Current Projects

The Ghimbi Integrated Women's Promotion project, Ethiopia

Ebukya Women’s Cooperative, Uganda

Fearless Planet, Ghana

Centre for Rural Systems and Development, India

Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra, India

The Ghimbi Integrated Women

This is a project started by a local Catholic Mission in Ghimbi, Western Ethiopia. It aimed to set up seven women's groups in the district with a self-help ethos, investing in income generating projects. The project works without regard to the members' religion. Longer term goals were to set up a shop in Ghimbi for the women to sell their products and to use some profits to build up a 'safe birth' fund, with education on women's health.

The mission runs many projects in Ghimbi district, such as a school, funds for orphans and the disabled, projects on HIV awareness and food security. The women's project is run by Sister Matilde (a nun from Ecuador, working in the Mission with Ethiopian monks), but Tzedek mainly has contact with the group through a charity called "Maternity Worldwide".

Tzedek gave approximately £5000 to this project, in three instalments, over three years. The project also received funding from a Spanish charity.

The Project has so far achieved its aims of setting up self-help women's groups and investing in income-generation - for example buying sewing machines. Other activities include livestock, growing fruit trees, making baskets and making shoes for people with elephantiasis. Groups also have sessions on health education and community members have been trained to teach others.

Women slowly started to save money and the 'safe birth' fund was set up in 2005, giving money to women towards their medical expenses during complicated births. A shop was opened on the outskirts of Ghimbi town but closed as it wasn't attracting people away from the market. A site within the town is awaiting development.

A Tzedek volunteer visited Ghimbi for a few days in 2005. He reported:

"I have 100% confidence in the professionalism, sincerity and integrity of Sister Matilde and the Catholic mission in Ghimbi. Her dedication to her work was clearly evident, as was the affection and regard in which everyone with whom I saw her come into contact appeared to hold her.

The members of the women's groups have demonstrated their commitment, both by maintaining their savings contributions and in attending meetings… Sister Matilde and Father Salomon have a clear understanding of and commitment to the ideals of sustainable development through micro-enterprise and self-help."

Ebukya Women’s Cooperative

This is a network of women’s groups in Central/Eastern Uganda. It began in the year 2000 when a group of women in the rural communities of Kamuli and Kaliro came together to discuss the problems they faced getting their children into school. They decided to try the radical idea of starting their own school, under the strong leadership of teacher Rebecca Ereemye. In 2001 Tzedek gave £7000 to set up the school in a permanent building.

In 2003 the group decided to train the children with vocational skills such as carpentry and tailoring. Tzedek gave another grant of £8500 for this purpose.

In 2005 the women reviewed their finances and decided that they needed to get involved in helping the children’s parents earn money, as default rates on school fees were high. Since then they have put in place an agricultural cooperative, exploiting the large amount of land available in this part of Uganda. The cooperative provides seeds, pesticides and group tools, such as ploughs, as a loan to each village women’s group and collects the produce to sell together

Members receive their sale price, which they are encouraged to save and reinvest. Tzedek has agreed to fund the agricultural side of the project with £3000 a year for 3 years, which will allow a massive expansion in the scope of the project. Currently there are more than 600 members but some have only received agricultural training because the group didn’t have enough funds to provide loans to all.

The women’s cooperative is called ‘Ebukya’ (k is pronounced ‘ch’ in Ugandan dialects), which translates as ‘When morning comes…’ This is the first half of a proverb, which finishes ‘… we need to eat’. Chairwoman Rebecca Ereemye explains that this sums up the proactive approach of the group - at every step they have asked themselves what needs to be done to fulfil their basic needs, which will not go away and which no one else will provide for, and then planned a way to do it. Tzedek was happy it could help them with their plans.

A Tzedek volunteer visited Ebukya for a few weeks in 2006. She reported:

“During my work in Uganda last year I saw some of the women’s groups who have benefited from Ebukya’s agricultural cooperative. One group had been involved for one agricultural season - with their first dividends they are trying to start rearing pigs too. This group included teenage girls with their babies on their backs, who overwhelmed me with their enthusiasm and pride in their crops and in the fact that they had been able to change their situation by their own efforts. They danced for us and sang about how they had been able to develop themselves and buy shoes, or even watches.”

Fearless Planet

Tzedek is working in Ghana with Fearless Planet to support a women's micro-credit and vocational training scheme.

Centre for Rural Systems and Development

Tzedek is working with the Centre for Rural Systems and Development in Tamil Nadu, India. The project will support the economic and political empowerment of some of the region's poorest women through the formation of self-help groups.

Tzedek is is supporting the Centre in partnership with Action Village India.

Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra (NBJK)

Tzedek first heard about NBJK through Action Village India, a UK partner who have proved invaluable with respect to both identifying and monitoring charities supported by Tzedek in India. NBJK is based in the state of Jharkand (formerly part of Bihar), which is in one of the poorest parts of India. They are a well-established charity with considerable experience in helping individuals and communities to lift themselves out of poverty through the formation of self-help cooperatives.

Tzedek supported a three-year project begun by NBJK begun in December 2003. The grant was INR 15,62,190 (around £21,000) and has focused on the formation and development of thirty-nine self-help groups for women and nine for people with disabilities. All the groups meet regularly and group members are required to make small contributions to the group. The accumulated savings are used, among other things, to enable members to take out small loans to start micro-enterprises.

Working in conjunction with local hospitals, government institutions and partner organisations, the self-help groups are a vehicle for education on a variety of issues including reproductive health, childcare, nutrition and the rights of marginalized groups such as women and people with disabilities. Members are also encouraged and shown how to claim various government entitlements and concessions and avail themselves of a range of benefits including health checkups, medicines and vaccinations.

NBJK have used a variety of methods creative methods to encourage self-empowerment, health awareness and awareness of social and political entitlements. These include wall paintings, healthy mother and baby shows, quizzes and exposure visits to successful projects.

case study from NBJK's monitoring reports

Ramwati, is a 35 your old disabled woman. She used to be dependent on her married brother who relied on agricultural labour for a living, and as a result was resented by her sister in law owing to her inability to work.

NBJK met with Ramwati’s family and tried to make them understand that a handicap is not a curse as widely believed since time immemorial. They also told them that harassing Ramwati would not solve the problem.

It turned out that Ramwati was quite adept at making plastic mats. She now does this on a regular basis, selling them through the Handicap Training Centre. She was then encouraged to join the self-help group in her village. She has also successfully applied for her own home to be built under a special scheme for those living below the poverty line.

An NBJK worker writes: ‘She is not the same Ramwati anymore. The glint in her eyes says it all. In fact it has changed the whole family as they now live in peace and prosperity. It is not only a story of Ramwati but an inspiring tale of courage, self confidence and honour.’