Afro-Brazilian women in Salvador, Brazil, chose the name "Sou Digna" (I am worthy) as the name for their job training and citizenship project because it represents what they aspire to say in front of their husbands, children, and communities. In 2012, eleven Sou Digna participants began meeting once a month to create a baking cooperative, which will provide the income they need to move from the margins of society to a place of opportunity and, indeed, dignity.
African-descent women in Salvador, Brazil, face the triple discrimination of race, class, and gender. The majority of them endure cyclical poverty and violence that results in depression, difficulty parenting the next generation, and the breakdown of society. Public schools graduate children functionally illiterate, and there are few low-cost or free opportunities for these women to go back to school, gain job training, and form a sense of community that lifts women up.
This project addresses the three issues that hold women back. First, it provides continued job training in a profession, cake baking, that results in a quick return on investment. Second, it gives women access to citizenship classes that teach them about their rights, how to deal with domestic violence, parenting skills, and good health and nutrition practices. Third, it creates a community of women who support each other in a safe space that celebrates their strengths.
These women will earn income that will help their families and communities living on the margins of survival now. This income will improve how they educate their children, the structure in which they live, and the ability they have to share with others. Beyond income, the impact will be on the self esteem of these individual women and their communities. At least 100 people will benefit directly (women and families), and another 1,000 will be impact indirectly.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
