The Power Of A Connection

Imagine living in complete isolation. Secluded from a bustling city, from any means to access resources for your family; just waiting for life to pass by. It is impossible to imagine what it’s really like until you experience it firsthand…

For the past eight months I’ve been coordinating a global venture we call the Women Empowered (WE) Initiative. It’s a three-year effort to promote ways by which women can create economic and social empowerment for themselves and their families. The approach is to integrate an economic empowerment model into a variety of health, food security, livelihoods and disaster risk mitigation “program platforms.” PCI recently hosted a workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to build organizations’ capacities to integrate savings-led microfinance into food and nutrition security programs and I was lucky enough to take part in the experience.

While in Ethiopia I had the chance to to “feed two birds with one seed.” Although I’ve never met her in person, I had been working closely with a PCI/Ethiopia Global Technical Advisor named Gohnesh, who took me to see one of the original economic and social empowerment groups started in 2007 by a PCI-trained partner organization. We walked off the main road and into the cobblestone neighborhood. There were half-naked children running around and women hanging wet clothes outside their small homes. We kept turning around narrow, mysterious corridors, going deeper into the residential area. And even though this neighborhood sits right in the city, I could feel how removed and disconnected it actually was.

We came to a courtyard where about 20 women gathered around us. Gohnesh informed them that PCI has started a project to form empowerment groups like theirs in our programs around the globe. She said that we wanted to learn about their experiences so we could share with other countries. While we drank coffee and ate popcorn, they shared, laughed and discussed their accomplishments and dreams, including which of them had taken out loans, and for what types of businesses.

It was an incredible experience to hear their stories. These women had previously lived in isolation, unable to do anything productive for themselves or their families. Now they are united and are not only aware of the issues concerning their community, but they have the confidence and capacity to do something about them. They’ve taken rape cases to court and seen perpetrators prosecuted. They cared for AIDS-affected children by connecting them with available resources. They encouraged the local kebele (unit of government) to put up lighting in the streets so the children were safer at night. Together, they were powerful, developing a sense of themselves and their roles within the community. They had become agents of positive change and were well known for it. It moved me to see that in the face of such extreme poverty and despair, they had found each other; they had found hope.  

Next we visited a Cluster Level Association (CLA). This CLA was five years old and the women had represented their groups at the government level, seeking (and receiving) several things on behalf of their community. They had secured loans from a local organization for youth entrepreneurs. They mentored these youth and made sure that every cent of the loans was repaid. As we listened to the members talk about how important it is to focus on the development of youth in their community, one of the members caught my eye. She was absolutely stunning with piercing dark eyes. She couldn’t have been more than 20 years old, but seemed to possess a deep wisdom, well beyond her years. After the meeting I called her over and suddenly hugged her. I couldn’t help but tell her how amazing she is, and that she has the power to do anything. She smiled at me and, even though she couldn’t understand my words, I think she understood their meaning.

The next three days flew by with the workshop in full swing. It was attended by 60 participants from over 20 organizations and seven countries – the U.S., Ethiopia, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Everyone shared their experiences and a common theme emerged over and over again: The need to integrate and link our work, to connect and network, to join together and share ideas, lessons learned and best practices. I noticed people saying things like, “I respect what my sister in Kenya is doing,” or “I want to learn more about my brother’s work in Zambia.” We, as a collection of individuals and organizations, we were more powerful against any challenge faced by our communities and by our world.

As I packed my bags to make the journey home, I reflected on my experience. I thought of my PCI/E colleagues, who I had never met until this trip but who had been alongside us the entire time, fighting day and night against the bondage of poverty in Ethiopia. I thought about Gohnesh and the immediate friendship she and I had formed. I thought about our African colleagues at the workshop, many of whom were also traveling to and experiencing Ethiopia for the first time. I thought about the women I met; the women who came together and shared ideas, resources, hopes and dreams. I thought about the beautiful girl and her contributions to the world. Then I thought of the WE Initiative. The connections our organization is cultivating between and within countries, the opportunity we have to bring people together in order to empower each other with their experiences, strengths and talents. All these connections – between individuals, families and communities, across programs and organizations – are changing lives, including my own. And I found that this experience had empowered me to realize my own individual potential. I can now imagine what complete isolation looks and feels like, but I can also imagine a world where we are joined together, with our brothers and sisters, to support each other in the fight against poverty.

By Kaelyn DeVries, Program Coordinator, GROW, PCI. PCI is a nonprofit health and humanitarian aid organization dedicated to preventing disease, improving community health, and promoting sustainable development worldwide. Our programs help end global poverty by providing access to clean water, fighting AIDS in Africa, providing disaster relief, combating world hunger, and promoting women's empowerment and gender equality.