It has been two months since I've returned from Kenya and I find myself thinking about my experience often and how I should relate it to my life here at Binghamton and for my future.
First, let me tell you about my contact with PWG since I left Kenya.
1. Since being back in America, it has been much easier to communicate with other volunteers that are, too, passionate about helping the Power Women Group. Heather, the volunteer from Boston, has been in constant contact with the women and other volunteers from the past and currently in Kenya. I've been cc-ed in emails and gave my input here and there, but I've had very little time this semester to give this project 100%. While I was home for a weekend, Heather and I met up. We talked for two hours about our experiences in Kenya, the next steps for these women, and what we need to do on our end. The new website needs to be written including biographies of the women, product details and how to sell online — do we sell wholesale in America or individual products in Kenya? It is much easier to sit down and discuss all these steps instead of communicating through email while three people are in America (one Boston, one NYC, and me in Binghamton - good thing its all the same time zone!), a Swedish woman in Australia traveling with little internet access, the current volunteer and Power women in Kenya also with little internet access. Whew! It is a lot, but everyone is so passionate about helping, it's incredible! I wish I could dedicate more time, maybe even go back to Kenya?
2. Because I am so busy here at Binghamton, other volunteers took over my PayPal project. The Kenyan Bank the women used was not accepted by PayPal. AH! Honestly, I'm not sure how, but they somehow fixed the problem. I'm not sure if they made another bank account for the women, but it is working!
3. One day in the middle of the largest dining hall on campus, in the middle of campus, I set up a table and sold about 65% of the products I brought home!! I teamed up with the Hillel Social Justice Team and they helped me get volunteers to sit at the table with me while I expected many customers at one time. I also posted information about the sale on Binghamton's daily event/announcements email that goes out to the entire campus. I made over $300 for these women. It was very exciting!! I wish the women were with me to celebrate how much money we made!
Now, to address the future, or the next two months before I graduate. By the end of the semester, I will have finished my senior reflection research paper about women's empowerment in Africa. Using my experience as a basis for women's empowerment in Africa, statistics in HIV/AIDS within African women, and gender inequalities through various African cultures, I will assess and analyze different women empowerment programs, their strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that come in contact with these women searching to get out of poverty.
Looking back, women's empowerment, I've learned, is incredibly necessary in African societies (and anywhere where women are suppressed or stigmatized) and it can help bring these people out of extreme poverty.
I'm excited to see where this senior project will bring me!
First, let me tell you about my contact with PWG since I left Kenya.
1. Since being back in America, it has been much easier to communicate with other volunteers that are, too, passionate about helping the Power Women Group. Heather, the volunteer from Boston, has been in constant contact with the women and other volunteers from the past and currently in Kenya. I've been cc-ed in emails and gave my input here and there, but I've had very little time this semester to give this project 100%. While I was home for a weekend, Heather and I met up. We talked for two hours about our experiences in Kenya, the next steps for these women, and what we need to do on our end. The new website needs to be written including biographies of the women, product details and how to sell online — do we sell wholesale in America or individual products in Kenya? It is much easier to sit down and discuss all these steps instead of communicating through email while three people are in America (one Boston, one NYC, and me in Binghamton - good thing its all the same time zone!), a Swedish woman in Australia traveling with little internet access, the current volunteer and Power women in Kenya also with little internet access. Whew! It is a lot, but everyone is so passionate about helping, it's incredible! I wish I could dedicate more time, maybe even go back to Kenya?
2. Because I am so busy here at Binghamton, other volunteers took over my PayPal project. The Kenyan Bank the women used was not accepted by PayPal. AH! Honestly, I'm not sure how, but they somehow fixed the problem. I'm not sure if they made another bank account for the women, but it is working!
3. One day in the middle of the largest dining hall on campus, in the middle of campus, I set up a table and sold about 65% of the products I brought home!! I teamed up with the Hillel Social Justice Team and they helped me get volunteers to sit at the table with me while I expected many customers at one time. I also posted information about the sale on Binghamton's daily event/announcements email that goes out to the entire campus. I made over $300 for these women. It was very exciting!! I wish the women were with me to celebrate how much money we made!
Now, to address the future, or the next two months before I graduate. By the end of the semester, I will have finished my senior reflection research paper about women's empowerment in Africa. Using my experience as a basis for women's empowerment in Africa, statistics in HIV/AIDS within African women, and gender inequalities through various African cultures, I will assess and analyze different women empowerment programs, their strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that come in contact with these women searching to get out of poverty.
Looking back, women's empowerment, I've learned, is incredibly necessary in African societies (and anywhere where women are suppressed or stigmatized) and it can help bring these people out of extreme poverty.
I'm excited to see where this senior project will bring me!
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