The women of the St. Monica Village Widows’ Cooperative have had an eventful and active few months. The women are extremely active and have many ideas that are put into practice immediately after being agreed upon or approved, benefiting the widows themselves, the residents around Nyabondo, and the Dentists for Africa (DfA) sponsorship project.
Election of the Children’s Selection Committee
The Widows’ Cooperative’s Child Selection Committee decides which needy orphans and half-orphans are accepted into the DfA sponsorship program. This committee is democratically elected every two years. In mid-June, it was time again. The hall in the widow village was almost bursting at the seams – women had come from near and far to participate. In the presence of the board of the widows’ cooperative and Sr. Seraphine, who heads the sponsorship project, the more than 500 widows elected seven representatives from among their ranks – which they did by secret ballot after proposing suitable candidates. The seven women come from different regions in and around Nyabondo. They are responsible for identifying orphans in need and selecting them for inclusion in the DfA sponsorship project. The committee usually meets two to three times a year and works closely with Sr. Seraphine. A first meeting has already taken place.
Seminar about effective vegetable cultivation using compost as an income-generating measure
How can you make and use compost yourself to grow fruit and vegetables even in the smallest of spaces and sell them at a profit? The widows learned this in theory and practice from Floranzia, a Chilean woman who volunteered at the widows’ cooperative in June. Compost is particularly suitable for growing pumpkins, coriander, tomatoes, etc. The widows want to support women who only have small gardens. With the help of the methods they have learned, they are now also able to produce significant harvests, which they can then sell.
While Floranzia trained the widows on site and put what they had learned into practice with them on another day, DfA supported the cooperative financially by purchasing suitable seeds for each of the widows. Tomatoes, butternut squash, and other local crops were grown.”I was impressed that within two days we gained knowledge and skills and took the first practical step toward producing and using compost ourselves so that we could then market the crops to generate income,” says manager Rhoda Ogada happily.
New psychosocial counselors
Two more widows have successfully completed their training as counselors:
Dorothy (43, left), farmer and mother of five children, and Salome (front), 35 years old, market vendor and mother of three children. Like Rhoda (center) and Rose (right) last year, the women underwent professional training to support the widow cooperative’s counseling service, which has been in existence since 2023. This reinforcement had become necessary due to high demand not only from the widow circle, but also from people seeking advice from Nyabondo and the surrounding area.
Dorothy and Salome were selected in February during the monthly meeting of widows from among several applicants to complete the training supported by DfA. Together with the two other counselors, Rhoda and Rose, they will offer consultation hours several times a week in the office of the widow village. Their fees are also sponsored by DfA—a long-term sponsor is being sought here!
Receipt of a separate budget
In July, the women of the widows’ cooperative received their own budget from earmarked donations to cover running costs. As a reward for their transparent, active, and efficient use of donated funds to date, the women are now responsible for the use and payment of ongoing projects, such as health insurance for active widows.
Manager Rhoda Ogada from DfA received a letter informing her of this decision and shared the news with the widows at their monthly meeting in Luo in July. The widows reacted with great joy and gratitude, but also with an awareness of the responsibility that this entails.
Would you like to support the widows’ cooperative? You can do so by making a donation earmarked for this purpose or by getting personally involved in the widows’ village in Nyabondo, western Kenya! Please contact us.
Photos: R. Ogada