Kinyamaseke Youth in Development

Uganda

Uganda’s President Museveni originally placed the country on a 14-day lockdown beginning March 30. On April 14, the border closures and lockdown controls were extended for an additional 21 days.

Concerns and Challenges

Information about prevention measures air on National TV. However, most people in rural areas don't own TVs and are unaware of the virus, how it spreads and how to prevent. This has led to some people believing the disease is linked to witchcraft.

Adaptation Measures

Biira Miriam, Chairperson of Kinyamaseke Youth in Development (KYID), has been working with two other team members to maintain the office. They developed simple, easily remembered concepts for preventing COVID-19 to pass information to members of the community.

Emergency Fund

With the money we secured for KYID through our Emergency Fund, they were able to:

• Purchase washing buckets with taps

• Purchase washing soap and distributed it to the members

• Purchase reusable facemasks

• Purchase boxes of gloves

• Compiled WHO health guidelines and translated them into the local language to provide to organization and community members

• Used airtime on the phone to mobilize members for distribution of the aforementioned items

• Hire a van (as public and private vehicles have been banned due to the lockdown) to transport the aformentioned materials from Kasese to Kinyamaseke for distribution

Update from June 2020

The continuation of our Emergency Fund gave KYID the opportunity to distribute essential food items, including cassava flour, maize flour, and beans, and sanitary pads to vulnerable women acting as single heads of their families.

Society for the Improvement of Rural People

Nigeria

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari originally announced a 14-day lockdown for the Lagos, Abuja and Ogun states on March 30. A 14-day extension was added.

Specifically in the Enugu State, borders, schools, inter-state transportation, markets, and airports have been closed, and gatherings have been banned.

Concerns and Challenges

Many people have experienced increased difficulty in accessing food supplies and medicines, especially women and children.

Adaptation Measures

Due to the ban on gatherings, the Society for the Improvement of Rural People (SIRP) has adapted in how to inform and educate their community. They stay in contact with beneficiaries via phone. Previously, SIRP held a Skills and Entrepreneurship training on soap making that has provided many girls with the knowledge that is in high demand right now. Additionally, they have produced posters and leaflets in lieu of trainings to inform the public on precautionary measures to be taken to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

Emergency Fund

With the emergency funds from Rockflower, SIRP was able to hold an educational program for 30 women and girls from the Ikirike and Idaw-River community. This included a knowledge sharing session about COVID-19 highlighting precautionary measures to take to avoid contracting the virus, the demonstration and distribution of facemasks and the distribution of essential food items. They were also able to provide posters to be shared more widely with the community.

Update from May 2020

The continuation of the Emergency Fund is focusing on adolescent girls. The majority of the project will be implemented on May 28, 2020, the International Day of Menstrual Hygiene.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, women and girls have had to sacrifice their maternal and reproductive health. Before the pandemic, gender inequality, discriminatory social norms, cultural taboos, poverty, and lack of basic hygiene often left menstrual hygiene needs to go unmet. Now these deprivations have become exacerbated. Resulting in far-reaching negative impacts on the lives of our adolescent girls and young mothers, including but not limited to restricted mobility, freedom and choices, reduced participation in school, work and community life, compromised safety, and additional stress and anxiety.

Under the continuation of the Emergency Fund, the following activities will be implemented:

• Education on how to prevent COVID-19 using the WHO and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) protocols.

• Discussions around the 2020 International Day of Menstrual Hygiene.

• Training on how to make reusable menstrual pads as skills training for economic empowerment for adolescent girls of Idaw River community.

• Distribution of IEC materials, Personal Protective, Equipment (PPEs), sanitary pads and food items to mitigate the challenge of hunger for these adolescent young girls during this lockdown period as a result of COVID-19.

Read about SIRP’s International Day of Menstrual Hygiene.

Women in Sustainable Development

Kenya

A dusk to dawn curfew has been installed nationwide by President Uhuru Kenyatta. In addition, travel restrictions increased to ban movement in and out of Nairobi, Mombasa, and two counties for three weeks.

Concerns, Challenges and Adaptation Measures

Most of Women in Sustainable Enterprises’ (WISE) activities involve trainings. Due to the ban on gatherings, these have been canceled. WISE continues to operate though as Caroline Odera, Founder and Director, and her team of volunteers works from home.

One of their main challenges at the moment is assisting their women entrepreneurs. Due to a lack of daily income for many households, those who are renting solar lamps are unable to pay. WISE is exploring how to combat this issue. Additionally, WISE was expanding to Mageta Island. However, the inter-county travel restrictions have put this on hold.

Emergency Fund

WISE received Emergency Funds from Rockflower. They quickly utilized the money and put many local interventions into action.

WISE issued 60 facemasks, bars of soap and cereals to the local women entrepreneurs that they engage within their programs.

They also involved the use of drama in the local language to better educate the women and the rest of the Dunga community on the importance of handwashing, wearing face masks and social distancing as part of the WHO preventative measures for contracting the coronavirus. 

Hope for the Future Organization

Uganda

Uganda’s President Museveni originally placed the country on a 14-day lockdown beginning March 30. On April 14, the border closures and lockdown controls were extended for an additional 21 days.

Concerns and Challenges

Hope for the Future has a number of concerns and challenges, including but not limited to lack of daily income for women, access to medical supplies and food, and the surge in reports of domestic violence.

The lockdown controls have closed businesses, markets and roadside stalls. Many of the beneficiaries Hope for the Future works with who are dependent on daily trade are unable to make an income. This results in a lack of basic necessities needed during this pandemic. Women who now have to ask their husbands for help are being met with violence in return.

“Accessing medical care and food is a far fetched dream to many. Domestic violence against women and children is on the rise as they demand basics from their husbands.”

Emergency Fund

Rockflower has sent money from the Emergency Fund. Hope for the Future has been able to provide powdered milk, maize flour, sugar, soap and cooking oil to elderly women with grandchildren, refugee families and those families headed by both women and children respectively.

Update from May 2020

Hope for the Future continued their food distribution program. Through their community outreach, they have seen an increase in domestic violence, families falling apart, and many young women unemployed due to the closing of the hospitality industry.

Women Advocacy Project

Women Advocacy Project (WAP) has been a partner of Rockflower since 2016. In 2018 they secured a Peace Fellow from The Advocacy Project (AP) in Washington DC. Rockflower and AP have continued to work together to ensure that WAP is able to progress in their vision to reduce the prevalence of child marriage in their communities. AP has sent two peace fellows since the beginning of their partnership with WAP. Iain Guest, Founder and Director of AP, visited WAP last November and produced the video of Evelyn found at the end of this news item. WAP was making great progress with their soapmaking business and was set to scale before the threat of COVID-19 shut everything down.

Zimbabwe

Beginning on March 30, Zimbabwe was put into a 21-day lockdown.

Concerns and Challenges

Women Advocacy Project’s main concern is the state of the Zimbabwean health system. There is a “dire shortage of ventilators, oxygen tanks, biohazard suits and N95 face masks for healthcare professionals fighting the coronavirus pandemic.” Additionally, there are inadequate screenings across the country and a lack of quarantine and isolation facilities.

Adaptation Measures

Constance Mugari, Executive Director of WAP, is already making soap in her home to distribute to beneficiaries. Once the lockdown is lifted, Women Advocacy Project is planning to train the women and girls to make hand sanitizer and masks.

Emergency Fund

Rockflower has sent funds to the Women Advocacy Project, to combine with those from AP and others supporting their work. This will help cover the cost of printing information pages on the virus, delivering small food parcels and making masks.

Update from June 2020

In addition to the continuous support from our Emergency Fund, WAP also received funds from Action for World Solidarity, The Advocacy Project, and the Pollination Project. This combined aid resulted in distribution of essential item parcels, including 10 kgs of maize meal, 2 liters of cooking oil, 2 bottles of hand washing soap, 5 face masks, and 1 informative poster, to 100 families in Epworth and Chitungwiza. Additionally donations were made, 200 masks, 150 bottles of soap, and 100 copies of information posters, to St Mary Primary Clinic in Chitungwiza and, 350 masks, 250 bottles of soap, 100 information pages, to Epworth Mission Clinic in Epworth respectively.

Foundation for Women and Children Empowerment

Liberia

Having been severely affected by the Ebola epidemic from 2014 to 2016, organizations in Liberia such as the Foundation for Women and Children Empowerment (FOWACE) understand the hardships that come with a virus like this more than most. Every day they work with those women and children who were most severely affected by the devastation of Ebola and are now anxious not to lose ground with the additional challenge of COVID-19.

Liberian President George Weah issued a 14-day stay-at-home order, prohibited travel, closed schools and has discouraged large gatherings.

The following are excerpts from correspondence with Haja Talawallay, Executive Director of FOWACE.

Concerns and Challenges

“People are so afraid and worried because of the differing news on the virus and our past experience with Ebola.

With the new measures of State of Emergency where people are restricted from leaving their homes, the disabled and disadvantaged women who struggle daily to feed their families are the worse affected people in the society. Liberia is one country that doesn't have social programs for these disadvantaged populations. If nothing is done to provide food and other preventive materials to these poor people, they might not even die from the virus but starvation.”

Adaptation Measures

“We have been reaching out to our beneficiaries with awareness of the virus and how to prevent the spread.”

Emergency Fund

“With the financial support from Rockflower, we purchased the soap produced by our project beneficiaries and rice which we are now distributing to the most vulnerable people in the communities so that they can have food and preventive materials for their families and stay home during these difficult times.”

Update from May 2020

“Schools and markets are still closed and large public gatherings are also still banned. These restrictions are necessary for the prevention of the virus but the effects on women and children are so high. Disabled people and disadvantaged women who depend on their daily incomes are on the streets begging. Informal businesses are highly affected by the crisis. The women have lost their sources of income. They are finding it difficult to feed their families. 

At FOWACE, we have been doing door to door awareness about the prevention of the virus along with food, soap, and reusable face masks distribution.”

Update from June 2020

“Foundation for Women and Children Empowerment (FOWACE) believes that the best way to protect vulnerable and disadvantaged women and children from the COVID-19 pandemic is to ensure that they have food and other preventive materials like soap and face mask. FOWACE continues to identify disadvantaged and vulnerable families and provide them with food, soap and face masks.”

African Youth Alliance

Cameroon

On March 18, 2020, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Health took 13 major steps including the closure of all air, land and sea borders into and out of the country, the closure of all schools, the suspension of entry visas and a call to the population to observe strict hygiene and sanitation rules prescribed by the World Health Organization Full Government Response Strategy.

The following is an excerpt from correspondence with Roseline, Executive Director of the African Youth Alliance (AYA).

Concerns and Challenges

“I will not describe how challenging it is to keep safe without a constant supply of running water, hand sanitizers are a luxury we cannot afford, and our anxiety is high as we know how broken our health system is, I am grateful as rains have started and we can have rainwater for now, the children are healthy, [as of April 1] our villages have not yet recorded cases so far.

As I shared with you in Canada, the communities in which we intervene are already affected by a socio-political armed conflict since 2016. AYA is the only organization supporting rural women and girls in those villages. This year, Rockflower is our only donor so far.

The main challenge is having basic funds to provide education on what COVID-19 is and the hygienic measures for rural women and girls in the local languages. Apart from the little education we started doing before we had to suspend activities, no information has yet reached our rural women and girls on the pandemic.”

Adaptation Measures

“To keep our three main volunteers in the village safe, we painfully agreed with them to stop activities for now, due to a lack of funds. I am writing to different people, asking if they can help support with funds for the education of rural women and girls on COVID-19.

They do not have access to information, there is no electricity or internet in the village. We are very worried about what will happen to all of them if the disease arrives in the communities. These communities already fragmented by war are just not prepared at all. We trained the volunteers in the village ourselves from information read on the internet so they have a basic knowledge. However, they need support in terms of protective wears while going around communities to do education (face masks, gloves, sanitizers). They also suggested that we distribute the hand sanitizers, provide buckets for handwashing stations in public spaces that women and girls frequent often in the village. Unfortunately, for now, we do not yet have support for that. We had already planned to train them on how to produce soap bars and detergents under our current Rockflower project, which will greatly assist them, as well as all surrounding communities.

“It is farming season already, rains have started and the crops are not waiting.”

The only activity we can keep running is the one categorized under the Access to Food and Water key. Organic agriculture, fruit tree planting and water catchment protection through tree planting. Women were already provided with farming and planting inputs. They have started their group vegetable gardens and farms. The volunteer in charge of that activity has requested to continue to monitor the gardens and farms with the women while respecting health and safety measures. It is the farming season already, rains have started and the crops are not waiting, they will grow.”

Emergency Fund

The Emergency Fund from Rockflower provided buckets with taps and soap bars that were placed in public village spaces to enable regular hand washing. The volunteers of the African Youth Alliance received face masks and hand sanitizers. AYA volunteers were trained on what COVID 19, the means of transmissions and how to prevent contamination at the community level. These volunteers will continue to provide awareness and education opportunities for community members.

Update from May 2020

African Youth Alliance is currently undergoing a project in partnership with Rockflower, Five Keys in Five Villages, that began in January. Progress was made throughout the first quarter of 2020. The COVID-19 outbreak caused major setbacks in March. Due to the rural setting AYA works in, there have been varying reactions by the community including fear, panic, disbelief, and mockery. AYA continues to provide educational opportunities on preventative measures and updates on statistics. Additionally, they have continued their work in the village of Tumuku. Read more on Continuing Reproductive Health through the COVID-19 Pandemic.

What To Do in a Pandemic: Send More Cash and More Love

Before the global pandemic struck, we were spending a lot of time working on a plan to scale Rockflower. We need to meet the demand of our existing partners and the increasing number of new applications we receive weekly. The world needs system-wide change in the next decade, not just to survive but to thrive and Rockflower’s role is to get more money into the hands of those with the vision and fortitude to make this happen. 

As an organization based in the United States, where the grave impact of the spread of COVID-19 is growing by the day, we have been on stay-at-home orders since mid-March. Banks are closed to in-person transactions, which presents a difficulty as many of the countries we work in require a physical presence to wire money. 

It is easy to get distracted during this moment, but you have to focus on what is being asked of you – what’s in your line of sight? 

We have reached out to all 34 of our current partners to get a sense of the challenges in their communities and to determine how best we can help.

The responses vary greatly in terms of government restrictions and mandatory lockdowns, but one sentiment comes through loud and clear. Those grassroots women’s organizations working at the furthest margins need something very basic - cash. 

With strict and sudden lockdowns in place, the ability to access food and medicine is becoming critical and those whose daily lives were already extremely difficult to navigate now have the added threat of this virus. 

Rockflower has set up an Emergency Fund to send small amounts of money via Western Union directly into the hands of our partners so that they can get what they need and utilize additional resources over the coming weeks. 

We firmly believe you can hold two ideas at the same time. We continue to work on our ambitious plan to scale up Rockflower, while at the same time knowing that putting money directly into the hands of those who need it right now is exactly why we call our philosophy, Radical Idealism, Practically Realized. 

Beginning tomorrow and continuing over the next few weeks, we will release a series of partner stories detailing their innovative and resilient approaches to this crisis. 

We will be participating in #GivingTuesdayNow to raise money for our Emergency Fund. Our fundraising campaign is ongoing but will officially launch on May 5 and run through May 10, Mother’s Day (US).

Pivoting from Entrepreneurship to Medicine

Last year, we began partnering with the Jimbere Fund. Their work to mobilize women in rural communities of the Democratic Republic of Congo aligned perfectly with one of our five keys - Economic Empowerment. Our partnership resulted in the Minembwe Women Entrepreneurs Project, which aimed to train and finance 30 women entrepreneurs who would launch businesses that would directly impact approximately 210 people.

The project was fully funded and we were looking forward to hearing about the innovation and results that would follow. However in November of 2019 that all changed. We were informed by Obadias Ndaba, CEO and Founder of the Jimbere Fund, and Sandra Uwiringiyimana, Co-founder and Director of Partnerships and Communications, that the country which had been in deep conflict for several months was reaching a tipping point. More than 200,000 people had fled fighting in the South Kivu highlands as a long-simmering struggle over land, power, and citizenship descended into village burnings and widespread killings. The violence was centered on the remote mountainous areas of Minembwe and Itombwe, where the Banyamulenge, a cattle-herding group of Rwandan origin, had lived for many generations. A coalition of militias from those who consider themselves to be “indigenous Congolese” have been attacking the Banyamulenge. A combination of washed-out roads and insecurity had led many aid groups to scale back and only be able to provide limited assistance to the displaced.

Given these urgent circumstances, and on the request of Obadias and Sandra, we made the decision to shift the money planned for the Minembwe Women Entrepreneurs Project to purchase much-needed medicine and support for the remaining medical staff on the ground.

“And because no one from outside can ever have as current and nuanced an understanding as those within, foundations need to work with local partners who do have that knowledge, and who are given the flexibility to respond to changing conditions.”

- “No Easy Answers for International Grantmakers” by Ruth Levine

We recently received an extensive report from the Jimbere Fund detailing the activities from December to February, the medicines that had been airlifted and of the 985 patients who were consulted in the Minembwe Health Zone.

Whilst this particular conflict is ongoing and thousands remain displaced and hunkered down in their attempts to find safety, we remain committed to trusting our local partners and their knowledge. Our model has proven that we can be adaptable to the changes occurring around the globe. It will serve us well in the coming months ahead as we navigate the impact of a global pandemic reaching into every corner of our work.

Water Security in Arusha

The Mategemeo Women Association recently completed their Shallow Wells for Water Security project.

The project included the construction of 4 shallow wells and 2 water kiosks resulting in:

• 300 households now have access to clean and reliable water

• Employment opportunities for the locals have been created through supplying and selling water from the two kiosks

• Some of the administrative costs of Mategemeo Women Association have been covered by the profits obtained at the kiosks

• Increase in children’s school enrollment and women’s farming activities (significantly contributing to households’ food security)

• Improvement of households’ hygiene and sanitation standards

While the project has had many successes, they were not without challenges. The local population has grown resulting in more pressure on water resources. While there have been improvements in hygiene and sanitation due to the access of clean water, some are still not practicing proper standards.

These issues will be solved by searching for more funding to continue the project in more areas, organizing hygiene and sanitation training sessions for community members, and prepare simplified health information materials to disseminate to locals.

Five Keys + Five Villages = One Holistic Project with the African Youth Alliance

The African Youth Alliance and Rockflower have been partners since 2017. Previously, we have supported them with an economic empowerment project, Empowering Women and Girls through Mentorship and Training. Their organization shows great promise and truly understands Rockflower’s vision as is evident in their newest project, Five Keys in Five Villages, based on our holistic model.

The five keys will be utilized in five communities in Cameroon. All the groups taking part in the project will have regular network and exchange visits to share their experiences on each pillar, strengthen their capacities and learn from each other. 

During the month of January and the first week of February, the African Youth Alliance met over 200 women and girls. The women and girls discussed the specificities of each project for better understanding, engagement, and implementation in order to achieve the desired impact through the improvement of their living standards and increased financial support to their families. Given the socio-political unrest in the region, the project will contribute to their overall peace and community development.

General remarks from the women and girls in attendance were of a great sense of satisfaction and appreciation as they promised to be active and highly involved in all project activities. They also attributed specific roles to all of the group members which will result in an effective implementation of the project.

We look forward to the progress that the African Youth Alliance makes on their Five Keys in Five Villages project.

Rockflower Partners with YWISD

Rockflower is pleased to announce a new partnership with Youth and Women Initiative for Sustainable Development (YWISD).

YWSID was founded with the purpose of increasing women’s participation in productive roles, reducing the increasing number of unemployed youth, bridging the gap of gender and economic inequalities, and reducing school dropouts, among other pressing community challenges of youth and women in Uganda, in particular, Wakiso.

The Weaving with YWISD Project aims to create employment opportunities for young women through non-formal education training in weaving baskets, handbags or wallets for women and entrepreneurship skills.

New Year, New Website for Hope for the Future

Our Youth Advisory Board members lead crowdfunding efforts for our partners’ project campaigns and locates content for our social media platforms as part of their requirements. Hannah Dawicki has brought her website creation skills to Hope for the Future. The website includes Hope for the Future’s programs, current appeals and so much more.

The website is live, but still undergoing some construction as a donation service is being researched for Hope for the Future to use in Uganda.

View Hope for the Future’s website here: www.hopeffo2020.wixsite.com/hope

WAP Working Hard to End Child Marriage

The Women Advocacy Project (WAP) has been hard at work this year to end child marriage in Zimbabwe. In the last few months, they have held a soap making training and a child marriage abolition campaign.

Soap Making Training

In September, WAP launched a soap making training for 30 girls. The purpose of the program is to economically empower the girls and resist the families’ pressure to marry them. Utilizing the donations from Rockflower and the Advocacy Project (AP) and a grant from Germany, a professional was hired to run the training sessions and supplies were purchased. “Clean Girl” soap is a household detergent The soap is sold by 5 girls at local “Tuck Shops”. Read more on the project through AP’s Global Giving campaign report.

Child Marriage Abolition Campaign

For International Day of the Girl (observed on October 11, 2019), WAP held a Child Marriage Abolition Campaign. The day was full of testimonies, activities, and speeches, including one given by the Provincial Head of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development. WAP ended with a call to action in abolishing child marriage and greater investments to improve girls’ education and economic empowerment.

Rockflower Welcomes Charlot Magayi to be a Global Ambassador

Rockflower is pleased to announce the addition of Charlot Magayi to our Global Ambassadors.

Charlot is the CEO and Founder of Mukuru Clean Stoves. She grew up in Mukuru, one of the biggest slums in Nairobi. She won the Waistlitz Global Citizen Award 2019 and SDGs and Her award 2018 for her work in fighting household air pollution and poverty..

We are excited to welcome her to our Catalyzer Collective!

Rockflower Welcomes Kevin Powell to the Board of Directors

Rockflower Partners Inc. is delighted to welcome Kevin Powell to the Board of Directors.

Kevin is a civil and human rights activist whose work as an author and speaker has made him one of the most respected political, literary and hip hop voices in America.

Kevin’s upbringing by a single mother in severe poverty in Jersey City brings a unique and distinct element to the work of Rockflower. He understands first-hand why our work to unblock funding to improve the lives of women and girls is so important and values the need for a new economic paradigm based on the logic of mothering.

It is my deep honor to join the Board of Directors for Rockflower. As a male ally, as someone who has two decades-plus of work with men and boys to challenge sexism and sexual violence, I think it incredibly critical to invest in women and girls worldwide, and I am deeply honored, as the child of a poor single mother, to support this vision.

- Kevin Powell

Go Fish! To Improve Maternal Nutrition

Hope for Rural Women recently began construction on their aquaponic fish farm. Built on the success of their Micro Gardens and Mushroom cultivation, the Aquaponics Fish Farming Pilot Project was created. The project is expected to provide knowledge and training to 50 women beneficiaries on fish and vegetable production, reduce malnutrition of expectant mothers by utilizing the fish protein, and economically empower women and their families through the sale of vegetables and fish.

Implementation of the project has reached construction of the fish tanks and grow gardens. Construction to this point can be found in the photos below. Next, the water pump will be installed to provide clean water in the fish tanks and reuse the highly fertilized water for the garden beds. Lastly, the fish tanks will be stocked with 200 African Catfish juveniles. The vegetable seeds have been purchased and are waiting to be planted.

International Day of the Girl

On International Day of the Girl, we celebrate the many ways that our partners work to enhance the opportunities available for girls to reach their full potential.

In Global Ambassador Francesca Ward’s guest blog post detailing her experiences during two summers working with Casa Congo, in Astillero, Nicaragua, she touches on the many ways gender equality is being achieved. One simple one is the need to get more young girls surfing. This is just one way to level the playing field for young girls to see what is possible in determining a new path for their futures.

Read more about the incredible example their mothers are setting for the next generation through their entrepreneurial endeavors.

Save the Bees

Rockflower partnered with Kinyamaseke Girls Youth in Development (KYID) to support their vision of conserving the Black Bees. Not only does this project maintain the biodiversity of their local environment, it provides opportunities for economic empowerment, including but not limited to higher crop yields and products to sell at market.

With the $3,000 grant funded by Rockflower, KYID was able to do the following:

• Conduct a 2-day training workshop for 62 stakeholders

During the training workshop, stakeholders learned the economic and environmental benefits of conserving pollinators, particularly bees. Handling and maintenance of the beehives was presented. The girls of KYID presented how they are benefitting from the project by learning beekeeping skills.

• Tour to Kamwenge for a 2-day education visit

The community of Kamwenge has formed a beekeeping cooperative, the Kamwenge Beekeepers Association. The Director of the association spoke on the process of beekeeping and the products that can be derived from it. Topics included but were not limited to types of bees, behaviors exhibited, and the equipment and materials used to manage beehives.

• Procure beehives and necessary supplies for the apiary

Necessary supplies, including 5 beekeeping suits, 2 smokers, 4 buckets, 5 pairs of gloves, barbed wire, 2 gumboots, and 14 beehives, were purchased.

• Monitor and evaluate progress by holding a full day of meetings

Throughout this project, KYID has found that knowledge development provides benefits including improved self- and community-esteem, increased participation in decision-making processes, and something as small and individual as a bee can make a big change in a community.

Rockflower Welcomes Mia Haugen to the Board of Directors

Rockflower is delighted to welcome Mia Haugen to the Board of Directors. Mia brings a wealth of experience and perspective through her work as a media executive, an advisor to several non-profits and as an impact investor. 

Building on the success of early stage investments in grassroots civil society organizations and social enterprises improving the lives of women and girls through the framework of the Five Keys, Rockflower is developing a unique fund structure to ensure the flow of capital reaches those with proven efficiency and capacity. We are thrilled Mia will be joining us to add her vision and expertise in achieving these goals. 

I am excited to join the Rockflower Board of Directors, as I have total confidence Tine Ward will deliver on her mission to increase investments in Women and Girls. Gender lens investing is on the rise, and I am grateful to try help shine a light, and drive resources to this incredibly important global challenge.

– Mia Haugen