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International & Public Affairs

Women Reaching Women
Africa Day - 24 June 2010

Over 90 members gathered at Grazeley Hall on a beautiful summer day in anticipation of a most interesting day. They were not disappointed. After welcome and introductions, Valerie Hudson gave an update about the Women Reaching Women project.

Roger Stoakley,our first speaker, told us about Ambrose, a disabled Samburu boy he had befriended. The Samburu live in a remote and very dry area of East Africa where children are expected to look after the goats and cattle from a very early age and become self-reliant before they are in their teens. Roger told of his experiences when he visited them.Roger with his book 'My Samburu Warrior and I'

Then we heard from a dedicated lady, Wangari Cecilia, who had been brought up in poverty in Kenya.
Wangari Cecilia with a map of Kenya
She had seen how HIV decimated families and that education was the only way out of poverty for her people and had a dream of setting up a boarding school in Karuri where she could give a home to AIDS orphans.
She had come to England to work so that she could save enough money to realise her dream. The Karuri Scholl Project now has four school-rooms, and dormitories are already being built, giving work to the local community. In another effort to raise funds, she buys bags made by local women, imports and sells them.  These were very popular with the members and Wangari was able to add a sizeable sum to her funds as a consequence.Wangari Cecilia with Karuri bags for sale

Our ACWW representative, Jan Guiver, then spoke of the work of ACWW and how it aims to help people help themselves.

Members enjoying lunch in the sunshine

During lunch, members were able to enjoy the sunshine and browse the information provided by the speakers.

In the post lunch slot, Sarah Moore of Tree Aid kept everyone awake with her talk on the work of this small charity, which works in the arid region of West Africa – Mali, Bukina Faso and Northern Ghana. Here unpredictable rains threaten crops and the people have resorted to cutting trees for firewood in order to feed their families. This only serves to make the land more vulnerable to soil erosion. Sarah Moore of Tree Aid

Tree Aid provides skills and knowledge to local communities to help them set up village tree businesses. Many of the native trees provide valuable sources of food or saleable products and these are planted in orchards. Other trees suitable for firewood are planted in woodlots so that there is a clear distinction between those that may be cut and those that should be protected.  Tree nurseries have been set up which provide the trees to the villages. In this way, villagers can build a secure future for themselves as well as protecting the environment. The women are also empowered by the process as they are also encouraged to take part and are the ones to process the tree products.

Finally, NFWI Chair Ruth Bond, told us about her visit to Malawi with Oxfam.   She visited various areas and was shown how difficult it was for pregnant women to get medical care. There are still too many women unnecessarily dying in childbirth, leaving their mothers to look after the surviving children with no help from the father.

 The members left for home inspired to help these projects in any way they can.