Equalogy

Posts Tagged ‘MADRE’

Women’s groups all agree on one thing about the earthqauke disaster in Haiti: to rebuild successfully, start with the women.

From Madre:

When relief is distributed by women, it has the best chance of reaching those most in need. That’s not because women are morally superior. It is because their roles as caretakers in the community means they know where every family lives, which households have new babies or disabled elders, and how to reach remote communities even in disaster conditions.

Unfortunately even before the earthquake, women were struggling in Haiti.  Now, with no resources, they are left open to violence and hunger.  The Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) is “cautiously optimistic” about a new plan that distributes rations to the female head of the household.

The programme, launched yesterday, provides women with coloured and dated vouchers that can be exchanged for a 25-kilogram (55-pound) rice ration at one of 16 centres in Port-au-Prince – including at the Sylvio Cator Stadium, which before the earthquake was the country’s national soccer stadium and now houses a tent-city of displaced Haitians.

Both Madre, AWID and other women rights groups remain adamant that helping women will result in a faster rebuilding process for the rest of Haiti.  For more excellent analysis on the ongoing crisis in Haiti check out the AWID’s new section devoted to earthquake relief.

MADRE and World Bike have given women in the Samburu District of Kenya an easier way to get around with load-carrying bicycles.

The need for some form on transportation is clear:

The relentless drought has decimated their traditional herding economy, leaving many families with no income at all. The long walk to the nearest health clinic is dangerous – and often impossible for the sick and elderly who need to get there.

The bicycles are capable of carrying jugs of water or extra passengers, which not only makes their days easier, but provides income by being able to transport tourists to a nearby wildlife preserve.

There is still help needed! If you would like to contribute, choose one of these options:

• By supporting Women’s Wheels: Bicycles for Rural Development, you can help the women of Umoja meet three urgent needs with one great bike.
• Share information about Women’s Wheels by updating your Twitter status.
• Post a flyer in your local bike shop, coffee shop or community center for Women’s Wheels: Bicycles for Rural Development.
• Email us if you’re able to distribute small Women’s Wheels promotional cards at local businesses.

MADRE supported the installation of a community water collection point and a drinking trough for livestock for the Emayian Maasai community of Southwest Kenya. These innovations will protect a local water source and provide clean water to the people drawing water from it.

Here is a rundown of the problem from MADRE:

Access to clean water, a basic human right, has been an ongoing challenge for Indigenous Maasai Peoples in the Trans Mara District of Southwest Kenya. Climate change and environmental degradation have contributed to frequent droughts, and the Emayian Maasai community hasn’t had the means to collect and store rainwater during the short rainy season.

Without a centralized system to bring water into the community, women are forced to haul heavy loads of water great distances. The local water source, a spring located 2.5 km from the village, also serves as a watering hole for livestock. The shared use leads to contamination of the water and the spread of water-borne diseases. The high-volume human and animal traffic is causing soil erosion around the spring, degrading the quality and availability of water.

The best thing about this is that MADRE worked with the women in the village and not the men which has been the standard in other water projects like these.

Together they accomplished these things:

• The community will have access to uncontaminated water in both rainy and dry seasons.
• Women will spend less time hauling water and will be able to participate in other activities.
• The number of cases of cholera, scabies, typhoid and other waterborne diseases will be significantly reduced.
• The spring will be protected from erosion caused by human and animal activity.