Training for Widows

Sustainable Whole Life Skills

The ACT Sustainable Whole Life Skills programme aims to empower widows so they are able to provide and care for themselves and for their children. The programme enables the women to discover within themselves their innate skills and talents. We then provide them with the opportunity through training to develop these skills and to use them profitably to generate a sustainable income. Training is also provided in inheritance rights, and in Aids/HIV awareness and prevention. ACT also provides small loans to all the widows who complete the course as seed corn funding to start their projects. The progress of each loan recipient is monitored and support is provided to enable success of the projects. Our aim is to assist the widows to move out of poverty and become productive members of their communities able to feed and educate their children. 
 

Different models of the sustainable whole life skills programme are employed in different countries.
 

In Burkina Faso the programme is based on a formal training and the women determine what projects they wish to be engaged in and choose whether they wish to work alone or in cooperation with other women. There have been many success stories with this model. Many widows have started their own enterprises and some are now employers of labour. A number of the widows no longer need ACT's support as they have now become self sufficient and they have requested that ACTs support to them be passed on to assist other needy widows.
 

In Tanga, Tanzania, the widows have come together and formed an association which they call the Dorcas Women Group (DWG) with a starting membership of fifty women. Members will benefit from training similar to those received by the women in Burkina Faso. With ACT support the DWG has been registered with TABIC, a Tanzanian government agency. This would aid them to access business support, training and funding.
 

Also as result of these trainings, the widows inOuagadougou are forming cooperatives for production and selling of agricultural produce and the widows in Bazega have started projects on animal husbandry.

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