Dreams are universal. Opportunity is not. We’re working to change the story.
Here are the women we’ve invested in so far …
Field Notes …
The BeeKeepers: how African women are making history, changing culture and rebooting their lives. 2015/02/21 - This morning a note landed in my inbasket from Kiva. It was a field report about something wonderful that's been happening in Kenya, where a group of women are making history. We're hearing lots about bees these days, usually because our ecosystem is drastically threatened by their looming extinction, so you can imagine my delight when this particular note about bees was about the way that an organization called "Honey Care Africa" had become a Kiva partner, and was empowering women to start new businesses to lift themselves out of poverty. The part that had me nearly standing on my chair and cheering was realizing that this group of women was doing something that had never been done before, simply because they were women. They're not only changing the way bee keeping is done, but knocking down walls in a culture of male-dominance. Let me share a bit of the note that I got from Kiva explaining why...
Because of YOU, Nomagugu in Zimbabwe was able rent rent a shop, expand her business and send her kids to school. 2014/12/21 - Hey, sister Adventure Divas! You might know how excited we get around here about the "Do Good" part of our Mini Mission statement, so it's a happy day when we can report back on how an investment in a sister diva made a difference!
Remember Nomagugu in Zimbabwe? We were able to help her give herself a hand up this past June. Nomagugu is a 35 year old widow with 3 children. She not only runs a grocery store (which our investment is helped to restock), but also makes time to volunteer as a Learning Guide, teaching students life skills, and as a behavior change facilitator at the local clinic. You can imagine how eager we were to invest in someone who invests so much of herself in others.
Even better? We can share her success story with you now! Nomagugu used the loan we helped provide to purchase goods for her business, and also to rent a shop at the local shopping center. The injection of capital made the business more viable, and that helped her make more profits.
She is now able to send her children to school without problems, and provide food for her family, which has been a struggle in the past since she is a single mother.
Of course every Adventure Diva has big dreams, and Nomagugu is no exception. She wants to expand her business, and perhaps venture into something new in her community.
We're grateful to Sinikiwe Makove from Camfed in Nkayi, Zimbabwe for sharing Nomagugu's good news with us.Kiva is a crowd-funding site supporting entrepreneurs in developing countries, and now also in the U.S..
Through the Estrogen Army project we will be investing in women who would otherwise have a difficult time accessing traditional loans to fund their own adventures.
Dreams are universal. Opportunity is not. We’re working to change the story.
“Adventures with the Estrogen Army” is a project for and by ordinary women who want to create extraordinary adventures. In doing so we are committed to giving a hand up to our sister adventure divas around the world who are working to lift themselves up out of poverty and violence. “Kiva” is one of the ways we choose to do this, and to give back.
Kiva is a crowd-funding site supporting entrepreneurs in developing countries. Through the Estrogen Army project we will be investing in women who would otherwise have a difficult time accessing traditional loans to fund their own adventures.
We loan because we want to give people a chance to become self-sufficient and live an honourable life. We believe that a hand up is better than a hand out, and that it needs to be both transparent and accountable. We believe that planting many seeds of uplift in small and meaningful ways helps people become self-sustaining and strengthens both the economic and social fabric of communities. Micro-lending is the most direct and personal form of uplift and has the capacity for constant renewal.
Want to help us create a little more uplift for women?
We welcome you to join our lending team at Kiva …
http://kiva.org/invitedto/estrogenarmy/by/estrogenarmy
If you’d like to assist other hard working Kiva entrepreneurs and have your loan counted as part of our “Adventures with the Estrogen Army” Kiva lending team, you can indicate that at the time of your loan, or can even set us as your default lending team here:
http://kiva.org/teams/my-teams
When you click the link you will see “Lending Teams I Belong To” part way down, and a pull-down menu below that allowing you to set your preferred team.
If you’re not a Kiva lender yet, you can invest in entrepreneurs in developing countries for as little as $25. Click the link below for an invitation:
http://kiva.org/invitedto/estrogenarmy/by/estrogenarmy
Thanks a bunch for giving us a hand in giving others a hand up!
Namaste,
