Support Women's WONDER Hubs in Tanzania

Greetings to all of our supporters, 

As the community women in Southern Highlands head into the rainy season, and our U.S. and Tanzanian teams look toward winter, we are collectively stepping into a time of networking, grant writing, and planning for the coming year. Despite the inclement weather, the women of Itonya and Mboliboli continue to provide outreach services for their communities to strengthen ecoagriculture, water sanitation, animal health, and human-wildlife coexistence. The positive impacts over the past year are tangible and produce smiles of relief and pride on the womens' faces. Always ready to do more, the women are thinking about the most effective way to expand their efforts and training to women in nearby communities. Everyone - from the community to regional level - who is directly impacted by, or learns about the project, is quickly convinced of how transformative the inititiative is to these communities. They also recognize the tremendous potential this kind of women-led approach holds to addressing the interconnected environmental, health, and livelihood challenges these communities face. 

To support the women further in their goals for the upcoming year, our Tanzanian team directors, Jesca and Eliza, have been busy securing the investment of old and new collaborators from government, academic, and nonprofit sectors. Jesca and Eliza were also honored to attend the 2023 Africa Food Systems Summit held in Dar es Salaam this past September. In Eliza's words, they took advantage of every moment at the conference and made some wonderful new connections. In their most recent networking success, Jesca and Eliza established an exciting relationship with Dr. Alfan Rija who serves in a leadership role in the Department of Wildlife Management at Soikoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. He was so impressed with the project that he pledged his support and willingness to collaborate in 2024. 

In this season of connection and reconnection, we'd like to extend our immense gratitude for your continued support. We look forward to providing you with some inspiring updates in the New Year!

Warmly, 

Kate and the EcoVet Global and FOECOE Teams

Greetings from the EcoVet Global Team!

Momentum has been building as the women of Mboliboli and Itonya participate in a two-part green enterprise training workshop this summer. This is an essential step in building the framework for the WONDER Hub Network in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. The women of Mboliboli and Itonya will serve as the central core of the network, and will work with project stakeholders to expand the network to neighboring communities through the creation of satellite hubs. Once operationalized, the women-led WONDER hub network will help strengthen regional capacity to manage species-wide health and environmental challenges across the Southern Highlands region. With the help of EVG’s in-country leadership team at the Foundation for Environmental Conservation and Community Enhancement (FOECOE), and the support and investment of regional government officers and local NGOs, the women's hubs will be instrumental in bolstering regional infrastructure in public health, forestry and conservation, veterinary services, and eco-agriculture.

FOECOE's co-directors, Jesca Mlawa and Eliza Komba, and Mr. Amir Kachenje, from the Work and Income Foundation (WIFO), are leading the green enterprise workshop which kicked off in early June. The impetus for the workshop came from the community women, themselves, who requested training in green business development to help transform the One Health skills they acquired over the past year into sustainable, income-generating outputs. Part one of the workshop spans topics such as leadership and team building, market value chains, accounting, and business relations. Part two of the workshop will guide the women through developing a green business strategy and implementation plan. The women will also be tasked with incorporating a One Health impact assessment into their enterprise plan to ensure that it advances objectives that promote climate friendly practices, strengthen regional biodiversity, and contribute to building healthier communities (humans and animals).

As we head into August, we will begin planning our annual fall fundraiser. Your continued support is so appreciated and needed as we expand the initiative to additional Southern Highlands communities. We truly have something innovative going on here! In fact, a high-profile global conservation organization recently cited the Women’s EARTH Project and WONDER Hub Initiative as a model to follow. It was an honor to receive this accolade, and it would not be possible without all of you!

With immense gratitude,

Kate and the EcoVet Global - FOECOE Teams