It’s Earth Day, and with this day comes a responsibility for us all to reflect upon what this day actually means; more importantly the trendy words we PLACE meaning on.

 What is Earth Day and why does it exist?

In my opinon, Earth Day is every day – Each year, Earth Day, April 22  marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. We have come along way since the day of hippie era, capitalizing on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center.

 In 2011, we enter into a new era of environmental concern that will ultimately shape our very existence. Environmental concern is all encompassing; which is not limited to one or two buzz words. Lets list a few: “recycle, reuse, reduce,” climate change, food security, fair trade, carbon footprinting, clean air, clean water, clean energy, endangered species, sustainable agriculture, conserve – ecetera.

 Earth Day is a day to look at all the spheres that can help save our planet, by addressing the connected qualities we all share and by doing so, the resposibility we have to our past, present and future to create lasting solutions by what I like to call….”GET YOUR GREEN ON.”

How Do I Get My Green On? My Focus is on Food Security and Our Impact:

1. Eat Locally: take more time to purchase foods from local farmers and eat seasonally. If you can, try not to purchase boxed or canned foods, think about minimizing the impact left behind. Yes, we have recycling programs, but best case scenario is to decrease the need to recycle by not having anything TO recycle. Take a peek at the 100 mile diet: www.100milediet.org. My daily dose of local includes green juice made fresh till noon, then a diet of fruits, veggies, lean protein that’s local, fair trade and ethical and I only eat what I need.  It’s that simple.

2. Get educated on Food Security: “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life. Agriculture remains the largest employment sector in most developing countries and international agriculture agreements are crucial to a country’s food security.” – WHO.  Food insecurity is not just a “poverty thing” or “we are affected because it happens over there” mentality. Take the time to educate your self on why food is insecure in other parts of the world. Ask questions – are you contributing by purchasing products that have to be imported?

3. Empower Women: According to UNICEF, women did 66 percent of the world’s work, produced 50 percent of the world’s food, and 80% of beneficiaries worldwide are women. Women are rising to key positions in power and can lead the way to a sustainable green economy. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, simply providing women farmers the same access to land, technology, financial services, education and markets as men could increase agricultural production and reduce the number of hungry people worldwide by 100-150 million.

4. Conserve Our Natural Resrouces: Wastewater is costly to treat, and requires continuous investment to ensure that the water we return to our waterways is as clean as possible. Nearly 1 billion people worldwide lack access to clean water. Water and Sanitation is crucial to capacity building. Minimize your waste, take shorter showers. Minimize bottled water, ask questions – water is for life, not for lease. Where does your bottled water come from and why? More importantly, why do you NEED to purchase water out of a bottle, when it flows from the tap?

5. Carbon Footprinting: Want a great way to get fit and help the environment, cycle, walk or run to work. Every day I commute 8-10km via my pieds. Get a memby (membership) to zip car! Great little vehicles when you need them, AND you can reduce your carbon footprint and impact on the environment.  

 It’s easy to Get Your Green On when we take the time to see ourselves as part of the solution! Today Go Get Your Green on and visit my facebook page and share it!

It’s easy to Get Your Green On when we take the time to see ourselves as part of the solution! Today Go Get Your Green on and visit my facebook page and share it!

Who gets Their Green On: Some of my favs…

Earth Day Network: www.earthday.org

A Billion Acts of Green: www.earthday.org/earth-day-2011

Care Canada: www.care.ca

Water.org: www.water.org

UNEP: www.unep.org/climatechange

 Great Movies to Watch:

 Check out Huffington Post: Earth Day’s Best Movies to Watch: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/22/earth-day-2011-movies-films-tv-video_n_852462.html#s268224&title=WASTE_LAND_

All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small. Lao Tzu 

The last 10km… originally I wanted this title to the 90-100km marker…but today my last 10km was 64km -74km. After 10km of leg seizures, dizzy spells and on the verge of tears. I had to revist my purpose and I asked myself some tough questions. My purpose of this 100km Walk In Her Shoes was to showcase the potential behind girls education.  

 Education, local capacity building and sustained economic growth, are critical to fighting poverty in developing countries. Women and girls hold the key. Walk In Her Shoes has the potential to unlock the hope and optimism towards sustained economic opportunities. This March, as Canadians WE have the chance to bring to the forefront of our time, the direct impact we can make by investing in and empowering all girls to transform their world; by mobilizing them to engage in cultural exchange, gain a global perspective, and create and lead social change. 

The last 10km is a metaphor for life, a metaphor for stepping outside your own comfort zones and investing in the bigger picture. It’s also a metaphor for success, a metaphor for the human spirit. That which is difficult, is in the eye of the beholder.  We know that the human body is resilient and  if needed can push past barriers we never thought possible. All of the physical pain we endure seems to surface in the last 10km; because we are overwhelmed with how far we have dedicated ourselves to completing a task. That task has been to fight for a cause, to fight for a higher potential that exists within all of us, to fight for an idea. To fight with compassion and to showcase CARE Canada’s fight to Defend Dignity.  Today I took over 105,045 steps. Over the last 7 weeks I have Walked and Ran over 750 km; which equals to 77,733,300 steps for women globally.

When I wake up tomorrow morning after this , I will be a new person; I will have accomplished something great - Over the past 2 decades  I have blessed with the strength to overcome my own person adversities.  My big accomplishment is that on this run, I Walked IN Her Shoes for 74km. Being compassionate means also being compassionate to yourself and I am glad I was given the opportunity to show all of you that We are strong and we are resilient. CARE Changes lives, and all of us can be part of that change!

Thank you to each of you for your encrouagment along the way - I knew I always had someone at my side!

 I will leave you with two words– COMPASSIONATE LIBERATION.  

“Our history is not a history of the marginalization and exclusion of women. Our history is a history of the empowerment of women. We’re not trying to invent something new. We’re trying to pick up where we left off.” – Ingrid Mattson 

The last 10km is dedicated to my parents – the are my heart and soul.

My dad Bruce Jamieson (My Hero)

My mom Nora Donnelly (1951-2008)

Please visit CARE Canada at www.care and follow our global campaign till International Womens Day on March 8th 2011.

55km marker! Over half way on our 100km journey – one word EMPOWERING. Physically your body tires, hits the wall, tires again, feels depleted. Then something indescribable takes places – your thoughts, your inner suffering of the physical pain is replaced my intermitted moments of… “you can do this,” don’t give up, “stay strong.” In all my travels, in all my years of sacrificing Friday nights to watch documentaries and grazing over UN reports and national reports on the MDG’s the G8 Summits – it comes to this!

This is why the number “100” is so important. It represents the 60 -100 million lost women in the world. It represents empowerment, the right to live free, freedom to choose. I could have chose, but I chose 100. Walk In Her Shoes is about INVESTING, it’s about connecting. Your Donations – invest in their livelihood. By empowering women, we empower communities.

The fourth tool in our SUSTAINABLE TOOK KIT – is ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT!

What CARE is doing?
Whether a mother and father are living in Calgary or Kenya, it is certain that they want an opportunity to improve the lives of their families.
Throughout the developing world, people are willing to work hard to achieve the best life possible; they often have the ideas and the know-how necessary for success, yet lack the investment, the tools and the access to markets that are readily available to many in the Western world and that are necessary to take informal businesses to the next level.
By helping hardworking people in poor communities access capital, micro credit, training and markets, CARE can help them develop a business that will not only benefit the individual, but that will have a rippling effect through hired labour, through local investments and purchases, and through a heightened economy.
Inspire. Empower. Mobilize.
Visit CARE Canada for more information on Walk In Her Shoes, International Women’s Day and more… at www.care.ca

Well what do you know, I just ran a marathon! Someone ELEVATE ME! The 3rd leg is a picturesque view of what the North Shore is all about – the beach; spans many kms that look out to the city nestled in a glorious marriage of sand and sea.

Elevate Me! will feed the hungry patrons of West Vancouver (and anyone else along the 100km route), along with my Health Sponsor Dr. Ali who has graciously offered to feed me raw food all day long; consisting of fruit and veg smoothies, nuts and seeds, coconut water and gluten free raw goodness. To have food in this abundance is a luxury we should feel happy to have.

The third tool in our SUSTAINABLE TOOK KIT – is FOOD SECURITY!

Food insecurity is a struggle that many countries living below (well below) the poverty line fall victim to. CARE Canada was the pioneer of the CARE Package and emergency relief throughout the world when disaster hits. With the support of many other partner organizations they are amongst the first to respond.

West Africa: Countries in the northwest region of Africa faced severe food insecurity in 2010 as a result of poor rainfall and crop failures. Most affected were Niger, Chad and Mali, but the effects were also felt in the northern parts of Nigeria and Burkina Faso. As always, women bear the brunt of the emergency. It is the women who implement household coping strategies during food crises. Women, for example, are responsible for rationing meals or for harvesting leaves and wild fruits to supplement the family’s diet. When all this isn’t enough, it is the small animals – the women’s savings – which are sold to buy food.
What is CARE doing?
CARE launched cash-for-work programs to help starving families meet food requirements and purchase seeds; we provided emergency food distribution; and we supplied nutritional aid for malnourished children – Niger efforts have reached 147,000 mothers, fathers and children.
Gaza: The three-year blockade against Gaza has systematically dismantled the economy and left civilian infrastructure in a state of collapse. The blockade has reduced the population to near-complete dependence on international food assistance. Nearly 40 percent of the Palestinian population is food-insecure and unemployment levels in the West Bank and Gaza Strip remain high. As always, CARE maintains a key focus on working with women. In partnership with community organizations, we are empowering 2500 vulnerable, displaced Palestinian women to play a much stronger role in the social, political and economic spheres of their communities.

Strolling in I am greeted by so many familiar faces, friends, family and patrons of the village. Edgemont holds many dear memories for me, as it is the resting place of my mother who passed 2.5 years ago. Delany’s was her favorite spot to sit to feed the village pups and therefore; it seems only natural that this should house the meeting point of our second leg.

The second tool in our SUSTAINABLE TOOK KIT – is HEALTH.

Healthcare in general is not easy to come by in poverty; women need to walk far distances for minor health issues. Here is how CARE is helping to combat issues like maternal mortality, sexual abuse and HIV/ AIDS. There is hope.

Maternal Health
The G8 Summit
The leaders of the G8 countries met in Canada in June 2010, and maternal health was tabled as a top priority for the Summit. Commitments were made to help fund the health of pregnant women, new mothers and infants, and CARE Canada and many other organizations will be pushing hard to make sure the leaders back up their words with concrete action.
HIVAIDS

Thirty million people around the world are infected with HIV or AIDS; more than 95 per cent of this population lives in the developing world. CARE focuses on a multi-faceted and community-based approach to HIV and AIDS that seeks out the root of the problem, as well as the effects. To achieve this, CARE focuses on tackling the poverty that is both the cause and consequence of HIV and AIDS.

Big Topics, Call for Big Ideas…and Big Ideas Call for Big Action… Lets carry on shall we. I am off from the 36km marker whipping down Cap Road to West Vancouver at the 42km mark.

What Care is doing?
Mothers Matter will:
1. Improve access to emergency obstetric care, skilled birth care and family planning through responsive health systems.
2. Mobilize communities to claim ownership and shared responsibility for women’s and newborns’ access to quality health care.
3. Ensure a woman’s right to a safe pregnancy, delivery and immediate post-partum period by holding decision makers accountable for effective policy.
4. Galvanize donors and governments globally to commit increased resources

Education is a fundamental human right—a vital resource in overcoming poverty and inequality globally. All youth have the right to quality basic education, the bedrock for a productive life.

Consider this:
• Women in Sub-Saharan Africa are more than 1.5 times as likely as men to contract HIV.
• More than 60% of the 110 million children out of school are girls.
• One in three women and girls in the developing world live on less than $2 a day
When a woman or girl is empowered, entire families and communities prosper. A few of the girl-friendly sustainable model tools in the educational toolbox include:
Consider the solution:

• Separate sanitation facilities
• Eliminating gender stereotyping in educational materials
• Encouraging recruitment and deployment of women teachers as role models
• Putting in place systems/processes to ensure safety for girls in school
• Scholarship programs for girls

CARE is bringing this I am Powerful message to Canadians and is challenging past notions that portray women and girls living in poverty as victims, rather than survivors. I Am Powerful is a true representation of the women and girls living in the developing world. It is about their strength, their resilience and their inherent power to fight poverty and effect positive change.

I am off from 12km – 30km on my own…ramping up for WIHS Edgemont Village/Grouse Leg Two….

Lib.er.ate.ed

1. To set free, as from oppression, confinement, or foreign control
2. given liberty; freed; released

What does it mean to be liberated?

This question has been at the forefront of my thoughts for the last few months. Developing this Vancouver campaign for CARE has brought up some necessary questions on the roles women play both in the Western world and the role women play in the developing world. Over the past 100 years women have fought for equality, justice and their basic human rights – the right to equal wage, the right to vote, the right to choose to have children, the right to marry whom they wish, not whom is pre determined, the right to health care, the right to …the list goes on.

 100 years of liberation…yet are we liberated? It seems that in all my research the term “liberated” or “liberation” means to free, to be your own governing body, to come ad go as you please without restraint or fear of injustice. If this is what it means to be liberated then I say we are well on our way, but to achieve full liberation – we have a long road ahead. If the last 100 years has shown us anything it is that the human spirit can prevail against all odds, that women have the power to stand tall when others may fall, and that the path to liberation is merely a thought that spawns an action that can surpass any border, boundary or fear that may lay in our path.

 Tomorrow I embark on my own journey of liberation, a small piece of the global puzzle towards understanding the dynamics women globally face in poverty. I will walk 100km to support these women and their fight for liberation, and in doing so it brings me closer to me own liberation, compassion and connection with something so much larger than myself.  I encourage you all to follow along my journey tomorrow, so that it becomes not my journey – but ours! Together we CAN make a difference, and in CARE’s words;

 “She has the Power to Change her world, You have the power to help her do it.”

START TIME DETAILS FOR EACH LEG: 

Leg 1: Deep Cove/North Vancouver 6am @ Sutherland Secondary

Leg 2: Edgemont Village/Grouse 9am @ Delany’s in Edgemont

Leg 3: West Vancovuer 12pm @ Ambleside Dog Par Parking Lot

Leg 4: Stanley Park/Kits/BC 2pm @ Corner of Denman/Georgia North Side

Leg 5: North Shore Final Home Stretch 6pm @ Corner of Denman/Georgia North Side

 FINISH: Sutherland Secondary School @ 8pm (ish)

FOLLOW OUR EVENT:

I will be uploading videos to this blog, tweeting at SarahMJamieson and our Walk In Her Shoes Vancouver Event  Facebook page

 CARE

Over the past 60 years, CARE has witnessed the power women and girls hold to break the cycle of poverty. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by poverty, representing over 70% of population living on less than $2 a day, yet they are key agents of change.

For example, when you educate a girl, you educate her future children, you help her have a safe and healthy childbirth, and you will help her contribute to household income. Furthermore, CARE has seen firsthand that domestic abuse cases drop when women are economically empowered.

This International Women’s Day make a lasting difference and empower women and girls around the world to fight global poverty. Share stories, read stories from around the world and find your meaning of liberation. Free yourself by investing in another – that is the meaning of true liberation.

FEATURED STORY FOR WALK IN HER SHOES:

Walk in Her Shoes – Lillian Akoth Ndolo

As part of the Walk in Her Shoes Challenge, CARE has teamed up with two women, Shukri and Lillian, who have benefitted from CARE programs in Kenya. They have agreed to wear pedometers and you’ll be able to follow their steps on the CARE website. We’ll also talk to them about what their lives were like over those days.

Lillian Akoth Ndolo is a 49-year-old married mother of five children and lives in the Gem District of Wangoji Village, Kenya. All of her children have successfully finished their basic education, but Lillian remains a very busy woman. She spends much of her day on her farm, working three hectares of land and selling most of the produce she grows. This income helps ensure her family can pay for basic necessities.

Despite her busy days working at home, Lillian also volunteers as a community health care worker. Attached to Dienya Health Center and in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health, she conducts daily visits to members of her community, teaching people about the benefits of ensuring good health through good hygiene. She collects data on births, deaths and emerging communicable diseases, and as a home-based care provider, she takes care of four patients living with HIV.

All of this activity requires a great deal of walking. Lillian says, “I walk a lot when I go to the river to fetch water, collect firewood, go to the market and while doing home visits in the home-based care programme.”

Lilian is a direct beneficiary of the CARE Safe Water Systems Program. The program aims to improve the quality of drinking water at household and clinic levels in order to reduce the incidence of diarrhea and other water-borne diseases in Nyanza Province of Kenya. “The information on safe water from CARE has enabled me to conduct my daily visits and demonstrate to my clients how to prepare safe water and the importance of using the PUR water treatment system rather than the regular water guard. This has really helped in the prevention of diarrheal diseases among the people living with HIV and AIDS.”

Walk in Her Shoes - Shukri Omar Abdullahi

As part of the Walk in Her Shoes Challenge, CARE has teamed up with two women, Shukri and Lillian, who have benefitted from CARE programs in Kenya. They have agreed to wear pedometers and you’ll be able to follow their steps on the CARE website. We’ll also talk to them about what their lives were like over those days.

Shukri’s day starts at 5am. She walks straight to the market to open the shop – this takes half an hour. During food distribution days, she walks another half hour from the shop to the distribution centre and back to the market. She must also walk to collect her daily rations of firewood and water. In a typical day, Shukri will walk about 7 hours, carrying loads of food, firewood and water by herself.

A 33-year-old single mother, she came to the Dagahaley refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya as a refugee in May 2008. While living in Somalia, she suffered through the murder of her husband and a horrible attack which left her both mentally and physically traumatized.

It was the latter that that convinced Shukri that she needed to leave Somalia. The road to Kenya wasn’t easy. Her attack had made walking difficult and painful, but Shukri took her two children (seven and ten at the time) and made the long walk.

CARE came to know Shukri through the Gender and Development project office in Dagahaley. They continue to provide psychological assistance and counseling to Shukri to help her deal with the trauma she has suffered.

They are also working with Shukri to build a better life. CARE teamed Shukri up with a group of women and provided them the basic capital and resources to open up a simple grocery stall. They sell rice, sugar, milk, soap and other necessities and they have decided to save their profits from the venture to expand their business in the future.

- The Ethical Rambler

An amazing dinner  last week with my good friend Captain Croucher of the National Defense and Canadian Armed Forces, led to an evening of riveting insight and conversation into one of Canada’s most talked about missions –  Afghanistan. Flying in from Ottawa, on his way to the NATO Conference in Australia, John and shared stories of how our lives had changed over the last several years! Captain Croucher, who returned to Canada after suffering an injury in Afghanistan, said that he still believes in the work being done to bring freedom and democracy that country.

In 2006, Captain Croucher sat on the panel at the National Forum on Canada’s role in the war-torn country, spoke on Understanding Afghanistan Women’s Rights in Afghanistan. He is one of the most inspiration people I know, and with the upcoming International Women’s Day, we had much to be joyous about and much to reflect upon, both having quite different experiences in conflict war zones. My humanitarian deployment to Sudan was nothing like his deployment  in Afghanistan, but our missions were one the same – to strive for peace and service to others. Captain Croucher still continues active duty, and continues to speak up on human rights, equality and what Canadians can do to shift the paradigm and support women globally.

As part of our featured projects for the weeks leading up to the Walk In Her Shoes Event, CARE Canada is forging forward to bring education and economic opportunity to women in Afghanistan.

 Featured Program: CARE Canada: The power of independence

 The widows of Afghanistan are one of the most vulnerable groups in the world. Under Taliban rule, they were not allowed to go to school or work outside the home. As a result, up to 97% have no education or marketable skills.

Today, many widows are not qualified for the jobs they need to provide for their families. Most subsist on less than a dollar a day per person in the home. Many are forced into begging or prostitution, and rely on their children to work towards the household income. This means that yet another generation will have to survive without education.

Learning for a better life 

We are working together with the women in Afghanistan to find solutions that will help them enter the workforce and achieve independence through the Vocational Training for Afghan Women Project (VTAWP).

The project helps women build their own livelihoods by training them in skills that are in demand and by helping them in their job search. The women are linked to services like savings and loans groups, micro-financing and business training. We also work with widows’ rights associations to increase community acceptance of workplace roles for women.

The widows who participate in VTAWP learn the skills they need to earn a stable income, overcome the cycle of poverty and provide a better future for their children. Through the VTAWP, CARE will train 1,750 widows, helping roughly 8,750 Afghan women and children over the next three years.

Featured Story: Zahara’s new life

‘Thanks to the support of your country I am able to do this. You have changed my life.’

Apologizing for the debris, Zahara Fathi sweeps and clears the clutter of another busy night at the wedding hall. This is her third week as the resident beautician, and she is quickly discovering that in Afghanistan there’s no shortage of special occasions that need celebrating.

Forced to flee fighting at the tender age of one, hers has been a long journey, returning to Kabul in 2005 after 20 years in Iran.

‘I wasn’t able to complete my schooling, and so when we returned I could not work, because I didn’t have any skills. All I could do was sit in the house’ explained Zahara.

Occasionally, when her chores were done, she would walk to a beauty shop that had been opened in her area and gaze through the windows.

‘I would go and watch the beautician’s work, I have always been interested.’

When Zahara learned that CARE was running a beautician training course as part of its Vocational Training for Afghan Women Project, she registered straight away.

She was accepted on to the course, which is aimed particularly at families with an income of less than $1 per day, per person. And for the last five and a half months she has been learning the tools of the beautician’s trade, from cutting and styling hair, to make-up and manicures.

So far this year, 300 of Kabul’s poorest residents, like Zahara, have graduated with skills in various trades including house wiring, mobile repair, embroidery and food processing. CARE also provides basic literacy training, as well as lessons on women’s rights and health and hygiene.

After her graduation, Zahara brought her certificate to the wedding hall and showed it to the owner, enquiring about work, and was asked to start straight away.

‘I learned so much on the course, but now I am working I am learning even more. Every night we have a wedding party with new and different needs.’

For Zahara, learning a skill was a truly life changing experience, and not just because of the 10,000 afghanis she will soon be able to earn a month.

‘I have a new found confidence. For the first time I know I am important for my family and my community. People come to me for work.’

‘Thanks to the support of your country I am able to do this. You have changed my life.’

Join us  for Walk In Her Shoes on International Womens Day, and celebrate 100 years! Walk In Her Shoes Info located on our previous post, or visit www.care.ca

- The ethical rambler

INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY 100th ANNIVERSARY

What are you doing to celebrate 100 years?

In the poorest communities around the world, women and girls are often the ones tasked to collect water, firewood or other basic necessities of life. They walk on average 6 kilometres a day (approximately 8,000 steps) while carrying the equivalent of a suitcase. This leaves little time to attend school, access health services or earn money to support their families.

Care Canada  knows that when women and girls are empowered to tackle these issues, whole families and communities directly benefit. This is why CARE believes the empowerment of women and girls is instrumental in the fight against poverty.

 On March 6th join me and walk or un a minimum of 6km! I am pledging to walk/run 100km, and empowering my community to walk part of my plegde with me.

JOIN MY TEAM:

5 legs to choose from:

Start/Finish @ Sutherland Secondary

Start Time: 6am

Leg 1: North Shore/Deep Cove (okm-24km): @ 6am

Leg 2: Edgemont Village/Grouse Mountain (24km – 42km): @ 9am

Leg 3: West Vancouver (42km – 55km): 12pm

Leg 4: Stanley Park/Kits/UBC (55km – 90km): 2pm

Leg 5: North Shore Final (90km-100km):  6pm

Finish: 8pm

Education, local capacity building and sustained economic growth, are critical to fighting poverty in developing countries. Women and girls hold the key. Walk In Her Shoes has the potential to unlock the hope and optimism towards sustained economic opportunities.

 This March, as Canadians WE have the chance to bring to the forefront of our time, the direct impact we can make by investing in and empowering all girls to transform their world; by mobilizing them to engage in cultural exchange, gain a global perspective, and create and lead social change. 

 Make your voice count, for the 60-100 million lost women who may not have the opportunity to stand tall for thier rights. This ONE act of compassion we can do! Together we can make a difference.

For more information on Walk In Her Shoes, Event Info, Run Route and How to register email Sarah Jamieson at walkinhershoes@gmail.com

Follow us here:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Sarah-Jamieson/552365408#!/event.php?eid=187231347969689

Twitter: http://twitter.com/SarahMJamieson

Care Canada: www.care.ca – Join our team

Yours in Care – the ethical rambler

CARE Featured Project: Zimbabwe: Sewing for success

Last week we looked at CARE Canada’s project n Cambodia, where we focused in on the importance of education. In this weeks editorial, we take a stroll down the sustainable model’s pipeline and showcase where education AND opportunity for economic empowerment can have a powerful impact on women and their communities. This economic empowerment comes from the opportunity behind VS&L (Village, Savings and Loans).

 MFI AND VS&L METHODS:

 As we know microfinance has become a mature industry in many parts of the world it has proven largely unable to penetrate remote rural areas because the costs of doing so are high and the demand for credit quite restricted.  Most of the people who live in rural areas and in urban slums (and particularly the very poor) receive no services. This  leaves a very large gap in the MFI availability. Therefore, out of the philosophy of MFI credit loans, comes VS&L.

The VS&L model is a savings-based approach that has proven on a very large scale that it can substantially fill this gap and CARE International was the first to establish and implement this form of transaction. By intermediating small local pools of capital to satisfy household cash-management needs it provides immediately sustainable and profitable savings, insurance and credit services to people who live in places where banks and MFIs do not have a presence. The type of model allow a small group of people, usually women to pool their funds.

They can take out loans; where typical loans are in the order of $10-20, which is far too small for MFIs to consider.  Members are also able to receive insurance services, mitigating the effects of unforeseen disasters, and can set up funds for school fees, festivals and other predictable annual events. 

MEET  EUNICE – THE GOOD SHEPHERD:

 Meet The Good Shepherd, a thriving independent business owned by 53-year-old Eunice Mary Chitafi.  Zimbabwe’s small, rural towns are dotted with abandoned shops, often the result of ill-prepared owners or operators. On Mapanzure’s main road she is an inspiring exception.

Eunice’s success started with her local Village Savings and Loan (VS&L) group. The group started by investing just $2 per month. She was initially loaned $10 from the group to purchase fabric. Eunice’s success started with her local Village Savings and Loan (VS&L) group. The group started by investing just $2 per month. She was initially loaned $10 from the group to purchase fabric. She used that fabric to make school uniforms and sold a remarkable $100 worth of them, allowing her to repay her loan and earn a remarkable $90 profit. Eunice did this over and over again until she was able to purchase a sewing machine and even hire laborers.

CARE’s VS&L training helped Eunice craft a strategy and apply it with planning and sound business knowledge. From the profits of her seamstress business she has built a brand new 2-room house, complete with household items, kitchen utensils and a sanitary latrine. Eunice’s success not only allows her to send her six children to school, but she is also able to provide free school uniforms to orphan children in her community.

For thousands of women worldwide, CARE’s VS&L programs offer an escape from the crushing cycle of poverty. For these women, VS&L spells empowerment.

“I appreciate CARE and especially their worker, Francis,” says Eunice. “Because of CARE I can do what I want to accomplish for my family. CARE taught me how to survive and I can take care of myself. This is the right way.”  

Village Savings and Loan (VS&L) projects have revolutionized the lives of thousands of women and their families in some of the most impoverished places where CARE is present.

CONCLUSION:

working with rural based small groups, VS&L  plays an integral role in lifting women and communities out of poverty. It paves the way for private sector development and small growth for growing entrepreneurs. If we are to eradicate poverty, VS&L is part of the solution. For more stories like Eunice’s please visit CARE Canada at www.care.ca.

The Ethical Rambler…