Empower women = empower the village

A vital component to a thriving community is ensuring that women have the tools they need and, importantly, a sense of agency that they can improve their own lives and the lives of their children. In many villages worldwide women collaborate and support each other within a family group, and helping them realize what they can do collectively within their community can have enormous impact.

When Korotimi Haidara first began working in Dagabo, Mali as part of the One Global Village team she opened many opportunities for both the team and the women in the village. Having a female translator hugely expanded the US team’s ability to understand and address specific local needs (see Women’s Health for more details). When she started regularly visiting to oversee the Siraba School, she began encouraging the women to connect as a larger village collaborative, and helped them form the Dagabo Women’s Committee. Koro’s successful grant application to Rotary and purchase of the grinding mill (read Story) had a dramatic impact on the women’s lives, reducing the burden of daily care for their families, enabling many to save money and others to begin small businesses. After some initial seed funding, and with the additional income from the grinding mill, the Women’s Committee began a micro-lending program among themselves. From all of these steps, small and large, but mostly from sharing and spreading ideas of what is possible, this community is helping themselves collectively improve their lives.