GlobalGiving workshop – Kampala, Thursday March 3rd, 2011

When: March 3rd, 2011 -  from 9:30am to 1:30pm.
Where: Calendar Hotel Makindye (in Kampala)-

Please Call Kizito Malumba (of Youth Aid Uganda, our hosting partner)to confirm participation and regarding the venue 0782323191, or 0704323191.
In summary, the four parts of the workshop will be:
1. About GlobalGiving (what is it, how to join)
2. Fundraising strategies (both online and local tips)
3. How social media is part of your fundraising
4. Introducing the Storytelling project — helps with evaluation and raising awareness about issues.

The following will be:

#1 – Expanding your FUNDRAISING. We will cover both local and international online strategies. (Note: You’ve already heard this part of the workshop, sorry for the redundancy as this will be new to most attendees. Part #2 and #3 are NEW to you.)

#2 – GlobalGiving tools for:

• donor management,
• corporate relations,
• volunteer recruiting,
• recurring donors,
• integrating with social media,
• beneficiary feedback as part of your evaluation strategy, and
• how we can make your a stronger candidate for external grants

#3 – Introducing our Storytelling project. We’ll explain how thousands of brief narratives from East Africa can transform your understanding of your work and improve your monitoring and evaluation.

Please respond to reserve a spot. You are encouraged to invite members from other organizations your work with. Please have them email me to reserve a spot as well.

Please alert any of your partners that are not already on GlobalGiving that the deadline to self-nominate and submit Due Diligence for the next (April) open challenge is March 1st, 2011. Refer them to
http://www.globalgiving.org/open-challenge-nomination
/ for what is required.

Note that we will provide drinks and a lunch, but we will NOT REIMBURSE your travel or lodging expenses. This training is free and open to any organization that wishes to attend, as long as they RSVP in advance.
About Storytelling: GlobalGiving has launched a storytelling effort that should provide you (and all organizations in your community) with timely information about the complex issues, needs, and efforts that affect your work.

Results of our 2010 storytelling pilot  project are online:
http://www.globalgiving.org/story-tools/

Looking forward to meeting you in person!

Women, Water and the Economy

Looking at the series of challenges affecting the people in Africa, one would say that the issue of women empowerment and women’s rights is not very important. If you asked me, I would say, “Women’s empowerment” should be the core of each and every development oriented project. Why? When women are empowered, the economy does not remain the same. They better the livelihood in their homes and as well as their personal lives. Improved income for women means better nutrition/ feeding in homes, improved access to education for the children and general livelihood. In other wards women invest more in education, nutrition, health and general livelihood.

The role of fetching water in the African Traditional Society was assigned to the women and children. Up to the present day, women and children still carry this burden along while the men continue to generate income from water sources. In cities and on the country side of many developing countries you will see women and children in small and big groups carrying jerrycans of water on their heads. Access to water in many developing countries remains a very big challenge – dirty water sources, long distances to and from water sources (usually up to 4 kilometers).

What does this mean for these women and children?

The burden of having to fetch water means that the women and children often have to fore-go other activities – for the women, they end up having limited time to grow food and limited participation in entrepreneurship. The children on the other hand, end up missing out on education and playing. This has further widened the income disparities between men and women. No wonder the economies in developing countries have not registered much development.

The African Traditional Society also regarded women as the food growers. The women and their children were given the task of ensuring food security in their homes. However, the ownership of family plots was always solely reserved by the men. This means that the men had more influence over what is grown on these plots of land. In the same way, the men would take ownership of the agricultural produce. This is still the case in many developing countries.

So, what can be done?

Women should be empowered! But how can the women be empowered in the “modern times”. Many women missed out on the opportunity to go to school. However, this is not a time to regret on the mistakes that we cant take back. This is a time to effect change, a time for a new beginning of a era where Women and Men are equal.

Every tool can help, every project can cause impact. Technology, Football, Music, Art, Education,  Agriculture, Entrepreneurship, to mention but a few have been very key tools in women empowerment.

Whats your contribution towards women empowerment?

The struggle continues…