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A Great Year Ahead!
It's 2015 and we're off to a strong start with the exciting launch of Empowering Women Period. Scroll down to learn more.
In our short time as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Village Volunteers has raised over $4.3 million dollars to support projects that sustainably and exponentially provide benefits to communities through the work of our volunteers and remarkable NGO partners.
Village Volunteers wouldn't be here without your support, so here's to you and 2015!
Shana Greene
Founder and Executive Director
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VV's Radio Debut!
Listen here to Jeannie Yandel, a journalist at KUOW, talk with Shana about Empowering Women. Period's sanitary pad project! The segment was aired on NPR in November. |
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The Long Awaited Launch
Thanks to you, our fundraising for the water hyacinth sanitary pad project was a wonderful success and we raised the funds needed to open up our first pilot manufacturing facility.
We want to give a huge shout-out to our trailblazing partner, Urmi Basu of New Light, for her guidance and wealth of information with researching Indian Foreign Direct Investment requirements, setting-up our bank account, acquiring a Small Scale Industries license, selecting the plant's location AND selecting the women who will be our pioneering plant operators.
The financials are currently being updated to account for the unique rent, utilities, and salary requirements of that location. We were able to increase the pay of the women at the manufacturing facility and provide them with health insurance. Thanks to the support we received from so many of you, we are excited to get the first manufacturing plant sustainably up and running!
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Cooperatives - Strength in Unity
By joining forces as a cooperative, the farmers of the Wasoni Women's Farming Cooperative in Kitale, Kenya are mobilizing human capital, finances, and resources.
There are now 12 WASONI groups (consisting of 580 regular members (farmers), of whom 38 are youth) who are established and engaged in cereal, vegetable and small livestock production with an average 48% increase in production levels.
 Joshua Machinga of Common Ground for Africa (CGA) works with the WASONI Cooperative to train and mentor women to help them gain access to markets and to improve productivity and quality.The women in the group are now in the position to meet national and international market requirements; they have enjoyed the better prices offered by the World Food Programme (WFP) and International Rescue Committee (IRC). WASONI has so far delivered 3200 bags of cereals for feeding the hungry in other parts of Africa as a result of the combined forces. Go Wasoni! The project still needs support for packing machine, some means of transport, preferably oxen and cart and individual loans to women through the SiSi Fund.
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