My AWLI and Board leadership experience at AMwA

I attended the AWLI of February 2002 which took place for African women in the diaspora in Birmingham, UK. The AWLI experience came at a time in my life when I was looking to break through back into the development sector. I moved to the UK in 1998 from Zambia where I started in 1992 as a legal assistant working in the Legal Division of the then Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern Africa (PTA) which has now evolved into the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) where I was key in establishing and heading a Unit on Women in Business. In this role, I worked with private sector, businesses led by women (small and medium scale) as well as with Governments on policy issues to create more opportunities and conducive trade policy environment for women to operate in. During my time in Zambia, I also worked on the UNFPA fourth Country Support programme to Zambia on Gender, Population and Development leading the work on creating advocacy capacities at community level.

On reflection, I look back and believe that I was privileged to have had that level of exposure so early in my career. In particular, I later appreciated Dr Hawa Sinare who was the Director of Legal at COMESA, a woman who worked very hard and was very principled in her approach to her work. From observing her, I learnt how to be true to your values in the face of challenges.

My move to the UK turned out to be a re-education programme that took me through very challenging moments as a professional, as a woman and as an African. For a while I lost sight of the confidence, self-esteem and self-worth that had been instilled in me from childhood. I guess this is something for another story! The 2002 AWLI was timely for me because I had started to question myself to look for my identity again. Perhaps one of the most impactful things to come out of the AWLI was seeing a number of black African women who had managed to succeed, to overcome the many obstacles and who were now on a path to inspiring other women.

I left the AWLI and seriously begun to plan and to pursue my dreams. I was reminded of the strength that came from within and of my faith, which had undergone major setbacks. I raised my head and looked forward and I have not stopped since. The only time I look back is to ensure that I too can help pull others who are behind.

I also made some lifelong friends from that AWLI, friends for whom I am and will be eternally grateful.

Her inspiration to continuously identify with and support AMwA through the  years

If each one of us, can find it in themselves, to hold a few hands as we move towards success, then many more women and girls will be lifted out of poverty, challenges and moments of despair. The concept of transformational leadership that AMwA stands for….the idea that African women can and do contribute to the leadership of Africa, is one that appeals to me at a very deep and fundamental level and therefore my support for AMwA is founded on that. The organization does not and will not always get everything right, but the space that AMwA provides for African women to engage, to find themselves and to look up and ahead, is a space that was won under difficult circumstances and it is a space that we should guard jealously.

Amenda- 3rd from right with board members 

AMwA through the lens

As an alumnus who has passionately walked the AMwA journey over the years I envision AMwA’s position in spearheading African women’s leadership as key to the development and sustainability of Africa, African economic, social and cultural development, African businesses and Africa’s future. AMwA should continue to champion this flag!

A message for the African women’s movement and AMwA secretariat

The idea that there are African women out there, whose leadership values and practices are very much aligned, who walk the talk, appears to still be a 'phenomena' that surprises - why is that? It offends me greatly....that the default position appears to be a scarcity rather than an abundance.....let us bring out our stories of women's leadership that inspires and that is true even beyond the private space! Not only for ourselves but for the sake of our young ones, who see this inspiration in the home, only to have quashed in the 'real' world. When they look for us in the papers, in the media, in the public places, we are not as visible and yet we are there...ordinary women doing extraordinary things...transforming lives with determination and resilience. "Until the lioness learns to tell her story, the hunting stories will always glorify the hunter"

The message that I want to leave behind and that is something I want to continue flagging is that there is an immense amount of good practice in the leadership of African women and this needs to be accepted, acknowledged and exemplified. Indeed, it must become public knowledge and replace the stereotype that continuously suggests otherwise.

Gratitude to AMwA

AMwA has provided me with such great opportunities to learn and grow in my leadership, to meet sisters and develop great friendships. I take away the aha moments, the AMwA moments and I have matured as a leader from the difficult times. I am glad that the friendships have strengthened and AMwA still stands proudly and continues to seek a path that upholds African women’s leadership!

AKina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA) is one of the four partner institutes of the African Centers of Excellence (ACE) for Women's Leadership program run by the Institute of International Education (IIE) , Ethiopia Office.

For more on IIE , ACE or AMwA please follow the links below.
www.iie.org/
www.iie.org/en/Programs/ACE-for-Womens-Leadership, 
www.akinamamawaafrika.org/

Barefoot Solar Engineers

It is not everyday one finds women electricians in Africa, let alone rural women with basic literacy skills.

Four rural women in Karambi village in Bugesera District, Eastern Rwanda, have become heroes in their village for being able to assemble, install and maintain household solar equipment. 

The women are members of RWN community women supported groups and were selected from homecare givers and paralegals with the involvement of the community, according to their ability and leadership skills. 

The women attended 6 months’ training in 2010 at the Barefoot College in India, and would return to the village as “Barefoot Solar Engineers” able to put electricity in every house. The village has just over 110 households. The project was in collaboration with the college and the Rwanda United Kingdom Goodwill Organization (RUGO).

Provision of energy to rural villages is one of the key targets in Rwanda’s Vision 2020 strategy. Access to energy has been proven to encourage and support economic growth and development through the generation of non- agricultural based employment and increased opportunities for economic generating activities and important activities such as children studying in the evening.

Enabling households with solar electricity has propelled the women to a higher status in the community, as well as being role models to girls in the village. All houses in the village pay a small monthly fee to maintain the equipment,  provide an income for the women and set up a “sinking fund” for future replacement of worn out components. 

More than 100 households now have electricity, and the women are now demonstrating their skills through their women’s group at an international trade exhibition in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, to assist other villages.

Rwanda Women's Network (RWN) is one of the four partner institutes of the African Centers of Excellence (ACE) for Women's Leadership program run by the Institute of International Education (IIE) , Ethiopia Office.

For more on IIE , ACE or RWN please follow the links below.

 www.iie.org/

www.iie.org/en/Programs/ACE-for-Womens-Leadership, 

www.rwandawomennetwork.org

Women can change the life of their family!

My name is Leke Tolera; I was born in the Western part of Ethiopia in a town called Wellega in the year 1979. I was the third child to a family of farmers. My mother passed away three months after giving birth to me and I grew up with my aunt who did not have children of her own and depended on a small business for survival.

I attended my regular class until the 8^th grade and dropped out when my aunt’s health  started deteriorating at which time  running the business fall solely on my shoulders.  When my aunt passed away, my cousin took me to a different town and promised me  that she will put me back in  school. However, I could not go back to school because of political instability and  war that was going on in the new town that I moved  in. After a while, I moved to another town to live with another cosine of mine and I started going back to  school. the heavy domestic work load that I had to do in the house could not give me the time and space to concentrate on my studies.. Adding to this problem, my cousin was not willing to  avail even the most basic educational materials I needed and so I reached to the point where I could no longer bear life with her.

In the year 1995, I run away from home with the brother of one of my friends and came to Addis Ababa (the capital of Ethiopia) to  livewith his relatives. During my stay with them, I helped with household chores and four months later, I got a job to work as a waitress in a café for a monthly wage of 60 birr (around $7.5 at the time) eight months later, I fell in love  and got married. My husband was working at the Internal Revenue Authority and earned a monthly income of birr 375 ($47) which  we depended on. In the year 1997, I gave birth to our first child and we could only care for our subsistence with the income we had.

I heard about WISE (Women in Self Employment) for the first time from a friend and got registered right away. Immediately after becoming a member, I started saving money from the monthly income we had. I  then attended a  12 days basic business skills training which I found to be very useful to run a business. It gave me the knowledge  on how to be profitable, how to handle customers, how to plan business and how to communicate with people. After attending the training, I took a loan of birr 500 ($50) and started a new business. I started buying eggs from farmers in rural areas and sale it at a small profit margin  in Addis. In  the beginning, business was not profitable . I was bringing the eggs from very distant places that I faced incidents where many of the eggs were broken before I reached the market.  However the continuous learnings from WISE  kept my hope alive and I pursued my dreams.. I paid back my loans on time and continued taking more loans to expand my business; I started. selling chicken, butter, cheese and honey. WISE constructed a market area through my cooperative and it enabled me to penetrate the market better. a A while later, I realized that cereals were in high demand in the capital and would yield better profits. I decided to take a major loan of birr 20,000 ($1,111) to advance this business. Presently my capital values over birr 70,000 ($3,889). I send my children to a private school paying birr 400($22) per month.  With my increased income,  my husband could  up grade his education to a degree level which got him  promoted in his job. I now live a fulfilled life and my children know the value of work.

The message I want to pass on to my sisters is if we value work regardless of its kind and are committed enough, we can reach high stages in life. We need to have a vision and work hard to fulfill our vision.  We also have to be strong to beat  challenges that come our way.

Women in Self Employment (WISE) is one of the four partner institutes of the African Centers of Excellence (ACE) for Women's Leadership program run by the Institute of International Education (IIE) , Ethiopia Office.

For more on IIE , ACE or WISE please follow the links below.

 www.iie.org/

www.iie.org/en/Programs/ACE-for-Womens-Leadership, 

www.wise.org.et/     

PROUD TO BE A FARMER!!

My name is Jackie Jepkemei. I am 27. I grew up on my late grandfather’s farm in Torongo village which is in the highlands of the Rift Valley. Joyful memories of my childhood life were helping my grandmother with chores around the homestead and therefore got very used to chores around the farm. Tilling land was a chore but milking cows was the highlight of my days.

From a tender age I have always been interested in farming because it was a way of life, a livelihood. I guess farming for me was always taken for granted. I remember as a young girl of 8 years my grandmother gave me a calf of my own. It had been born immaturely and was meant to be killed. I asked to take care of it and was allowed. I had to attend to it like a baby; warming it up in the kitchen by the fireplace and feeding it by the bottle. It survived and became my first treasured possession. This may have been the thing that really cemented my interest I livestock agriculture. I was privileged to go to school as I wished. I am a graduate of Industrial Chemistry. I am currently in the throes of writing my MSc thesis in Disaster Management and Sustainable Development.

When I studied Industrial chemistry, I had assumed that I would find a job in the manufacturing industry as I love controlling big machinery and making things work. That has been long in coming and while I was studying for my MSc, I got the opportunity to work with a consultancy in agribusiness. I had to learn the ropes on the go and work very hard and diligently as I had not gone to any agricultural school. Since then one thing has led to another within the agricultural subsector. My first attempt at arable farming came in 2011 when I hired land to plough and plant pepper and vegetables for sale. I was irrigating and learning the rigmarole of farming while studying and working. My hands were full, but managed to supply Uchumi and Nakumatt supermarkets in Nairobi for at least eight months. The peppers however were all stolen before I could harvest. Disagreements with the then landlord also brought the business to a halt. Finding more land not far from the dammed river became increasingly strenuous and therefore decamped elsewhere.

My experience is that many men assume that as a young woman you may not have the requisite knowledge for the practice of agriculture. Land is an important asset that is required for agriculture. It is predominantly in the hands of the males although some women now own some land. Some of my attempts at agribusiness have been thwarted because the land I needed was being held by a man who was not willing to fully cooperate. The capital cost for primary production agriculture is relatively high and requires agility of the mind to capture the right market at a profitable price.

Young women planning to go into agriculture must look at agriculture from a wider perspective. They must always think about agriculture in terms of value chains. They must not start any agricultural enterprise without finding out the real market for their product. They should also be very aware of the opportunities that are there along the value chain. They however do not have to be the primary producers. Information on most general agricultural production is also readily available when one is seeking to find it.

I have been privileged to attend training by Young Women Leadership Institute and am part of the 2012\2013 alumnae. I have gained insight into the gender mainstream. I have better understanding of the challenges women go though because they are women. I have also learnt about women rights and further reinforced the fact that women can do much more and better when we believe in ourselves. During the institute, I made a decision to do something with a women’s group in agriculture. This is a special project in Isinya about 100KM from Nairobi in Kajiado County. This is where there is a group of Maasai women who are harvesting sheep milk for sale. At the onset of the project, I had to find the men who own the animals and the land to negotiate on behalf of the women ownership of the milk money.  I have negotiated a price that allows me to offer the women a price that is better than they would find in the local market. I organize training on clean milk production. I also bought them a freezer to keep the milk so that it can be accumulated over a period of days. I collect the milk on a weekly basis. I meet the women periodically to train them on other issues other than sheep. We get to talk about issues concerning them as women. They also put away savings from the milk proceeds and use it to beautify their houses ad purchase things that their husbands do not normally purchase for them. This will soon be sustainable business.

Young Women's Leadership Institute (YWLI) is one of the four partner institutes of the African Centers of Excellence (ACE) for Women's Leadership program run by the Institute of International Education (IIE) , Ethiopia Office.

For more on IIE , ACE or YWLI please follow the links below.
www.iie.org/
www.iie.org/en/Programs/ACE-for-Womens-Leadership, 
www.ywli.org 

Women can Change history, “the history of poverty”!

My name is Senait Tadesse and I was born in Bahir Dar, a city located in the Northern part of Ethiopia and I am the second oldest child of six children in my family.  My parents passed away when I was just 7, and the burden of taking care of us all fell on my eldest brother. I could not continue my studies beyond grade 7 and later I was forced to get married and move out of our house.

My husband who was a truck driver then and I moved to another city and I had my two children there.   Few years later, my husband had a car accident and could not continue working.  I had to start taking care of my family by selling local traditional drink and bread. We then decided to move to Addis Ababa (the capital of Ethiopia) in the hope that our life would be better but to the contrary, it became harder. To add to my despair, my husband started behaving terrible and never supported my small business. Predicaments continued to get worse between my husband and me which ended in a divorce.  We had to sell and share the very small property we owned as part of the divorce settlement.  I had to work even harder to support my life and that of my children’s all alone.

My friend who saw my struggle with life advised me to join WISE (Women in Self Employment); however I neglected her advice and went to the local governmental community organizer to request for a loan. Nevertheless, I was asked to provide for collateral which I didn't have at that time.  Finally, after all hope has failed, I joined WISE in the year 2008 because of my friend’s persistent nag.

After I became a member, I started saving the little income I had. I then took the 12 days training that helped me gain the knowledge on business skills, saving and customer handling which changed my perspectives completely. The training was presented in such an inspiring way that brought excitement and motivation to my life. After the training, I took 500 birr ($29.4) loan without collateral and I changed my small business of selling local drink to starting a small restaurant.

It was during this time that my ex-husband came back to ask me to take him back; but I was not willing to give up everything I worked hard for. He continued coming back regularly to convince me and I was persistent with the decision I had already made. One day, he came to the restaurant and ordered a meal for the children and himself. After he finished his meal, he asked me for the bills. As I approached him, he suddenly pulled out a gun and shot me in the leg and miraculously, the second bullet he shot missed me. Thinking he killed me, he committed suicide right there. It was later found out that he was also carrying an explosive which the police dismantled before it went off. An officer took me to a hospital where I got treatment and recovered a little but not fully.  Upon my release from the hospital and going home, I had to start my old business which was selling bread because I needed to support my children.

After some time, I took another loan from WISE and re-started the small restaurant. I have been taking several loans from WISE since then and expanded m y restaurant while still saving enough to pay back the loan on time.

The last loan I took was birr 10,000 ($ 540) and I have a personal saving of birr 29,000 ($1,706). My children are now getting better education in private school. I hired two employees at my restaurant for 300 birr ($18) per month. My house is now fully furnished.

I want to pass on a message to my sisters: it doesn't matter if you went through hard times. All we need is optimism and hard work and we can make poverty history!

Women in Self Employment (WISE) is one of the four partner institutes of the African Centers of Excellence (ACE) for Women's Leadership program run by the Institute of International Education (IIE) , Ethiopia Office.

For more on IIE , ACE or WISE please follow the links below.

 www.iie.org/

www.iie.org/en/Programs/ACE-for-Womens-Leadership, 
www.wise.org.et/ 

The African Women’s Leadership Institute (AWLI) changed my life!

It is amazing to hear the stories of the different young women who have undertaken the AWLI (run by Akina Mama wa Afrika) and how it has impacted their personal and professional growth through the years. The profoundness and vivid memories of the AWLI as narrated by the alumni demonstrate the AWLI is a unique and exciting experience.

And today we would like bring you the video clip of Bose Ironsi the Executive Director of Women’s Rights Health Project in Nigeria who shares her AWLI experience and how it transformed her life as an alumnus of 2002 in Accra Ghana that was taken by an AWDF team doing site visits in Nigeria.

In this video Bose attributes her work today to the impact of the AWLI citing how the AWLI ignited the passion for her work today. Through the AWLI she gained a conviction and was able to envision her future. She tells of the support network of friends that she met during the AWLI and how they have supported each other to this day.

http://www.awdf.org/browse/3066

AKina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA) is one of the four partner institutes of the African Centers of Excellence (ACE) for Women's Leadership program run by the Institute of International Education (IIE) , Ethiopia Office.

For more on IIE , ACE or AMwA please follow the links below.
www.iie.org/
www.iie.org/en/Programs/ACE-for-Womens-Leadership, 
www.akinamamawaafrika.org/

Who says football is a man’s game?!

My name is Getrude Iminza and I am 23 years old. I was born and raised in Kakamega town in Western Kenya. My two sisters and I were brought up by my loving grandmother who is visually impaired. I later moved to Nairobi to stay with relatives where I completed my secondary education. In 2011, I was appointed as the Assistant Coach of Binti United FC, a girls’ team sponsored by Young Women's Leadership Institute (YWLI). I am also currently a student at Nairobi Aviation College, where I am undertaking a course in community development and social work.  My favorite football player is Patrice Evra, who is also the captain of my favorite team Manchester United Football club.

A few years ago my close friend was recruited as a player for Binti United FC.  I have always loved watching and playing football, so she invited me to attend a training session and match with the team. During the match I had an opportunity to talk to some of the players on the team. They shared stories of how playing football transformed their lives, how the Binti team was formed, and the sponsors of the team. I admired the commitment in the players and asked the coach how I could join them. Many of my friends and relatives did not support my decision to play football because many people still have the mentality that football is a man’s game. I would love to see the society shift its thoughts, accept and create space for women’s football in Kenya. Until this day I continue to work at YWLI and play for the team.

Through my interaction with YWLI, my leadership capabilities have grown. I have learnt to communicate better and interact with people from diverse backgrounds. I have also attended several self empowerment and motivational talks that helped me learn the importance of setting goals and working towards achieving them. One of the hurdles I faced was to return to college to further my studies despite not having finances.

 I believe that I am a leader in my community, and as a leader, I should act as mentor, help young girls have access to the correct information on sexual and reproductive health rights,  share skills and knowledge that I gain as a coach and peer educator with young women and girls in Kawangware.

My motivation comes from working with the adolescent girls in the Binti United FC team. When I see the Binti girls fighting to pursue their dreams, attaining scholarships, completing their O-level education and getting an opportunity to play in the Kenya’s National Women’s Football Team, I know the work I am doing with girls and young women in the community is making a difference in their lives.

“My number one dream is to see a world that is peaceful: free from war and discrimination. I would also like every woman to appreciate herself and never apologize for being who she is”  Getrude Iminza – Binti United FC

Young Women's Leadership Institute (YWLI) is one of the four partner institutes of the African Centers of Excellence (ACE) for Women's Leadership program run by the Institute of International Education (IIE) , Ethiopia Office.

For more on IIE , ACE or YWLI please follow the links below.
www.iie.org/
www.iie.org/en/Programs/ACE-for-Womens-Leadership, 
www.ywli.org