowerment. She visited the United States in 2000 to do research towards her diploma.  

Chipo fits this role perfectly since she has already worked with the women in this area. She spearheaded a cement water tank project sponsored by the United Church of Christ. People in the area attribute the success of this project to Chipo’s tenacity, excellent leadership skills and hard work. 

2.    Identifying the women involved in the project

The Tekeshe Foundation caregivers were instrumental in identifying the woman who will participate in these projects. Among the beneficiaries selected are people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) that are already registered with the Tekeshe Foundation. In addition, widows, grandmothers are also going to benefit from this project.  

3.    Acquring land for the project

The Tekeshe has already acquired land for this project.  

4.    Fundraising

We are currently raising funds for this project on Global Giving. So far we have raised $50.00. We are far from reaching our goal of $8000.00. We are asking donors who share our vision of restoring dignity and hope to women to help us by donating to this cause. We firmly believe that empowering women not only benefits the immediate family, but benefits the whole community.

 5.    Form a partnership with a local organization that specializes in Mushroom and Beehive projects

 The advantage of partnering with a successful local organization ensures the success of this project. We are in the process of looking for an organization with a track record in implementing sustainable Mushroom and Beehive projects in rural area Africa.