AGEN’s Member of the Month is Dr. Elinami Swai

This month’s AGEN member of the Month is Dr. Elinami Swai. She is not a doctor by accident; Dr. Elinami holds several titles: AGEN Assistant Executive Director- Women and Advocacy ; Senior Lecturer and Dean of School of Curriculum and Teacher Education at University of Dodoma, Tanzania and Visiting Assistant Professor at The University of Toledo, USA since August 2007 . Dr. Elinami is a fulbrighter (Fulbright Student Program) who holds Doctor of Education, Adult Education, Gender Studies from Penn State University, USA.

At the US Department alumni website, Dr. Elinami present us with a short and clear message, “I now know that the world we are living in is diverse and there is nothing valuable than appreciating our cultural diversity.”

This intelligent professor has been playing a very instrumental role on strengthening AGEN Headquarters in Dar Es Salaam. She doesn’t tolerate easy going behavior. In a recent communication, she presented a following argument, “...cry for money is none issue when everybody has a cry for more money. I have not come across anywhere in the world where money was enough. If we pay so much attention to this cry, are we able to change the situation? How much money is enough? Even those who said 2,000,000 [Tanzanian shillings or around $1333.333333333333) will that change the situation? What I consider to be more important is how the recipients used the money to change the situation, hata kama ni kwa kupanuka mawazo tu (in English , the loan should be used to develop an entrepreneurial mindset). “ In an academic setting, Dr. Elinami recently wrote, “On the one hand, women are not victims, unaware of the structural cause of their situation and thus lack of options to achieve their dreams. On the other hand, women recognize the oppressive structures working against them. Nonetheless for many women, experiencing a sense of powerlessness they not only advocate for their individual needs, but also defend their families and community. Yet at the same time, paradoxically reproducing their own powerlessness. ” Despite being extremely knowledgeable on gender issues, Dr. Elinami exercise humbleness as she mentors junior Ageners; Juniors like Rasel who, like other young folks, would like AGEN’s activities to be accomplished with the speed of light. However, good things come with patience.

Most importantly, Dr. Elinami introduced AGEN to the Tanzania public in a very famous TV show on October last year. The DVD showcasing this historical event has been archived at AGEN headquarters in Dar Es Salaam. She has recently presented at a reputable African international conference and her work can be downloaded here Dr. Elinami Veraeli Swai most recent book is “Beyond Women's Empowerment in Africa: Exploring Dislocation and Agency” published by Palgrave Macmillan

Congratulations Dr. Elinami! AGEN will always count on you.

Women entrepreneurs from Iguguno Village and Alumni convey their gratitude to the American People

JUWAKI takes pride in the following achievements: a) monthly repayment of the microloans, as per their constitution, has been met by 100%; b) the women entrepreneurs have successfully bought a new digital camera for them to share their progress with the world. This is a big step indeed; c) sound relationship with AEIF partner grassroots NGO (MCO) of Iringa. Here, the two NGOs have been exchanging experiences and expertise to improve their performance; d) the women entrepreneurs successfully hosted AGEN’s visit by Administrative Director, Mr. James Jesse. This was a the first and very successful field visit by a top AGEN official. Mr. Jesse, was accompanied by AGEN’s Field Coordinator Mr. Johnson Robinson. The two visited several villages to include Kinyangiri, Lukomo and Iguguno. The two Ageners were very much impressed by what they saw in those villages; indeed, women entrepreneurs at work as they transform their lives and those of their loved ones.

AGEN and its partner JUWAKI face some challenges. This is time for farm preparation across all villages in Singida. As it is often the case, women make an integral part of the labor force required in the process. Henceforth, some of the husbands stop their wives from participating in JUWAKI meetings. Basically, this is a cultural issues that Ageners are going to dedicate some of their time to address. Here we talk of gender empowerment for both men and women, if we really need to sustain this project. Another challenge is that, some of the women entrepreneurs have been avoiding loans because of the associated past experiences from both profit driven and untrustworthy organizations. This too will be addressed by AGEN and its partners; training has been scheduled to deal with some of these issues. An important achievement is that all of the money is in the hands of women entrepreneurs.

As usual women expressed their need for education and hands-on training on entrepreneurship skills and record keeping. AGEN is more than equipped to address this challenge. In the next few days Ageners will be travelling to the region to offer the required training. Equally important, the training will be reinforced by Ageners’ biweekly visits.

Finally, JUWAKI shared two success stories: Ms. Fatuma Makula (Mama Nyaswa or mother of Nyaswa; here a Tanzanian parent takes pride in having children and prefers to be called the mother of so and so or the father of so and so. Calling Tanzanian people with children by first names or surnames is sometimes considered a bad thing or disrespect of somebody’s status. Tanzanian men equally take pride in this title) is involved in Sunflower oil refinery. She refines a dense sunflower paste (ugido in Kiswahili) from a relatively advanced local sunflower refinery and produces sunflower cooking oil ready for sale. She specifically mix 40 liters of the oil paste with 140 liters of water then boils the mixture for four to five hours. The result is 20 liters of refined sunflower cooking oil. This is indeed, locally discovered way of refining sunflower products that would otherwise be lost. Ms. Fatuma got a loan of only Tanzanian shillings 100,000 (roughly $67) from AGEN (jointly administered with JUWAKI). Before she got the loan Ms. Afforded a 40liters of the paste; the loan has enabled her to grow her business. In the past she only afforded to buy 40 liters of paste (two buckets of 20 liters); however, the loan has enabled her to buy up to 100liters of sunflower oil paste. Her life has been transformed in that she can now address most of her needs. She has also managed to pay school fees for her children on time. Fatuma Makula conveys her greatest gratitude to AGEN and the American people.

Ms Fatuma on your left with her friend preparing sunflower oil

Refined sunflower cooking oil (the bottom of the bucket can be seen)

The second success story covers tailoring business which has started to be productive. Ms. Maria Kitala from Berthlehem in Iguguno villages says, “I am a tailor and I love tailoring. However, for quite sometimes, my business wasn’t productive because I didn’t have enough capital to buy fabric as per my customers’ needs. After receiving money from the American people, I bought more fabric that met some of the needs of my customers. I received the money as the holiday season approached; and that enabled me to take more orders from customers. That meant more money for me and my loved ones. Many thanks to JUWAKI, AGEN and the American people for allowing me to realize my dream. The capital has increased and that is all that I needed to progress my tailoring business because I have the required tailoring skills. Thanks a lot to AGEN officials for visiting my business and I am looking forward to more visits and entrepreneurship training.” Like Ms. Fatuma, Ms. Maria Kitala got a loan of only Tanzanian shillings 100,000 (roughly $67) from AGEN (jointly administered with JUWAKI).

Ms Maria in her kiosk preparing clothes for her customers.

This is the money from the American people that allowed Ms Kitala and Ms macula, living in one of the remotest village of Tanzania, to address the needs of their customers who needed clothes for the holiday as well as nice and cholesterol free cooking oil. Importantly, the women entrepreneurs met their needs and those of their families. It is this very same money that has allowed AGEN officials to visit women and provide individual specific counseling to the entreprenuers.Thanks a lot to the American people.

James' Visit in Iguguno Village (James is second from on your left at the bottom photo)

ENTREPRENEURSHIP: TRAINING OF TRAINERS (TOT)

Affirmative Action on Gender Equality Network (AGEN) is a Non-Governmental Organization which was founded by the Tanzanians U.S. Alumni who want to give back to the society especially to women and youth living in rural and semi-urban areas of Sub-Saharan Region of Africa. Until November 2011 AGEN had 120 members across the globe; of which 60 members are from Tanzania. The number is increasing daily. AGEN is currently working in collaboration with two women NGOs in Iringa and Singida Regions in Tanzania. These NGOs are called Muungano Charity Organisation (MCO) and Jumuiya ya Wanawake wafanyabiashara Ndogondogo Kinyangiri (JUWAKI) respectively in the implementation of the project entitled, Women Empowerment in Rural Sub-Sahara Africa through Capacity Building and Training funded by the U.S. Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF)

This project is a one year project with possible expansion, focusing on empowerment of women living in semi-urban areas of Tanzania in Iringa and Singida Regions through provision of loans through their NGOs, cutting edge monitoring and capacity building training from a team of Fulbrighters and other members who have voluntarily joined AGEN. In line with the above mentioned project, AGEN organised a full-day Training of Trainers (TOT) Workshop on Entrepreneurship so as to equip participants with necessary information and skills that are necessary for the project implementation. It is anticipated that the knowledge and skills acquired would in turn be imparted to women who are beneficiaries of the project...read more.