Project Updates – Mothers Without Borders

Empowering Women to Change the World

mwbmedia — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 02:41:14 +0000

I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femaleness and my femininity. And I want to be respected in all of my femaleness because
I deserve to be.

– Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Women are capable of amazing things, especially if they are able to flourish and grow. Our mission is to enable women to become the change agents of their communities. We are committed to the well-being of women in vulnerable communities and know that they have a powerful potential to become advocates for generational change.

Over the last several years, we have seen that while empowerment and educational success are intertwined for an individual, that same individual can empower their friends, family, and community. This is evident in our Women’s Empowerment clubs, a place where women can go to receive business skills training, literacy classes, access to microloans, and access to a strong social circle of engaged, empowered women.

We are excited to announce the expansion of our Women’s Empowerment clubs. In the last few months, we have opened new clubs, bringing us to a total of six women’s empowerment clubs. This initiative will enable even more women to become self-reliant and allow them to nurture their entrepreneurial skills. We hope to be able to bring this initiative to seventeen more communities, expanding our ability to empower women to grow and develop and be the change makers in their communities.

THE PROBLEM: WOMEN IN CRISIS

At the center of vulnerable communities are the women who are disproportionately affected by the issues their communities face. Gender inequality in Zambia is one of the leading factors of cyclical poverty. As a result, women face a number of barriers that prevent them from being able to find success and to in turn empower their children to find success. These challenges keep generations of women right where their mothers were: illiterate, uneducated, unempowered, and unable to create a better situation for them and their families.

One of the major ways gender inequality in Zambia exacerbates poverty is by limiting the economic opportunities available to women and girls. Marginalization of girls and women in access to education, healthcare, and job opportunities limits their earning potential and hinders their ability to break the cycle of poverty. In Zambia, only 31% of girls complete primary school and only 8% complete secondary school. This lack of access to education restricts their ability to seek future employment and stifles self-determination and confidence.

42% of girls in rural communities in Zambia are married by age 18, making Zambia the country with the 16th highest rate of child marriage in the world. Cultural norms and traditions dictate that women are responsible for domestic work and childcare, which means they have less time to engage in income-generating activities and often can only do so with the permission of their husbands. These patriarchal norms force women to abandon their own hopes and dreams in order to focus on the needs of men.

Empowering women is essential for the cycle of poverty to be broken. As a woman becomes more empowered, she can begin to shift from focusing on survival to moving forward through development and growth. When a woman believes in herself and in her dreams, her children are empowered to believe in themselves too. As a woman becomes empowered, cycles of poverty can be broken in one generation.

THE SOLUTION: EMPOWER WOMEN

We believe that women in vulnerable circumstances can be empowered to create a better life for themselves and their families. Mothers Without Borders has established and operated Women’s Empowerment clubs in six different communities in Zambia. These clubs have a proven record of helping women learn in a safe setting, create individual businesses, and find empowerment.

Our Women’s Empowerment clubs are designed to address the root causes of gender inequality in ways that are catered to local needs. Each woman is supported through the unique way our clubs are designed:

Locally Led and Mothers Without Borders-Supported. Each empowerment club creates their own organizational structure with an elected Chairlady, Secretary, and Treasurer. We provide the training to help these clubs establish their structure, but leave the autonomy of how to function to their local leadership. Our staff visit these clubs on a regular basis to provide training, encouragement, and support.
Family-Centric Empowerment. We have found that when youth enrolled in our youth empowerment programs have a mother actively attending a Women’s Empowerment club, both the child and the mother are far more likely to succeed. Because of this, we intentionally place our clubs in communities where we also have youth programs.
Access to Microloans. We provide an initial fund for each club to loan out to their members in a setting where there is positive social pressure to repay. As loans are repaid with interest, the loan fund grows and over time the club is able to offer more significant loans. We have a proven track record of repayment of the loans because the fund is owned by the women of the community.
Business and Skills Training. Individual clubs decide which topics they would like to receive training on, including sewing, financial literacy, health, gender equity, and others. Each club’s members have autonomy in deciding their discussion and education topics, an important factor leading to empowerment.
Social Support. Members meet on a regular basis and celebrate each other’s successes. This support means they don’t have to go on their individual difficult journey alone, which is key to success. The club also gives them access to other women who act as role models and mentors. This community-based support allows women to find strength and empowerment in each other.

Despite the fact that the women in our clubs come from impoverished and vulnerable communities, we have observed positive impact in the following areas:

Confidence and self-advocacy. Over time, as women learn and find success through their club, they begin to speak up and advocate for themselves and their children more.
Gender norm beliefs change. The daughters of women in our Empowerment Programs attend school and stay in school longer than peers whose mothers are not in our Empowerment Programs. Youth empowerment has a greater effect when mothers are also being trained about the importance of education and receiving education of their own.
Children have a better opportunity at an empowered life. The children of women in our empowerment programs have greater academic performance than their peers who do not have a mother in a club. Educational performance is directly related to empowerment in the future, and merely having a mother in the program is enough to begin the process of eradicating cycles of poverty for future generations.
High microloan repayment rates. Because the microloan fund is owned collectively by the club, the repayment rates are extremely high. Receiving funds from your peers and local community members provides positive peer pressure and a sense of fulfillment when the loan has been repaid.

THE FUTURE: EXPANDING WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT CLUBS

For the women in our empowerment clubs, the club has been a lifeline allowing them access to the resources necessary to build a better life for themselves and their families. Women’s Empowerment clubs allow us to take a holistic approach to empowering women and youth and protecting the most vulnerable.

We have found that when youth enrolled in our Youth Empowerment Program have a parent actively attending a Women’s Empowerment club, both the child and the mother are far more likely to succeed. Over the past three years, we have expanded our youth empowerment programs to 23 communities, but only six of these communities have a Women’s Empowerment club.

In the near future, we hope to establish clubs in the 17 communities where we already have a presence, but not a women’s club. We have 498 youth in our youth empowerment programs – imagine the intergenerational change that would occur if we could reach all of the parents of these children.

With an average cost per woman of $126 and an average cost per club of $3,150, we are able to provide microloan seed money, entrepreneurial training, meeting space and supplies, and mentorship by experienced, successful women. Intergenerational change is possible, and it starts with the one.

Learn more about our programs serving women & youth and consider how you can become a part of this important work. Each woman we work with is a beacon of light and hope, a valuable person worthy of respect and honor. Together, we can change the world.

Celebrating The Zamtsogoro Project’s Launch

Alli — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 15:40:31 +0000

This month we are excited to celebrate the launch of a new program: The Zamtsogoro Project—a small business loan and mentorship program for future entrepreneurs in Zambia. An extension of our existing youth empowerment programs, this project bridges the gap between education and employment opportunities to prepare young professionals for their futures.

This project’s name, ‘Zamtsogoro’, means ‘for the future’ in the local language—reflecting our commitment to building programs that have each individual’s future in mind.

Throughout Zambia, unemployment rates remain high amidst ever changing world conditions and a struggling economy—a major barrier preventing the young adults in our programs from becoming self-reliant. Due to local economic instability that continues year-to-year, new professionals/graduates face the same competitive and limited employment prospects each year. This creates a large pool of capable, yet unemployed workers who struggle to find opportunity.

Additionally, those looking to pursue entrepreneurial ventures face challenges as loans are often inaccessible because of nation-wide financial instability. This leads to crippling interest rates and creates an insecure future for the borrower.

One of our mentors employed in our Be That Girl Program who recently retired from over 30 years as a top nurse in Zambia, told us that the 110,000 students who graduated from medical education programs this year were now seeking to fill only 6,000 positions that are available across the country for medical professionals

In the coming years, hundreds of the individuals MWB serves will graduate from university or skills training programs.

The vast majority of jobs that are available in Zambia are through the government and the process of obtaining work is also often very slow. Another education-focused mentor in the MWB Be That Girl Program received her teaching certificate 6 years ago. As all graduates with a teaching certificate are entered into a waitlist system upon graduation, she continues to wait for full-time employment as a teacher.

At the core of our work, Mothers Without Borders promotes individual development, self-reliance, and self-determination. Our staff continues to explore alternate routes to employment and self reliance to help those we serve combat these employment challenges.

This project will pair loan opportunities with mentorship to help prepare young professionals for their future—empowering them through early work experience to gain confidence, knowledge, and entrepreneurial skills.

All humans are born entrepreneurs.

– Muhammad Yunus

In late September, we began working with Robbie and Bill Lawler, long-term members of our community, to raise the $15,000 to initiate this program. In less than a month, the Lawlers rallied their friends and hosted an evening with Kathy Headlee, resulting in the raising of $16,000 for this project! With the generosity of these donors, we have launched this program and are moving forward with two initial loans!

Our founder, Kathy Headlee, named her organization ‘Mothers Without Borders’ because she believes in committing to the holistic and long term needs of each individual. This name has become a reminder of the power of love in a work that can be heavy and daunting and of our commitment that, amidst uncertainty, sorrow, and despair, we will continue to show up and fight for those we serve.

How is the program structured?

The Zamtsogoro Project is designed for young adults who have recently completed their university or skills training programs to provide our most promising and hard working graduates with business mentorship and access to loan opportunities. Applicants will either matriculate into a group loan initiative through a MWB-run small business or apply for a personal loan to continue in their business venture.

Those joining the group loan initiative will have individualized contracts that allow them employment in our MWB small business. Participants will gain experience managing cash flows, sales, and bringing a product or service to the market while taking home a portion of the profits. As young adults fulfill their individual contract and pursue other employment, they leave open a position for another recent graduate from our programs to continue in their place. This model allows more employment opportunities and supports the growth of the loan fund. Those who have the hard skills and experience to forgo the group initiative can apply directly for a loan.

For both individual and group loans, mentorship is an integral part of this program. Current Zambian mentors from our youth empowerment programs who have experience in entrepreneurial ventures will be assigned to help these young professionals navigate this journey. The young professionals, with the support of their mentors, will develop a business model and loan request. Together they will determine the structure of the loan, repayment plan, and mentorship route that will best support the new entrepreneur. A reasonable, low interest rate will be established for each recipient to ensure the loan pool continues to grow to provide this opportunity to others. Mentorship will continue until the loan is paid off. In a country where unemployment continues to be a barrier, this project is critical to bridging the gap between education and employment for those we have committed to serve.

Who will benefit from this program?

Our staff has identified one individual and one group of five young women to be the first recipients of this program. Two mentors from our local staff have been selected to oversee and support the individuals in these two loans. This year, the focus will remain on these two loans to allow us to assess and improve the structure of this pilot program. Designed as a continuation of our current youth education and empowerment programs, future recipients of loans will be selected by our local staff based on performance and potential for entrepreneurial success. To learn more about our youth empowerment programs, click here.

The Chicken Project

Alli — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 16:42:09 +0000

As we continue to work in communities devastated by drought and poverty, creating sustainable solutions is of the utmost importance. We are grateful for kind-hearted, committed members of our community who continue to help us work toward our mission of strengthening communities, empowering women & youth, and caring for the most vulnerable for more than 30 years.

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness.

– Desmond Tutu

Over the past three years, the communities we serve in Zambia have been devastated by drought and disease amidst ever changing world conditions. Surrounded by darkness, this project once again demonstrated the hope that comes from joining together in community to better the lives of others—reminding us of these words by Desmond Tutu.

In alignment with our commitment to create sustainable, locally-led programs, our staff in Zambia saw the immense toll of food insecurity and malnutrition among those we serve and placed an increased focus on food relief. After hearing of the immense need for this program, Melissa & Joel Gardner came together with their family and friends to be a force for change—allowing us to implement the chicken project to ensure a consistent, protein-dense source of food for hundreds of children in these communities.

In the first seven months of operation from January–July 2022, we have gathered 22,713 eggs from our 230 chickens. This has allowed us to provide each of our 52 children living at the Children’s Resource Center with an egg each week—with those who are HIV+ receiving eggs daily. Additionally, we are using the eggs each month in school lunches for the 714 students at the Carol Zulu Primary School. It is efforts, like the chicken project, that shine light in the face of darkness and emphasize the presence of hope and power of love.

In September 2021, construction began on a chicken coop that will be able to house up to 1,000 chickens! This facility is split into two coops to allow us to expand the project and to ensure space to separate any chickens that become ill to protect the rest of the chickens from disease.

In January 2022, the building was completed and we purchased 260 chickens to pilot the project.

MEET RICHARD

As the manager of the chicken project, Richard has impressed us with his diligence in gaining knowledge to ensure the project’s success.

One day another staff member, Lord, asked if he could go inside the coop to see the chickens. Richard expressed that the only way Lord would be allowed to go inside was if he changed into Richard’s clothes.

Richard had learned that the chickens’ egg production is highly correlated with maintaining a consistent environment, even down to the smell of Richard’s clothes.

We are grateful for Richard’s dedication to the quality and success of our programs!

Of the 22,713 eggs that have been collected from January–July 2022, about 32% of the eggs are used in meals for the children in our orphan transition center and primary school.

The remaining 68% are sold to local vendors—generating income that is invested back into the chicken project to ensure a self-sustaining operating model. Our staff is continually monitoring the project’s progress and will run a cost-benefit analysis in December 2022 to review the impact and future of the project.

230

chickens

22,713

eggs collected

714

children fed monthly

When used for school lunch, the eggs are either boiled or prepared as an “egg relish”—scrambled eggs with onions and peppers—which the kids love!

With the introduction of this project, hundreds of children now have a consistent source of protein in their diet.

At Mothers Without Borders we believe that we belong to each other, so we take care of each other. The completion of this project is a very physical manifestation of love and compassion! The power of love truly connects us across continents, time, and circumstances. We are grateful to Melissa & Joel Gardner, Joan Wright, Robert Goldberg, Dave Boland, Douglas Wood, and their friends and family for their generosity and commitment to bettering the lives of those we serve in Zambia.

We love being a part of the Mothers Without Borders Family. Joel and I had been looking for a way to help strengthen the community we’ve grown to know and love in a sustainable way and, at the same time, meet one of the essential basic needs: food. If you are hungry, other things don’t matter much. The Chicken Project fits all of the criteria we’d been hoping for.

We reached out to a few of Joel’s colleagues to help fund the project and they were very excited. In just one month, the project was underway, and by January 2022, we were producing eggs! It feels fantastic to know that basic needs are being met, jobs have been created, and our community in Zambia will be healthier. Margaret Mead said it best, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

– Melissa & Joel Gardner

Children’s Resource Center Construction Gallery

Alli — Thu, 30 Jun 2022 18:34:38 +0000

BACKGROUND

Since its’ establishment in 2004, the Children’s Resource Center (CRC) has provided refuge to more than 338 children who have experienced abuse, abandonment, trafficking, or the death of parents. We provide for their holistic needs: safety, nutrition, education, medical care (including HIV treatment), grief counseling, access to caring adults, skills training, and love. We also monitor all family relationships and, wherever possible, work to reunite these children with their families.

In January of this year, we started construction on new facilities: a boys dormitory, a girls dormitory, and a dining hall. This will allow us to expand our capacity at the CRC from 50 to 100 children. We look forward to moving into the new facility in a few weeks!

Brick making & women working construction! (A rarity in Zambia)

Digging footings.

Making cement.

Pouring footings.

Walls starting to go up!

The construction site with multiple buildings in view.

Progress being made.

Window and door frames installed.

Aerial view of all three buildings.

Inspection before roof installation.

The team left to right: Arnold the inspector, Piers the contractor, Phillip the surveyor, and Josephine our Country Director.

Phillip staking out new construction projects, stay tuned…

Hope Through Education

Alli — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 23:36:13 +0000

As we work toward our vision of communities being supported to care for their children in crisis, we cannot ignore the children who are currently in situations of abuse, neglect, and vulnerability.
Established in 2004 on a small rented farm, the Children’s Resource Center (CRC) was home to 11 children. In 2008, Mothers Without Borders built a new center on our land near Lusaka, Zambia which allowed us to care for 24 children.

Now, 13 years later, the CRC has continued to provide refuge to more than 338 children who have experienced abuse, abandonment, trafficking, or the death of parents. Through our relationships in various communities, our skilled social workers assess the needs of the most vulnerable children and work with partner organizations to determine the best interventions for each child’s unique needs.

In working with nearby community leaders to identify the children most at risk, we saw that one of the largest gaps in Lusaka West was a lack of access to education. What began as a small, one class primary school for children in our care has grown to be the ‘Carol Zulu Primary School’. This year we opened a new classroom block allowing us to now educate 641 children in grades 1–7. We are proud to have maintained a 100% pass rate on the seventh grade national exam, where the national average is closer to 65%, which we have accomplished every year since we opened in 2009. We continue to be the top performing school in the region. The children enrolled in our school are provided education, a daily hot lunch, and the opportunity to dream!

Community School Feeding Initiative

Alli — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 23:33:11 +0000

As the COVID-19 pandemic and severe drought in Zambia continue, starvation rates have reached new highs. This immense need has prompted us to respond with food relief and ensure food security through increased agriculture and livestock initiatives.

We expanded our work with three of our long-time community partners to provide 310,383 meals for over 3,000 children in their local schools. These feeding programs not only alleviate starvation, they create opportunities for us to work with communities to develop programs that solve ongoing
social problems and promote self-reliance. We continue in our commitment to empower local leaders to care for orphaned and vulnerable children—empowering communities to be founded in and driven by hope.

Ganging Up for Girls – Kathy and Cornelia on Their New Partnership

Alyssa Baer — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 15:00:29 +0000

Mothers Without Borders (MWB) and Be That Girl Foundation (BTG) are joining forces to support girls in rural Zambia to live a self-determined life.

We sat down with Kathy and Cornelia to hear how this partnership came to fruition, what it entails and how it ties in with the missions of their respective organizations:

Cornelia and Kathy, how did you get in touch with each other?

Cornelia: As so often in life, it’s been an amazing coincidence: A few years back, on a holiday in Utah, some friends introduced me to Kathy and her work. While I remember being very impressed, I soon forgot about it as I was busy directing and filming my documentary “That Girl” in Zambia. As “That Girl” premiered at the Zurich Film Festival in Autumn 2020 and gave rise to Be That Girl Foundation, I started to look for suitable partners – and suddenly remembered that encounter in Provo a few years back! It just took a long video conference with Kathy to see that our vision for girls are remarkably aligned and that it would make sense to join forces.
Kathy: I remember well the time we spent together in Utah, and was impressed with Cornelia and her passion for helping women and girls in developing countries. I was excited to meet someone who’s values and determination to make a difference in the lives of women were so aligned with mine. I knew I wanted to work with her, but wasn’t certain how our paths would cross in the future. I was thrilled when she reached out following the premier of her documentary to discuss our common vision, our partnership was definitely the next right thing for both of us!

So what does the Mothers without Borders/Be That Girl Foundation collaboration entail?

Kathy: Mothers Without Borders has been working to improve the lives of vulnerable women and girls for 21 years in Zambia. Through education, literacy and business training, personal growth workshops, mentoring and lots of encouragement we have watched women transform their lives and their communities. We are always hoping to broaden our reach, and inspire more women and girls to create meaningful lives and realize their potential. This requires help from partners who share our passion, and Be That Girl Foundation is the perfect partner to support our expansion into new communities.
Cornelia: In this context, it is important to understand the main objectives of Be That Girl Foundation: We want women and girls to lead a self-determined life. The necessary conditions for women and girls to make the first steps in that direction are security, education and basic needs such as health support and food. However, this is not sufficient to ensure success and that’s where Mothers Without Borders come in: Kathy and her team provide women and girls with tangible help to develop their personalities and to believe in themselves – this is at the core of our collaboration.

So we feel there is a lot of excitement in the air – why is that?

Cornelia: I guess that happens when you find the right partner [laughs]! On a more earnest note: As you may know, my husband and I have been doing development work in Zambia for almost 15 years now, mainly through our Second Mile foundation. In the process, we’ve noticed that the success of projects is often dependent on finding talented and motivated local leaders who can push things forward – yet as you can imagine, such individuals are hard to find. With MWB’s local Zambian leadership, we’ve got a fair shot at building such capacity and – even better – to increase the share of female leaders in society. Now that’s definitely something to be excited about!
Kathy: I couldn’t agree more with Cornelia’s vision. At Mothers Without Borders we are all about building capacity, and that requires local leadership that is committed to creating positive change and being there every step of the way. We have been developing an amazing team of Zambian mentors and leaders since 2000, and they are passionate about helping women and girls realize their dreams. It’s very exciting to find a partner in Cornelia and the Be That Girl Foundation that supports our shared vision of offering dynamic women in Zambia a chance to change their world.

Please see here for the full press release.

A Five-year Partnership to Make Girls’ Dreams Come true

Alyssa Baer — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 15:00:24 +0000

Press Release:

A five-year partnership to make girls’ dreams come true

Be That Girl Foundation (BTG) and Mothers Without Borders (MWB) are joining forces to support girls in rural Zambia to live a self-determined life.

Founded by Kathy Headlee in 1989, Mothers Without Borders is currently improving the lives of more than 600 schoolchildren and provides over 150000 meals a year. Beyond providing basic education for children, MWB puts a particular focus on the personal growth of young women, thus unleashing their potential for a self-determined life.

An innovative development framework, experienced local leadership and close cooperation with respective communities ensure long-term sustainability of initiatives. MWB considers individual mentoring of women and girls during their secondary- and tertiary education to be an indispensable tool towards long-term individual success. As a principle within all MWB initiatives, scholarship and mentoring is dependent on school grades and other, non academic measures of individual motivation, teaching young people that personal success goes hand in hand with personal commitment.

Be That Girl Foundation has committed to a five-year support package worth USD 750k. Those funds will go towards a dedicated Be That Girl program run by Mothers Without Borders. It will support and expand the education and personal growth and development of hundreds of girls in rural communities near Zambia’s capital Lusaka.

Explaining her reasons for partnering with MWB, BTG Founder Cornelia says: “The board of Be That Girl Foundation is very proud to partner with an organization that sees the importance of nurturing girls’ personalities and give them the confidence that everything is possible – this goes one crucial step beyond the usual development aid pattern which tends to neglect soft factors and social skills in educating young people. It fits very well with BTG’s approach”.

Kathy Headlee, founder and CEO of MWB, adds: “In the 30 years that I have been working with vulnerable women and girls around the world, the most critical factor in their success is dependent upon a deep-seated belief that their dreams are possible. We have found that inspiring this belief in women and girls allows whole communities to transform. We are excited to see thousands of dreams become a reality thanks to the generous commitment of the Be That Girl Foundation to our work.”

Follow this link to read an interview with Kathy and Cornelia.

About Mothers Without Borders

Mothers Without Borders offers hope in developing countries by strengthening local communities in their efforts to: 1) nurture children in crisis by providing a safe home, access to caring adults who invite healing from trauma, clean water, nutrition, and education, and 2) empower women and girls with literacy and business skills. We teach principles of conscious living, personal growth, and self-reliance to inspire each individual to be the best version of themselves.

About Be That Girl Foundation

Motivated by the success of her documentary film “That Girl”, Cornelia Gantner established Be That Girl Foundation (BTG) in September 2020 in order to empower girls and women to lead a self-determined life. For this purpose, BTG runs its own #RoarGirl social media campaign and works together with a select few innovative partners. www.bethatgirl.org

Notes to editors:

For more information, quotes or pictures, please contact tanner@motherswithoutborders.org or sandro.gruenenfelder@secondmile.ch

The Water Project

Alyssa Baer — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 02:04:31 +0000

In summer 2019 a team of volunteers came to Zambia to dig a well with the village drill. The trip was successful and resulted in a functioning borehole that is 33 meters deep. The drill will continue to be used in future water projects by MWB and will be leased to a contractor in the interim.

Introducing The Village Drill

Clean water is the beginning of the transformation of a society. It immediately impacts sanitation, school attendance, community health, and leads to increased farming yields. In Zambia, access to clean water is extremely limited due to the high cost of drilling wells with large mechanical drill rigs.

The Village Drill, created by the organization WHOlives.org, is a manually operated drill that requires no heavy machinery and reduces the cost of drilling to a fraction of traditional well costs. Although countless organizations work every day to bring clean water to those who need it, most do so at an unsustainable cost. The Village Drill uses a team of 4-6 operators to manually drill a well in about 3 days. The drill can be broken down into parts for easy transportation, allowing access to nearly 100% of the population where drilling is possible.