Background

GEA grew out of the work co-founders Gerald and Patricia Mische had been doing in developing countries of Africa and Latin America. From its inception, GEA has been committed to solidarity with poor and marginalized people and has been working for the development of global systems that can assure greater economic well being and democratic participation for all the world’s peoples. GEA has associates in more than 90 countries, many of whom are involved in work for sustainable development. In 1990 GEA initiated a partnership with four UN agencies and 16 Non-governmental organizations called “Project Global 2000” to bring our diverse areas of expertise together in collaborative work. The partnership with UNICEF focused on Education for All (EFA), a program aimed at increased literacy, especially women and girls, who had had no access to basic education. Education was seen as key to opening the bottleneck to human development and economic opportunity.

As an expression of our partnership for EFA, GEA and UNICEF agreed to pilot several joint projects in East Africa and South Africa and to include as partners local African women’s groups and religious orders in the region in a consolidated effort. The goal was to enhance educational opportunities and to empower women for sustainable community development and poverty alleviation.

Projects with Kisumu and Siaya Women’s Groups in Western Kenya

In 1997, several pilot projects were identified and began to be developed through this partnership. The first pilot involved 16 women’s groups in the Kisumu and Siaya areas of western Kenya and a confederation of three Franciscan communities (CCFMC). The women’s groups identified the following as their most important educational and development goals:

• Clean, safe, and affordable water
• Famine and hunger relief
• HIV Aids prevention and assistance for HIV-Aids orphans
• Income-generating projects and related training and skills

Since 1997, GEA has assisted the Women’s groups and CCFMC in the following ways:

1. Water Projects
Water was identified by every woman’s group as their most important need. In the Uyoma region of western Kenya, GEA assisted local women’s groups with funding assistance to rehabilitate an old government-controlled water system that had not worked for years. The system now supplies water to 100,000 people, and it has been moved to community-based management. Women who once had to pay for water, or walk many miles to a crocodile-infested and polluted lake to fetch it in buckets, now are water managers who not only have a source of clean water for their villages, but also can generate an income from water management. Some of the other women’s groups in the region are planning similar community-based, water-management systems.

2. Micro-Enterprise Training
GEA helped secure micro-enterprise training for more than 300 women in the region so that they could start their own businesses or enhance their income-producing skills. Local people with expertise in micro-enterprise and agricultural and community development were employed to do the training.

3. Demo-Farm and Learning Center
A demo-farm and learning center is being developed with GEA assistance that will provide a place for women of the region to share and upgrade their knowledge and skills.

4. HIV Aids & Orphans
There are an estimated 700,000 AIDS orphans in Kenya. The CCFMC is working with the women’s groups involved in this partnership to pilot programs in HIV/AIDS prevention and care of orphans. Most of the women in these groups now provide for up to 1-6 orphans.

Uganda
The pilot projects with the Kisumu area women’s groups have become a model for some other regions. Currently, GEA Board member, Richard Ottoo, from Uganda, is working with women’s groups in northern Uganda to start similar projects there.