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How
It All Began
In
Swansea, in 2006 following a British
Council Exchange by Daniel Nyon,
a head teacher of a small school
in Paynesville, a group of women
from Africa, Continental Europe
and Wales, set up Women4Resources.
Jennifer
Twelvetrees, the founder of
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W4R, had shown Daniel round some
Community Development Schemes in
Swansea and at the end of his visit
to the Minority Ethnic Women’s
Network, he asked if the group would
be prepared to work with women in
his community...
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He said that his wife, Esther
and some friends, were trying
to set up a support system for
women who had just come through
the 14 year civil war. Many had
lost their husbands, others had
lost their chance of an education
and now were the sole supporters
of their families.
Daniel explained
that what the group |
needed
in a post conflict situation was
for the women to work together
to rebuild their community and
work towards eliminating poverty
there. We also learned that in
a time of conflict, personal violence
against women had increased resulting
in a desperate need for support
following rape and physical abuse.
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Daniel
alerted us to the extreme levels
of poverty. In Liberia one third
of the population lives below
the poverty line of less that
$1 a day. The women in our group
earn this by breaking rocks which
they prise out of the hillside.
The stones are then used for road
making and house building.
Although
we are working
with
women,
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we
draw our support from people of
all ages, backgrounds and nationalities.
We were heartened by the response
from the men we met in Liberia.
As Daniel told us,
“The
greatest resource we have is the
women’s commitment to making
a better life for their families”.
The resources we want to share
are skills, expertise, time and
money with enthusiasm and commitment
to women in Wales and Africa.
We are working closely with Hope
for Grace Kodindo and supporting
their work tackling maternal mortality
in Liberia. One in 6 women die
in childbirth , often through
easily preventable conditions.
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The
first fundraising W4R did was
to enable the Paynesville group
to open an email account and to
access internet facilities.
Esther
told us that what her growing
group of women wanted to do was
skills training for work. They
wanted to learn to sew, but didn’t
have a
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machine,
to
read and write, to
make
soap and to bake, but needed money
for teachers and for materials.
So Women4Resources – now
a registered charity, was set
up to raise money to support this
group of Liberian women.
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We
realised that women were doing
8 hours of hard physical labour
starting at 6 a.m. before spending
3 hours training with the group,
so it was important to provide
money for food each time they
meet...
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By December 2007, the group was
growing. They had a sewing teacher
and started making simple school
uniforms for children who could
not afford them...
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| Regina,
their teacher learned to sew on
a United Nations education programme
for young people as the civil
war was coming to an end. She
now teaches and makes clothes
to sell in the local market.
When we arrived in January 2008,
we
expected a group
of
about 12 but
were
delighted
to
find 35 women all
working |
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steadily through the sewing syllabus,
or waiting patiently for their chance
to try out a new technique. |
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They
work together to stir the soap
mixture and form it into balls,
ready to be dried and then sold
in the community. Large families
with no washing machines get through
a lot of soap! The money raised
goes back into the training project.
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The
group has started to learn to
bake using a converted fridge
heated by charcoal. Food such
as banana bread and donuts are
readily saleable locally.
We saw the
inspiring efforts the group are
making to support each other to
fight violence against women.
Financial
independence is
the
key to
empowering
women
to be able to challenge |
violence in their own lives and
within the community and take their
place in Civil Society. This is
mirrored in government campaigns.
www.womensphere.wordpress.com
www.peacewomen.org
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One
of the group was wearing this
tee
shirt. We saw many reception staff
in
gov't buildings wearing it |
Government
sponsored roadside
hoardings like this give a strong,
direct message |
We
know that rape, sexual health
and HIV/AIDS are issues which
continue to need addressing for
women everywhere. We want to raise
money to support and inform women
specifically in these areas since
women cannot be independent if
they are in danger from sexual
violence.
Literacy and micro finance loans
are the routes to setting up in
small businesses. Many women are
finishing their training and are
now ready to move on to independent
work. They need small amounts
of money for basic equipment and
materials to get them started.
We plan to give loans to groups
of four women who will support
each other and make sure collectively
that the loan can be repaid so
that further groups can benefit.
Micro-finance has worked successfully
in other African countries and
is well established in a neighbouring
women’s market project.
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/20/women-lead-the-way
www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/finance/download/wpap23.pdf
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..Charity Commission No.
1126029
..Copyright
© 2007 Women 4 Resources, All
rights Reserved. |
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