THE COST OF HOLDING WOMEN BACK

Although women make up almost half of the agricultural workforce across Africa — and perform 80% of the labor on smallholder farms — millions of them don’t have access to financial services, training, and other opportunities that could help them escape poverty.

These inequalities don’t just hurt women — they cripple entire nations, holding back about half the population from participating in a society’s economic growth. It’s estimated that if women in these communities could afford productive resources like business training, seeds, and fertilizer, up to 150 million fewer people would go hungry every day.

‘‘A big scar on my knee carries my old memories,’’ says Ayal Melaku. She remembers the day it happened. While walking back home carrying a clay pot of dirty water that was 20 liters (44 pounds), Ayal fell and injured herself. ‘‘I sustained an injury on my left knee that bled and swelled slowly. It prevented me from walking to school and I missed class for 15 days in a row,’’ she says.

Ayal lives in Robit village in the Ambassel district, 290 miles north of Ethiopia’s capital. She is the third of seven children and as a young girl, helped her mother with household chores.

Ales remembers collecting cassava from the stagnant pools of muddy water. For Ales Nyasulu, who lives in the Chikwina-Mpamba Area Program in Malawi, cassava is a primary source of food for her family. “We depend on cassava as our staple food in this community. The process of coming up with cassava flour demands that we soak the cassava in water for some days before it is dried up and ready for pounding,” she says. “Since we had no source of potable water, we had to depend on swamps or dirty pools of water along the valleys,” says Ales.

On February 12, 2020, Dave and Dana Dornsife announced a $40 million investment in World Vision’s water, sanitation and hygiene program in 24 African countries. This brings their total investment in World Vision to $115 million, following an investment of $35 million in 2011 and $40 million in 2016. Their contributions have all been focused on World Vision’s water programs, making them the leading family in the world investing in providing clean water access.

Grandson Brian at the new tippy-tap

When Florence got married in the 1980’s, her new home didn’t have a latrine. Though she had come from a home with one, she never asked her husband about it. For over 30 years, Florence, now 73, lived without a latrine in her home. Her family suffered a life of constant diarrhea and vomiting. The community in which they settled didn’t do much to help change their mindset, as most homes also didn’t have latrines.

Early last year, World Vision shared its Community-Led Total Sanitation model (CLTS), inspiring the members of Kamiga Village in the Nakasongola district to reflect on their health situation.

Inspector Juliet works to solve cases against children in the Child Protection Unit of the Kapenguria Police Station

Inspector Juliet Tuwei, 34, recalls an incident that happened six months ago. What she thought would be a restful evening, turned out to be one of her most dreadful. As she prepared to leave for the day, she received a distress call from a village chief informing her that three girls under the age of 18 had just undergone female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C). She dropped everything and quickly drove to the scene of the crime.

To ensure a proper investigation, she seized both the perpetrators of the crime and the victims so she could build a solid case.

Alemnesh (L) and Yeshiwas enjoy time they have at the well site

“Praise God, for now I have time for myself. Fetching water is no more a burden, rather, a time break I get from the house chores and have a little chat with my neighborhood friends. We rest for a while, talk experiences, laugh and share ideas. A walk for clean water has transformed my life,” says Alemnesh.

Alemnesh Fente, 30, lives in the rural village of the Yilmana Densa district where World Vision has an area program office. Before World Vision arrived, there was a big need for water in this vulnerable community.

Secundina’s hillside plot

Early morning, with a soft breeze blowing up the hillside, we catch Secundina Aquino working the soil with a hoe on the plot of land that she is currently cultivating with her savings group. Secundina and her savings group are learning new agricultural techniques to farm tomatoes and green bell peppers.

Secundina is a strong, active woman who is driven to learn new agricultural techniques. But she didn’t always have this knowledge. Her husband Juan Ramón Ramirez worked as a day laborer on other farms and only earned five dollars per day during harvest season. She recalls, “It was a struggle to try to feed all of our children with only five dollars per day; it was never enough.”

Vivian's Story

Vivian’s story is rooted in poverty. She says, “My dad married four wives… I had so many problems.” She and her siblings had to do odd jobs like selling firewood just to find money for food, and, even though she loved school, she had to drop out in class four. The weight of poverty and cultural pressures forced Vivian — and many of her peers — to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM). Though she tried to run away to her sister’s, Vivian had no choice when her sister sent her back. About a month after being cut, a stranger came and took her to his house to be his wife. Vivian was 12 years old.

Chief Julia shares her Celebrating Families methodology

The tranquility of Chief Julia Mwihaki Kamau’s office was quite noticeable. Her office looked like a counselling room, unlike that of a typical chief’s camp anywhere in Kenya. Most chiefs’ camps are noisy and crowded, usually a holding ground for offenders before they are taken to police cells or arraigned in courts.

As Chief Julia, 49, introduced herself, she told us about the guests she had attended to before I arrived. “The three ladies are widows of a deceased man and are fighting for equal distribution of his wealth,” she says.