Empower Women through the Self Help Group Approach

In my last report in May, I spoke about the new Cluster Level Association (CLA) we had started in Sekororo. Today we launched our first CLA in Bolobedu.What a successful meeting that was! The 20 members of the CLA are all fired up and ready to advocate for improved conditions in their various communities! Our Community Facilitators (CFs) are also very excited about this CLA, while at the same time, working hard to establish new groups in the various villages which make up Bolobedu. We now have 4 CLAs in the different areas where we work. The CFs who started CLAs a while ago, attended a CLA meeting with our colleagues at "Keep the Dream 194" on Monday, and they benefitted greatly from the exchange of ideas they had there, and are eager to make their CLAs more effective in their own communities. We, at Thusanang, feel that we have been supporting SHGs for more than 10 years now, and the time is right to encourage the added focus on community matters while still trying to improve the standard of living of the rural women who make up the SHGs.

Other exciting news is that our Project Officer (PO) has just given birth to a baby girl, so she is on maternity leave. We are very keen to welcome the new baby. This means that Vivian, our former PO, who is now back on Early Childhood Development (ECD) training, is spending as much time as she can with all the CFs and Self Help Groups (SHGs).  We recently appointed 3 new CFs, Dinah, Joyce and Virginia, in Bolobedu. We hope they will be able to make a difference in their communities, and will enjoy their time at Thusanang.

 We continue to encourage our SHG members to try to start small income-generating businesses in their communities as this makes paying back their loans so much easier. We recently had a man (there are only 2 in the whole project!) in one of our SHGs who started a business making wreaths for funerals. He supplies burial societies in Limpopo with wreaths and has recently expanded his business to include Mpumalanga as well. He now employs 4 people to help him in his business. So not only has his lifestyle improved greatly since joining the group, but also that of 4 other previously unemployed people as well.

We have not taken part in any GlobalGiving Fundraising Campaigns this year, but we continue to be extremely grateful to our recurring donors and any once off donations we receive. Your generosity helps us to help so many people. Thank you very much.

Links:

• Help Rural Women Help Themselves