The exciting process of choosing the Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI) three year project which will last for three years starting March 2016, finally drew to a close as Clubs voted for their favourite project from the choice of the three shortlisted projects.
Each Club was give five minutes to present on their Project before Clubs were invited to vote, and all the projects were so well presented it was impossible to guess which one would be the eventually winner. The choices were:
Meru Women’s Garden – SI Canterbury
Meru Women’s Garden Project will support some of the poorest women-led households in Kenya. The project is entirely focussed on providing opportunities to women and girls who may never otherwise be given the chance to earn an income, and gives them status within their community. It fully embraces the three key areas at the heart of SIGBI’s Programme Focus Goals – Educate, Empower and Enable. Improved food production and education will support women and girls to transform their lives and those of others through a process of cascade learning and mentoring thereby reducing poverty, improving health and increasing employment.
Read SI Canterbury’s full proposal document.
Child Mortality in Malawi – SI Kenilworth and District
Did you know?
- Infant, child and maternal mortality rates in Malawi are amongst the worst in the world
- Malawi nurse vacancy rate in 2014 was 75%
- Nurses trained in Malawi tend to stay in Malawi
For the past few years SI Kenilworth and District has collaborated with the UK charity Friends of Sick Children in Malawi (FOSCiM), and supported the university training of Charity Kanyanda, an experienced nurse, to specialise in paediatric care. But there is so much more that can be done in Malawi to create sustainable child healthcare.
Read SI Kenilworth and District’s full proposal
HEAL Malawi – SI Manchester
HEAL Malawi will improve the lives of disadvantaged young women and girls in the Mchinji district of Malawi, somewhere few other agencies are currently working and that has particularly severe deprivation rates. HEAL is based on the premise that dependency is not empowering, and encourages women and girls to discover that they already possess the strength and resources to change their lives.
The project will provide the most vulnerable girls and women, aged 15-30, with sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) education, economic empowerment and livelihood opportunities whilst also engaging with boys and men, aiming to shift cultural concepts and promote gender equality.
Read SI Manchester’s full proposal
The Winning Project is Meru Women’s Garden. Many Congratulations to SI Canterbury and we are sure that all SIGBI Clubs will get behind this project, as they have for so many other SIGBI Projects, and really make a difference to the lives of the women and girls in Kenya.