Empowering women

Empowering women – Gender and climate justice fund

In March, 2022, Mount Elgon Tree Growing Enterprise, International Tree Foundation (ITF) and Masaka District LandCare Chapter (MADLACC) started implementing the Gender and Climate Justice Project with support and funding from Hub Crymru Africa and the Welsh Government.

This was a one-year project whose implementation ended in February, 2023. The project was implemented in Bushiende Sub County, Mbale District.

The women share powerful personal testimonies describing the impact the project has had on their lives. They shared that:

Women are now able to buy land in their names whereas before the project they were not allowed
Women are now more respected by their husbands and relationships are more harmonious
Women’s livelihoods and food security has improved thanks to stronger Village Savings and Loans Associations and setting up kitchen gardens
Women now want to stand for local elections and have their voices hears.
Before women had to walk 4 hours to collect water and often faced domestic violence at home because husbands complained about the length of time they were out collecting water. Now the community and the tree nursery have easy access to clean water and the women have said they face less violence at home.

Testimonies

Deborah Nabulobi

“I am a gender champion. I am so happy that this project came to our community because it has really made a great change. It has had a great impact in our community. Before the gender project, people didn’t know the use of trees. Even if they saw trees, they didn’t know the use of trees. Now they’ve been trained they know that trees are so useful to them to change the climate. Women weren’t able to able to make decisions and only men could make decisions. Now women can also make decisions at all levels from family level to community level we can also make decisions. Men didn’t know that it was vital to work as a family together, with children and their wives together. Women went to the garden, washed, did the cooking alone, whilst the man was waiting at the table to eat the food. Now men are helping in the gardens, helping their wives and also children so we are changing gender roles. Children are also involved in decision making as they are the young generation to come. Children also involved in planting and caring for trees. After us, the older people, the young people will come and continue with the project, planting trees and changing the climate.

Also we have the confidence to speak as a woman. Before we were very shy. We couldn’t speak in public. But now we have the confidence to speak in public and we can address issues of gender, divorce, domestic violence and now we can really speak. You know the gender project when it came, we received beehives. We are now keeping bees. It is so amazing that we women are the ones taking care of the bees, because before many people would think that bees are only looked after by men. They didn’t know that we could also do that. We also didn’t know we could do that. But we were trained, encouraged and empowered and inspired. We can also gain the confidence. We are supervising and monitoring the hives and these hives are placed at the waist level where we can also go ourselves and monitor. We don’t fear it. Men have come to realise that what men, do women can also do and do it best. We can take care of bees which most people are afraid of. That is so impressive. We are so happy because of that.

Eggs from her 16 chickens she was able to buy through the savings group

Deborah at the tree nursery

Also we have the confidence to speak as a woman. Before we were very shy. We couldn’t speak in public. But now we have the confidence to speak in public and we can address issues of gender, divorce, domestic violence and now we can really speak. You know the gender project when it came, we received beehives. We are now keeping bees. It is so amazing that we women are the ones taking care of the bees, because before many people would think that bees are only looked after by men. They didn’t know that we could also do that. We also didn’t know we could do that. But we were trained, encouraged and empowered and inspired. We can also gain the confidence. We are supervising and monitoring the hives and these hives are placed at the waist level where we can also go ourselves and monitor. We don’t fear it. Men have come to realise that what men, do women can also do and do it best. We can take care of bees which most people are afraid of. That is so impressive. We are so happy because of that.

The vegetable seeds that we received have boosted our business and savings as we feed our children. The children are having proteins and vitamins. We can also help our husbands do certain roles which they thought they could only do. We are buying books for our children, buying sauce, buying food. By doing so, husbands are respecting women. They are not humiliating them; they are not despising them as they used to. Because we are not dependent on the man for everything, and they have given us respect. And all that is thanks to the gender project.

The women are growing some vegetables.

Also I can’t forget to mention this. Through the gender project we received a seed fund support to boost our savings. We can get loans to invest in our small businesses and boost our savings. We’ve opened up small scale businesses. Some have bought cows for milk, and really this is so wonderful. We also had a chance to have an exchange visit. In January / February, we went to Kapchuebut to see how savings group is doing and how they used the seed fund. They received a fund a while ago and we heard success stories. We learnt how they are using sustainable land management practices and how their land is getting more fertile because of this. We also implemented what we learnt, making trenches in our gardens to make the soil fertile again. We are planting trees in the gardens, the shade and leaves add nutrients to the soil. Before that, our soil had gone completely. We couldn’t harvest, we didn’t have enough harvest. We would work hard, but in the end, we didn’t harvest enough for the year.

But now, we really hope that we are going to implement this and encourage other women to plant trees to stop soil erosion and bring back the favourable climate. We hope that in 5 years, there will be a great change. We will be able to harvest enough food, we shall have that green nature again and we will shall receive the rains in time. Girls will not need to go far to collect firewood, because we’ve encouraged people to plant trees at the boundaries of their garden. Even if you have small plot of land you can plant at the boundary of your land and some in the middle. The trees will help you in the future. We encourage people to plant fruit trees such as guava and mango, as they offer a variety of nutrients that are so helpful. When the child comes from school, when maybe the food isn’t ready, they can eat the fruit as they wait.

There are trees that my son, Gideon and I planted in September and they have grown around my home. Before that my children weren’t involved in planting trees. But now, he can plant trees and care for them. He encourages me to get trees to plant. If all children are like that, then there is a generation to come that is going to help us push this ahead and we will achieve a great change.

For purposes of learning about the revolving fund, METGE took Bumeana women for an exchange visit to a group in Kapchebut in Kapchorwa that has successfully managed a revolving/seed fund.

The gender project has trained us in leadership training and to have confidence to stand as a woman and advocate and address issues that women go through. I would like to stand as a leader of women, first at the village level and then go to parish level and sub county level. And perhaps I may get chance to get to the district level. And by doing so, I feel that I can advocate for women and children, especially girls. Women and girls suffer a lot. I have to advocate and train them to change their mindsets. People have the wrong mindset that women can’t possess land, don’t have access to property. They are despised, disrespected, and abused. I want to speak about that, and make people understand that a man and a woman are the same and they have to enjoy and have freedom in making decisions. Women have been raped but are not helped. Girls are being raped but not helped. So, I want to contest that position, so that I have that chance to stand and advocate for women.