By Barbara Goldberg
I’m happy to report that Wells Bring Hope’s water projects in Niger are all going well, all fully operational, putting an end to death and disease from contaminated water. 328 wells have been funded with four more to come within the week.
Although you may have read about incursions into Niger by the Boko Haram a few months ago, the military successfully pushed them back. Niger is committed, along with neighboring countries, Chad and Cameroon, to eradicating them, not only in their own country but in northern Nigeria too. The area impacted was in the far southeastern part of Niger, where we do not have any wells. Our wells and partners on the ground have not been affected, except for the heightened security measures that were put in place about a year ago. This meant that wherever we traveled, we were accompanied by 10 armed guards from the Nigerien military.
What excited me most on this trip to Niger was the phenomenal success of the economic development program for women that we helped to set up with our partner, World Vision, 2 ½ years ago. It is designed to educate women in an environment where they can be supported and are able to support each other in learning how to start and run a small business. After women no longer have to walk miles to carry water, they want to work and earn money. However, they lack the skills and resources to accomplish that. The vehicle for making this happen is the “savings group.”
Here’s how it works: about 25 women in a given village come together and form a savings group. They typically meet once a week and a World Vision facilitator works to educate them on business “basics”. Each woman contributes a small amount of money to their “bank” and they take turns making loans to each other.
In just a matter of months, the savings groups show results, with women starting their own small businesses, selling food they cook, raising vegetables, animals and more. The pay-back rate is 100%!
We listened to many success stories, but obviously the greatest triumph is that these women are able to provide economic security for their family where in the past they were always struggling for survival.
There are strong psychological benefits for these women: they are truly transformed, feeling successful, accomplished, proud and confident in their own abilities for the first time in their lives. It is evident in the way in which they hold themselves and speak.
What fascinated us was how marriages become true partnerships, with the women’s contribution helping take the burden off their husbands to support the family. Some of us hypothesized that maybe the men resented the success of their wives, but quite the opposite is true—they feel relieved and greatly appreciate what their wives are doing.
As marital relationships improve, the kids are happier too and feel so proud of their mom’s accomplishments. These mothers serve as role models for their girls who want to do the same when they grow up, and many of the older ones had started helping their mothers after school. The sons want their future wives to do exactly the same as their mothers are doing. Thus, the examples set by these women will serve to end the downward spiral of poverty and continue to very quickly transform lives for generations to come.
We felt proud too, that we helped make this program happen and continue to support it to bring about lasting change in the lives of the people of rural Niger.
