The environment within which Chui Mama’s operates has various challenges which adversely affect the lives of members, their children and generations.
Economic challenges
Given that the members are mostly without a man to offer them protection and provide for them, they are left very vulnerable. They do not own any livestock or in some cases land, and therefore they are not able to do activities that help them financially As a result of this,
• They are unable to provide good nutrition for their children
• They are unable to educate their children
• They are not empowered financially to enable them make decisions that grow their families
Health challenges – Obstetric Fistula, HIV, Infertility and Eye problems
For many years, women in these communities have been given away in marriage at very early ages, as early as ten years. They are then subjected to the heavy responsibilities of marriage such as childbirth. Because at the early ages they are not well developed for this, they suffer gross damage to their bodies. These include damage to their uterus making them unable to carry pregnancies, which leads to another challenge as they are stigmatized for their inability to bear children.
Some carry pregnancies to term but because the births take place at home where there is no good medical attention or no-how, they suffer tears that lead to obstetric fistula. Because of leakage of stool or urine, their husbands reject them, and since they are not economically able to seek medical help, they live with shame for the rest of their lives.
The group have members living with HIV. Because of their economic situation, they are not able to access adequate food for the nutrition required during anti-retroviral therapy. They therefore suffer the challenges of taking the medication without food. Extramarital affairs between married women (who are in most cases much younger than their husbands) and moransof similar age are also leading to the spread of HIV amongst the population.
Eye problems have arisen because of the home set-up. The houses are generally small with small windows. The Mamas cook within the same house using firewood and because of the smoke that gets trapped in the house, they end up with eye problems.
Child/Early Marriage
Early marriage is very rampant in the region. The decision on the marriage of a girl is usually on the male members of the society. For a long time, the women did not have a voice or say in what happens to their daughters. This has seen girls married off as early as ten years. This means that many girls and women in the community have no education. Poverty is also a major driver of this practice – people want to marry off their girls early so as to get cattle that are given as bride price. The early marriage then leads to economic and health issues discussed above.
Environmental degradation
In this community the level of illiteracy is about 80%. Therefore, many of the community members are not able to get formal employment. The women engage in illegal and environment degrading activities such as charcoal burning, firewood selling and selling illicit brew, so as to earn a living for their families. It is therefore important that these women are empowered to find alternative sources of income so as to conserve their environments, and save the youth from drinking illicit brew.
OUR APPROACHES TO TRANSFORMATION
The issues identified within this community are diverse. In order to achieve a sustainable transformation, it is important that a multi-dimensional approach is taken. The need is big, and to make any tangible difference will require the engagement of various partners and players, and therefore Partnering is one of the main approaches that is going to be taken.
Partnering Approach
The board of trustees is seeking to partner with like-minded individuals and organizations to work towards transforming the lives of Chui Mamas members. This is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goal number 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal. We are specifically seeking:
- Non-Governmental Organizations
- Individuals passionate about transforming lives and willing to support materially or in kind
- Government agencies
- Faith based organizations
- Community Based Organizations
- Corporates who are seeking to engage in supporting communities as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility
- Any other organizations who work in the areas of interest of Chui Mamas
Economic Empowerment Approach
The self-help group seeks to empower the members of Chui Mamas through activities that will provide sustainable incomes that will enable them to address the issues identified. We are confident that in order to truly empower the members of Chui Mamas, it is important that we enable them to have some form of income that will give them a sustainable livelihood, as well as liberty to make certain decisions regarding their own life situations. We believe that a woman who has a good level of financial independence has a voice to speak for herself and her family.
By providing an income, we are certain that our members will be able to take their children to school, access good medical healthcare, and therefore we shall have a more sustainable transformation in the community, which will impact generations to come.
Service and Product Delivery approach
This involves providing immediate support to those in situations that need immediate solutions to their problems in order to improve their quality of life. These situations include:
a) Obstetric fistula patients
b) Eye-related illnesses
c) Houses with leaking roofs where the women are unable to access roofing materials
d) Children living with disabilities, and who have immediate health needs such as need for wheel chairs and/or medical care
e) Food programmes to cushion widows and single women who have no sustainable source of food
Social approach to ending harmful cultural practices
This approach is to enable us tackle issues that require people to come together and address them. They require the engagement of all community actors to address them. Some have deep rooted cultural bases and thus require deep conversations to change peoples, belief systems, attitudes and behaviours. The approach will include activities geared towards:
- Ending child marriage
- Ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
- Ending Domestic violence
Enabling approaches
In order to enable the above, the following approaches shall be applied:
- Adult basic literacy – to enable the Mama’s know basic arithmetic which they will require as they go into business.
- Setting up support groups for women faced with various issues so us to provide safe spaces where they can share their experiences, find solutions and have social support system
- Seminars on responsible sexual behaviour to curb the spread of HIV-AIDS – this is an area that requires behaviour change in order to reverse the trend on infections.
- Provision of meals to members, sanitation facilities and transport (for those from far) during their meetings and activities
In the following section, projects under each approach are explored in detail, including what we require to implement the project.