This projected was led together by PCV Melissa Newkirk and her work partner Madame Yawa Adongo who worked with a women’s group in Adogbenou located in the Anié prefecture in Togo. The women recognized gari as a major trade item in their community and decided to take advantage of this as a means of generating income. The women devised three specific goals with the income generated from this project. Foremost, the project would be a means to empower themselves to manage and ensure the education of their children; secondly, they would establish a sort of “caisse” (fund/piggy bank) to develop other projects together as a women’s group; and lastly, they would use the money on other individual more personal activities.
Elles sont libres de décider de l’utilisation de leur argent en vu de se développer, ou de se lancer sur d’autres projets individuels ou communs.
They are free to decide how to use their money in light of developing themselves and/or embarking on other individual or joint projects.
This project was important for gender and development since the women were working to make this money for themselves, and kept the responsibility of deciding how and when to spend the money. For some women in Togo, such financial freedom in the household is not always common.
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