INTRODUCTION
ASSOCIATED WOMEN’S INITIATIVE FOR SEL-EMPOWERMENT “AWISE”is a pro-women program and a women’s lead female project under MIBOS. It was established in 2003. We work directly with rural women, girls, diverse communities, local government and agencies to create safer physical and social environment of the respect of women and girls in our neighbourhoods; schools, and public services in Mwanza and Kigoma provinces.
We believe that if we educate women; we educate the whole nation and if we make the community safer for women, it will be safer for everyone.
ITS CREATION
AWISE was created two years later after the existence of the main office of MIBOS was established. The main idea of starting MIBOS came from Mrs. Nabita and Her husband John Francis Zembwe whom their main focus was to educate single-mothers who abandoned schools due to poverty of their parents who failed to support and pay for their school fees. To meet their primary needs, these young women were getting involved in uncontrolled prostitution with refugees and these shameful actions brought these young ladies to have children without husbands. Madame Nabita Nyarukundo and her husband John Zembwe started their actions of reaching out to these single-parents. A big number of almost 1500 poor women and single parents were quite interested to the idea and they were organized and grouped in an association. Then that association was named Mission for Improvement and Boosting Services to the Community “ MIBOS”. After the establishment of MIBOS association, its members who the majority almost 95% women gathered to elect it’s first leaders but after the election the result showed that 90 % of official leaders who were elected were men. It really surprised us ( women) to see that the majority of voters were females but the people who were elected were men in majority. This showed us ( women) how the philosophy of men to neglect women is growing and the beliefs that we (African women) are not capable to run and lead any public agency or organization was expanded in all arena of life. Mostly what surprised us the most is to see that even we (women) don’t have confidence, believe and trust ourselves that we can do better as men but instead of voting for ourselves, we voted for men to lead the majority of women.This is how MIBOS that was created by women for women lost its first chance to be a woman lead organization.
From this observation, we (a few number of women) who believed that we can also do better as men, proposed to the MIBOS officials to help us have a specific program that will be a women’s lead program under MIBOS and that its main aim would be to deal with women’s issues that can help us to close the gap of gender in social life and change the image of the rural African beliefs that a woman is incapable to do another job more than staying in the kitchen and dealing with the family matters. The officials of MIBOS accepted and allowed us to create a specific program called Associated Women’s Initiative for Self-Empowerment “ AWISE”. It started as a program of MIBOS to advance the rights of marginalized women and girls.
Now for more than 15 years, MIBOS-Associated Women’s Initiative for Self-empowerment is very competitive with other MIBOS programs or departments lead by men as from our actions, activities and mostly from our commitment, we prove to the community and especially to men that if women are empowered, they can do a better job as men or even we can do better than men.
Our organizational purposes and activities focus on relieving poverty among women and girls by operating a computer training centre in Kiloleli Mwanza.
The Kiloleli Digital Inclusion computer training centre in Mwanza contributes towards the promotion of the dignity of rural women and their families. Our fields of consideration are the relief of poverty, digital educational needs; women’s health issues and the elimination of women and the abuse and neglect of girls and women basing our mission statement that regardless our gender, every person is made in the image of God, we are all equal, we all have rights to respect, dignity and fundamental freedoms to all of us without discrimination based on gender, religion, race or social and political position.
We at MIBOS- AWISE we strongly believe and trust the saying of Farrah Fawcett that said “God made man stronger but not necessarily more intelligent. He gave women intuition and femininity. And, used properly, that combination easily jumbles the brain of any man I’ve ever met.” But also —Nelson DeMille said that “ Basically, all women are nurturers and healers, and all men are mental patients to varying degrees.”
However, we women are nurturers and healers” if we are educated to know our place in the society and empowered to act accordingly.This is the foundation of our work.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The main aim of MIBOS-AWISE is to offer and give power to vulnerable and marginalized women with the basic skills to facilitate them to combat and eliminate poverty in their respective areas of life. We believe that education is a significant way that can help women to be empowered.
Working together to end up gender related inequality between men and women in rural regions both in Mwanza and Kigoma and especially in Ilemela, Kigoma, Uvinza Districts and strive to create a future in which rural women will be viewed equally to men in all aspects of life, civil, economic, social and cultural.
Discourage and decrease women and girls neglect ; sexual harassment.
Empowering women and girls aiming for gender equality and the eradication of all forms of discrimination against rural women and girls and increase public’s knowledge of what constitutes the role of women in society; increase women’s confidence and the desire to speak out for themselves.
Provide educational and training services as a bridge that may bring together different women and girls to discuss on how to overcome unfairness and the violence and neglect.
Organize, implement and support industrial skill training and trade education for women who plan to establish their own business and encourage the Spirit of income generating and support the implementation and growth of small business tailoring; cooperative workshops, carpentry, motor garage; hair salon, dress center; Center for soap making project; photocopy centres, bricks and tiles making, studio etc...
Empower marginalized women and girls to improve their lives, alleviate their suffering and develop a vision for change that will make a difference in their lives through influencing the leaders to elaborate and the implement of policies that effect their development with full respect for their training supporting their groups etc..
Provide high potential to low-income women and girls with the training, funding, and ongoing support to start their own business and become financially self-empowered and self- sufficient.
Provide opportunities for women and girls to achieve their full potential, to increase their skills towards economic success, to assist trained professionals women to overcome unemployment crisis and bring their skills for the benefits of the whole community.
Organizing community workshops to raise public awareness on the status conditions and rights of women, give counselling, coaching, mentoring opportunities to raise awareness on the rights and responsibilities to the society as their relate to agenda of equality.
ACHIEVEMENT
Since its creation, MIBOSassociated women’s Initiative for Self- Empowerment under the MIBOS guidance and leadership achieved the following:
In Kigoma Municipal, since the organization was recognized we established Hekima women group who have been united together and start projects of making mat, weaving bed sheet, horticulture projects, raising tree in tree nursery and palm oil and saving and credit scheme.
We expanded the project in Nyanganga village in Uvinza District in Kigoma Region where a women group were also formed a women group named Mkuti Jiendeleze women Group whom carried out poultry project, making palm oil, agriculture activities and later we linked them with United nation world food programme (UNWFP), the group received a posh mill machine to process their product and they have been constructed a godown where they keep their crops during harvest period.
In Nguruka we formed a group women farmer group dealing with small business and agriculture activities.
MIBOS expanded also its office in Mwanza and Arusha Regions as well as strengthening women groups to be self-reliant.
The Kiloleli computer training centre in Mwanza contributes towards the promotion of the dignity of rural women and their families. Our fields of consideration are the relief of poverty, digital educational needs; women’s health issues.
We established a digital and literacy computer training centre in Kiloleli, Mwanza;
Under the joint partnership between MIBOS and Sauti ya wanawake Ukerewe (SAWAU), MIBOS-AWISE succeeded to established a joint project called “IMARISHA WASICHANA PROJECT ” in English “Strengthening Girls Project” implementing projects of tailoring training; training on incoming generating and business running venture. This joint project “IMARISHA WASICHANA PROJECT” is sponsored by the Children's Rights and Violence Prevention Fund “CRVPF “ to sustain structural change that can help girls to shift the social norms that legitimize and perpetuate violence.
CHALLENGES
1) As the root causes of women discrimination, gender inequality and violence in Tanzania and in mostly in Kigoma and Mwanza provinces, are societal and the solutions lie in changing values; attitudes; behaviours, structure and system to achieve gender equality. We will advocate for equity and social justice in an effort to address and eliminate barriers to gender and social inclusion;
2) As it is in most of the African countries and especially in Tanzania, women and girls face challenges of Gender discrimination that is a dark chapter of women sufferings in our region. The trend of sexual harassment of women in the last couple of years indicates that prejudice to women knows no boundary irrespective of professions, social stratum and levels of income.
3) Prostitution is considered as immoral and shameful act in our country. But from Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia Prostitution in Tanzania is illegal but widespread. UNAIDS estimates there to be 155,450 prostitutes in the country. Many women and young girls are forced into prostitution due to poverty, lack of job opportunities, culture, and the disintegration of the family unit. An increase in prostitution among young teenage girls in Tanzania has forced the police to start arresting men who pay for sex. Police say men who buy sex contribute to a flourishing sex trade.
4) Not enough voice of women in decision-making: Our country, the republic of Tanzania tries its best to include women in decision making but we at MIBOS-AWISE believe that our country has to increase its efforts to give the opportunities to women to express ideas for execution and as a result the economic and social values of the women will be reflected in the household decision making and leadership.
5) Less priority to female and girls’ education such as less attention given to the scholarship of girls from poor families, less nutritious food, less budget for girls education, etc.
6) NGOs like MIBOS-AWISE and others are such women’s poverty alleviation that empowers the economic capability of the women through the poverty elimination program and the distribution of easy starting point loan from their rural local branches.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. In many cases, if educated people including women or social organizations come forward and give stress on building women’s consciousness then men will be back footed in taking such chances of valuing the dignity of the women in our country.
2. Now-a-days shocking crimes like rape, physical torture, etc., are common violence on the women of Tanzania. Proper application of the existing laws may improve the condition. But overall condition will not be satisfactory in the long run until and unless the ruling tendency or imposed restrictions on women to keep them staying within the four walls of the house as the docile daughter or the cute wife of ruling husband is not changed.
3. A satisfactory condition in the long run will be ensured only then when effective emphasis will be given on “the Education of women and girls” program. Still then, women oppression will not be stopped and equality will not be ensured if good instances of punishment for crime are not focused and education in improving women’s mental health does not work.
4. Both Government and NGOs in this case have the role to play in protecting the rights and dignities of women and girls in Tanzania and especially to provide ongoing support to help them establish their own business and become financially self-empowered and self- sufficient, in Mwanza and Kigoma where we are based.
APPEAL FOR FUNDRAISING
The MIBOS-AWISE is raising donations to support the extension of its Digital Inclusion and Computer training Center in Killoleli, Ilemela District in Mwanza to help us to empower our girls. We appeal to friends and people of good heart to support us. Our target is to raise an amount of $21,000.
For more details just contact Madame Rebecca Mafipa at:
Tel :+255 744 256 183
Whatsapp: +255 744 256 183
E-mail: rebeccamafipa@gmail.com