WHAT WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT BENEFICIARIES SAY

Women in Tanzania do not have the same rights as men.  It's even more difficult because in the Maasai tradition, once you have your children, you don't depend on men for anything.  A Maasai woman is supposed to build a house for the family and to also look for food, fuel, wood and everything else. You have to provide for your own family as a woman. And you have to educate, you have to build your own house. So it's an even harder situation for a Maasai woman than any other tribe in my country.
I'm a big supporter of FOTZC and what they're doing for empowering women in Tanzania.
–  Atwitje Makwetta, Dean of Business Studies at Mount Meru University, Arusha.

My dream was to be a lawyer – to be a person of justice. In our society, men like to discredit women.  They think they're higher than women. That's what makes me fight – so that women in our society know that everybody has rights and not just men.  Women and men are all equals.
–  Jane Ayo, attended a FOTZC-supported school and is now a private lawyer. She provides free legal services to women so that they can know their rights.

A villager needed major surgery in Dar Es Salaam but couldn't pay for it.  The women's empowerment groups provided the $9,000 (USD) needed.  Now he is healthy and surviving, otherwise he would have died.  This is an example of how empowering women helps the whole community.  This was done  by the women; it's something the men never did.
–  Daniel Yamat, FOTZC Regional Manager in Tanzania

The Maasai communities have this patriarchal system. Women don’t have any voice in their community. They have no power to make decisions. They don’t have any ability in their economy. As a result of FOTZC's Women's Empowerment Program, women are now able to do their individual work like selling maize, selling honey, selling chicken, and they see a lot of money. And from that money, they get economic freedom. They get the power to make decisions in their community, send their children to school, feed their families and acquire services they didn’t have before.

By giving them an education, we are not just teaching them beekeeping. They are doing this business, they are entering into the market, and they are helping to increase the economy of their country. We now have people who can contribute to the economy of their community and the country.  When you empower a woman, you empower the whole community.
–  Asela Melkiory, Beekeeper Project Manager with FOTZC