Gender Equality India Project #54964

Equipping Women Artisans to Lead in India and Keny

by Project Tres

Equipping Women Artisans to Lead in India and Keny

Project Report | Mar 9, 2023
Updates from Project Tres - Jan. and Feb. 2023

By Carla Maria de Souza | Founder and Managing Director

Hey there,

I would like to take this opportunity to say thanks to every and each of you who donated to us in the past months.

Besides our monthly supporters, we have ran a crowdfunding campaign from December 2022 to January this year, aiming to secure fully the yearly expenses in terms of social impact we have in both countries.

We got 92 donations during this campaign, and together we managed to raise 8868€ (after fees we received today 7828,24€) out of the 25000€ required to continue our work this year. Even though we didn’t raise all we needed, the funds will be extremely helpful for the continuation of our social programs this year, and without you, that wouldn’t be possible.

I know sometimes it’s hard to stay connected and motivated to help when there are so many different issues going on in the world at the same time. For that reason, it means a lot to us when you decide to take your time and your resources, to believe in the work we do.

What happens next?

The funds will be used to cover our centers rent, continue the mental health program, cover part of the school fees we require for the year 2023, and partially cover the monthly payments of the 10 women already working with us in both countries. As the situation is right now, we won't increase the number of women paid monthly as we planned, will have to reduce the food support only for extreme cases, and will continue to fundraise in order to cover the school fees for all the remaining 16 children in India and 24 in Kenya.

We will need to raise the remaining money throughout the year.

Currently we continuously look for funding opportunities in the government and through foundations, and we are hopeful that will happen this year. On the other hand, we have to keep on trying to secure what is needed through the ways we also already know: people. For that, in the upcoming months, we will be promoting our sponsorship option, where individuals (like you) can donate to us on a monthly basis, choosing the option you prefer to invest in (mental health programs, project development, administrative costs, education, food, and health support).

Thanks for already being the first ones doing this! If you can also spread the word about your sponsorship and invite others to do the same, that will be extremely helful. At the moment we count on around 500€ monthly donations and we are aiming to reach 1000€ in the next 3 months.

We are also looking for companies interested on donating to our organization, so if you are an entrepreneur and would like to know more about the initiatives we are aiming to fund via corporative donations, send me an email via carla@project-tres.org and I can give you further information.

Thanks for your contributions, for your hard work as a volunteer, and for your support as a friend spamming your network with our posts and campaigns. I know these are hard times but together, we will navigate through that once again, and I feel very grateful to have had you all this time (or just joining us now) along this journey.

A big hug,

Carla.

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Nov 9, 2022
Our impact in India and Kenya - October 2022

By Carla Maria de Souza | Founder and Managing Director

The women in Goa having a meeting in our center

Hello dear supporter,

I hope you are healthy and safe wherever you are.

After 2,5 years of not going back to India, it was time to visit again.

I spent almost a month with our team there, alongside some of our team members from all over the world. We used this time to share everything we went through in the past years, which we didn't really have the chance to talk about while we were away.

This time was also crucial to prove how much the work we have been doing for over 6 years, works and makes a difference. I always believed we could create something completely self-managed by the women in India and Kenya, focusing on the least interference possible from outside, leaving us with time to focus on getting more financial support for our work through sales and donations, as well as structure our organization in Germany. To go back and see that indeed what I believed together with our team was happening, was very rewarding.

The women are feeling proud, and confident, and they see that what they do makes a difference in the world. They see themselves more and more as leaders, and they exercise their voices and wishes on a daily basis within our organization. We had for the first time, a team of 10 volunteers in partnership with Karibu, a volunteering agency from Brazil. They all worked closely with us to bring some new programs to life, as well as share useful knowledge and learn back from the women.

The main projects we had going during this time, were:

* Starting our computer classes with them - introducing them to computers, internet searches, spreadsheets, and emails. Some of them are performing management work in our organization, and to shift from paper to digital is going to be a big step to make our work more effective;

* The volunteers ran workshops on the subjects of - first aid (how to react in health emergencies), hospitality (since many of them work with tourism in Goa), introduction to finances (investment, loans, basic money management), massage and self-care (for others and themselves), menstruation and sexuality, and we still did a beach clean up <3

The time with the volunteers from Karibu was beautiful and the women loved every moment, especially when they received certificates for the great work they did. The team of volunteers also supported us deeply by buying many of our products and donating to our work.

As the program got to an end, I continued there working with them on developing some new products, and getting our production ready to go (I brought a lot of things back to Germany, so if you want to buy something for us, now is the time), we discussed the future of our work and the fact that we want to have more women joining us soon, and we finally had our picnic, something they have been asking for in a while, and since covid-19 started, we never managed to make it a reality.

It was nourishing and inspiring, and I come back from there with my heart full of love and energy to continue our work, always searching for the best partners to amplify what we do, thankful to every and each of you out there donating, buying and volunteering with us, and sure that soon is going to be time for us to thrive again after those years of caution and uncertainty.

If you know someone looking for a serious organization to support, or looking for good Christmas gift ideas, remember to spread the word about us!

With love and so much gratitude for your trust and support,

Carla.

Carla and Rupa

Ladies at Project Tres center - October 2022

Ladies and volunteers at Project Tres Center

Our team + kids during picnic in Goa - October 22

Muskan learning how to do her work on the computer

Kids in the center during the weekend painting

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Jul 13, 2022
Our impact in India and Kenya - June and July 22

By Carla Maria de Souza | Founder

Jane, Mwanaidd and Juliette working in Kenya

Hello dear supporter,

I hope you are healthy and safe wherever you are.

Today I'm here to share some updates with you. Last time here I mentioned the possibility of adding 3 women to the project in Kenya (2 mamas and one teenager), and up to now, we managed to include 2 of them (one mama and one teenager). The younger one is attending a boarding school fully sponsored by us (from the school fees to the money she needs for food), and the mama is a widow with 2 children.

We are slowly shifting away from the monthly rent support we had going on since covid-19 started, and from the 7 women previously supported with rent, we have reduced this number to 3.

A few days ago, unfortunately, one of our members in Kenya died. Her name was Mary, she was the mother of Peter (7) and Ian (4), and she was a valued member of our project and her community. The women are still very touched by that and we are working together with Hai Africa to make sure the kids are going to continue in Kabiria (the community we operate) and attend school since this was always Mary's dream.

In India, we are preparing ourselves for a volunteering experience taking place in October this year, where some of our team members from all over the world will be there as well. The goal is to introduce computer classes to the women during this time, so they can achieve even more within the project and for other opportunities as well.

Our mental health program continues to take place in both countries and we are working on the next production order, which should start this month. This month, we have completed covering the school fees required for this year, and we have supported the education of 14 children in India and of 3 teenagers in Kenya, summing 17 sponsorships.

The women working in Project Tres mentioned while we ran a couple of interviews, that the project had a positive impact directly on their confidence and self-esteem, and their ability to provide for their family and children in very difficult times. They asked that I extend their thank you to each of you for supporting them with donations.

I hope you understand the impact of your contribution to our work.

Thanks for trusting us and actively making part of a more equal world,

Carla.

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