Aljazeera will be launching a new series “Women Make Change” this Saturday. The series showcases women who have started impactful projects in Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Brazil, Nicaragua and Papua New Guinea. The focus is on areas as diverse as water, agriculture, family planning and sport. Their work proves that investing in women makes economic sense.
Water Women, the first film will feature two Kenyan women Rose Atieno and Catherine Ondele. These two women have been instrumental in training local women to build rainwater harvesting tanks to villages which before then had been without clean water. Statistics indicate that 43% of rural Kenyans are without clean water which is essential to combating preventable diseases. The project has worked wonders because since they built the tank in one village, they have not had a single case of cholera. It has also been transformative for a nearby health centre, which can now offer a new range of services. There has also been a reduction on the number of attacks on women who no longer have to travel long distances to the communal well. Each woman now saves almost 6 hours a week, which can now be spent working or studying. There is a direct financial benefit to the community which sells water to a water company and invests the money in starting new businesses. It will premier on 26th September 2015.
Scorecard Rwanda highlights the benefits of sport for Rwandan women whose families and communities were in need of healing post-genocide. The women initially faced resistance from the men in their community when Felicite Rwemalika came to enlist to a local football team. Since then there have been clear and long lasting advantages of involving women in team sports. Other than the obvious health benefits, sport has given the women a space to meet and talk. As a result they have expanded their ideas into new businesses resulting in farming cooperatives and community restaurants. The project has also helped girls stay in school and built confidence and aspirations. It will premier on 10th October 2015.
Going Places focuses on Zainab Andan and Dolores Dickson, two women in Ghana who are working hard to make sure that girls are given an opportunity to go to school. Zainab a beneficiary of a bursary awarded by an international charity, Camfed and is now a part of an alumni group that works in communities to help girls in her former school. She also shares her skills by holding financial literacy workshops in neighbouring villages. Dolores, director of the charity oversees training workshops for local projects. One of the projects which started out small is a Shea butter processing plant that now supplies a range of outlets. It will premier on 31st October 2015.
Check out a preview of Water Women here;