By Danielle and Wicki and all the Just Shea Women | Project Team
Happy Summer! Sometimes our news is big and splashy, saving women’s lives, helping kids get to school, that sort of thing, but for the last few months we have been designing and implementing a follow-up survey to better measure our impact on the safety and incomes of the Just Shea women. Here are some of the things they said. We think it is exciting, and bet you will too:
Fati Abdul-Karim told us “I stepped on something once in the bush while picking shea. When I turned to check it was a snake biting my foot. But because of the boots it did not penetrate. I was then able to move away and grab a stone to smash it.”
Aliatu Adam said “Because my hands were protected I picked nuts faster.”
Because of her solar light Fatimata Iddrisu says last season “I was able to see a lot of nuts that I am sure I would not have seen if I didn’t have the light”
And we think Abukari Amina really drove home all of our efforts to help these women improve their lives and harvests when she proclaimed “even if Just Shea doesn’t [help us buy] the safety kits [with our sheanuts] again we will make efforts to buy it because of its benefits.”
Thanks to you, the Pay it Forward safety kits specifically designed for the Just Shea women, help them collect shea more safely, more efficiently and harvest an even larger crop. And we could not be more proud to share their testimonies.
But harvesting more just isn’t enough. And that’s why we launched the revolving Just Shea Social Loan Fund.
We are so thrilled to tell you that 99 of the Just Shea Women have taken out their first $20 loans using their shea as collateral! And we’ve had 100% repayment so far.
Another 276 deserving Just Shea moms are on a waiting list who need your help. So help them and pitch in.
These loans allow them to cover urgent cash needs in the Hungry Months. Costs like planting food crops and paying kids’ school fees, and also allow them to hold out for often exponentially higher prices for their shea later in the year.
And the Loan Fund is revolving. So when the women pay back, and remember we’ve had 100% repayment so far, it goes back into the fund and continues to grow as the Just Shea Collective does.Our goal to raise $100 per woman for the Fund. But no amount is too small. Really! They can leverage their shea to turn just a $20 loan into an acre of peanuts to earn up to $150 in additional income!
The rains have started and planting season is now!
JOIN US, and plant seeds of hope, safety and success.
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