WOMEN  EMPOWERMENT

BY JACQUELINE MALECELA

            After taking three planes and traveling for 36 hours through three different continents I finally stepped off the plane with my best friend into the crisp night air of Tanzania. At the airport, we got our residence visas and went through the quickest security check I’ve ever experienced.A smiling man had his dog smell our bags and asked a few simple questions about their contents and our stay. At that point, we were so excited to be in East Africa but had no idea what to expect. I had come to Tanzania thanks to the Arusha Project a nonprofit organization that works to promote HIV/AIDS relief and gender equality in Tanzania.

              It partners with many Tanzanian-run organizations in and near Arusha, a city in Northern Tanzania. During my month-long stay in the country, I would get to learn more about the lives of Tanzanian women, hike at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro and dance and sing with members of the Masai tribe. I worked with one of the Arusha Project’s partners, an organization called Faraja Women Empowerment—Faraja meaning “courage” in Swahili. It was established in 2005 by a nurse and two teachers who saw a need to respond to the impact that HIV/AIDS was having in a ward of Arusha called Sombetini. There are many aspects to the organization, including a school and home care for women affected by HIV/AIDS, which includes referrals for treatment, education, counseling and financial support. As an economics major and international studies minor, this was the perfect placement for me, academically and personally.

            The nine other volunteers, directors and I lived together in a wonderful house with banana trees outside our windows and chickens running around. To get to the Faraja offices, Michelle, another Arusha Project volunteer, and I stuffed ourselves each day into vans they use as public transportation here, called dala dala. I’ve seen up to 25 people cram into the vehicles! During my time with Faraja, the organization was going through one of its bi-yearly rounds of granting of loans, which was extremely exciting for me since I was very interested in microfinance. Women can apply in groups of five for microloans from the Arusha Project, through Faraja. A typical first-time loan was 100,000 shillings (about $80) to each woman, paid back with a 10 percent interest rate over a period of six months. The group loans fostered a sense of support and trust between the women because if one woman defaulted, the other four are responsible for paying her share back.