Kigali Peace Marathon in Rwanda May 27th, 2012 (Dar es Salaam)

I will be leading a team of VSO & Cuso International volunteers in Tanzania who will be running the Kigali International Peace Marathon on 27 May Protected content in support of the economic empowerment of women in East Africa. You can join or sponsor the team at Protected content

The funds raised will support our partner organizations in Rwanda focusing on the empowerment of women such as the Women’s Business Development Fund. This Fund enables East African women to apply for a business development grant of US$250 to start and/or support their own business to secure their livelihood and that of their family.

A good example of the power of such small grants is Husna Ameir Hija. She is a smallholder vegetable farmer living in the village of Pete in South-East Unguja (Zanzibar, Tanzania). Husna joined a local women’s group, and was supported by a Kenyan VSO volunteer, Anthony Kanyumu. The grant coupled with the support from the volunteer ensured that she now has a viable and rapidly expanding business, with good links to a profitable market. “I feel confident about the future,” she says, “Now I can stand on my own.”

Women bear a greater burden of poverty than men – 70% of people living in poverty are women. Due to systematic discrimination, women are at greater risk of hunger as they are less able to access education, healthcare, land or credit.

Through the empowerment of women and strengthening their economic independence, VSO & Cuso International seek to break the vicious cycle of poverty and put them in charge of their own lives.

East Africa has Protected content & Cuso International volunteers who live and work in Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya. They come from a wide range of countries, such as Kenya, Uganda, Canada, Trinidad & Tobago, United Kingdom, Ireland, The Netherlands, Germany, The Philippines, Australia and New Zealand.
Currently around 65 international volunteers are working in partnership with local organizations to reduce poverty and strengthen the economic empowerment of women in East Africa.

Become part of the solution. Again you can join the team and run, or financially support the team or any of the individual runners by going to Protected content

Also you can email me for further details at Protected content

Happy Running
Ishwar