Updates from our Women's Economic Empowerment Interventions
This August PWC held a graduation ceremony for members of the Kitapua Ndomonok Women’s Solidarity Boma and Cultural Center. Women’s Solidarity Bomas (WSBs) are livestock ‘cooperatives’ that promote property ownership and provide income generation opportunities. They mirror traditional Maasai homesteads (bomas) with the key difference being that these bomas are managed by women and the livestock are women-owned. This helps gain community respect for women’s property rights by demonstrating their abilities to own and manage land and livestock. To date, we have facilitated the establishment of six WSBs with a total of 1,140 livestock supporting 581 women.
Women’s Solidarity Bomas are managed by select women in the community for a period of three years while they focus on growing the number of livestock and undertaking other income generating activities. During their time living in the boma they receive various trainings in business and leadership. At the end of three years, they graduate and are given their own cows and livestock. The Kitapua Ndomonok Lake Natron Women Cultural Boma is one of six WSBs established by PWC (five founded in Ngorongoro District and one in Longido District). It was previously established as a tourism cultural center but faced challenges during the Covid pandemic due to diminished tourism opportunities. The boma has however been highly successful in livestock breeding. Graduating women each receive livestock to support them in building their own herd.
Formation and training of VICOBA groups in Ilchurleen in Pinyinyi Ward. 470 women were introduced to village community banking and trained on the methodology for managing the microfinance group. Our program officers observed that the village was very remote and isolated. Further, these women had never received any development intervention from any organization except the building you can see in the background which has recently been built by the Tanzanian government.