Voices of women

Welcome to your latest update from the communities ActionAid works in around the world.

In these very challenging times, we are so grateful to our incredible supporters for your generosity and kindness.

Throughout the pandemic, you've been helping to achieve amazing change for women and girls all over the world: supporting them to claim their rights, to end violence, to escape poverty, and much more.

Your support is more crucial than ever amid the difficulties of Covid-19, and we are so thankful.

So we would like to share these wonderful stories of change from women in the communities ActionAid works with.

Their voices demonstrate the powerful change that happens when we stand together with women around the world. Thank you very much.

Thank you for helping Joya to feed her children

“My husband lost his job due to the coronavirus pandemic and my income from making clothes dried up because no one had any money to buy anything,” said 26-year-old Joya from Bangladesh.

“I had previously been trained in tailoring by ActionAid and my business had been doing well.

“But since Covid-19 so many people have lost their jobs, and buying new clothes became a luxury they could no longer afford. We struggled to feed our family as a result of both of us losing our incomes.

“ActionAid reached out to the women’s group that I’m part of and asked the trained seamstresses to make face masks for the government.

“They helped me secure my first order which made me a profit of BDT 9,000 [£82].

Thank you for helping Vandecilda change lives for the women in her community 

“I live in a rural area of Brazil with my partner. Unfortunately, the community where I live is strongly affected by prejudice, so I’ve never felt comfortable telling people that my partner is a woman,” said 53-year-old Vandecilda.

“After I lost my job, I was struggling with low self-esteem and depression.

“A friend told me about the ActionAid-supported Women’s Therapy Circle. It was a safe space where I learned that I should not be ashamed of being who I was.

“I began to feel more confident and empowered. ActionAid invited me to take part in radio communications training. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I really enjoyed it and realised that this was my calling in life.

“Now I work for a local organisation that focuses on women’s rights, where I use my radio shows to talk about these issues.

Thank you for helping Diane’s dream come true 

“My education stopped when my parents were unable to afford to send me to school,” explains 23-year-old Diane from Burundi.

“My future looked uncertain until ActionAid invited me to attend business skills training which was aimed at young women like myself who had left school without finishing our education.

“I learned how to progress my income-generating ideas.

“Thanks to the skills learnt from ActionAid, I now have three goats, one pig, seven piglets and four rabbits which I bought using a small loan I borrowed from my village cooperative.

“Using the manure from my livestock, I grow bananas and use them to make banana-based products which I sell to earn an income.

“None of this would have been possible without the support of ActionAid – thank you!”

Thank you for supporting women like Sindayo to earn a living 

“Warm greetings from Ethiopia. My name is Sindayo and I am a 34-year-old single mother of four.

“My only source of income was from growing crops on half a hectare of land, but after years of drought the quality of the soil slowly got worse.

“My meagre crop yield got poorer year after year. I tried everything, but I often found myself unable to feed my children or to afford to send them to school.

“My life changed when ActionAid trained me and 44 other women to keep livestock. Once I was fully trained, I received five goats.

How you're helping women like Victoria to gain new skills in Ghana

“As a single mother, life became very difficult trying to take care of my three children. All I had was a small piece of land that I grew crops on to feed my family and earn a meagre living. I could barely afford to feed us every day and cover expenses such as school materials,” explains 45-year-old Victoria from Ghana.

“I joined ActionAid’s Women in Baking group in my community.

“I received training on how to bake bread and to help us get started we received a dough mixer, an oven and baking trays.

“Since my initial training I have learnt other areas of baking, such as pastries. I’m now a skilled baker with regular customers buying from me each week.

“I have been able to earn enough from my baking to support my children’s education.

Your support has helped women like Maria receive food packages during the coronavirus pandemic 

“I live with my husband and children in a rural community, which is three hours by car from the main town of El Estor. When the coronavirus started to spread here in Guatemala, we locked ourselves away in our village – no one could visit and we couldn’t leave,” said 47-year-old Maria.

“Because we were unable to leave our village, I lost my job. We ran out of food and we had no money.

“It was a very worrying time for my family.

“ActionAid arranged to safely visit our village as they were aware of our situation. Each family received an emergency food supply of maize, rice and beans.

“They explained more about the virus, dispelling the dangerous myths and provided us with soap and facemasks so we could protect ourselves.

Thank you for helping Lucita’s children go to school  

“Just after I had given birth to my fourth child, my husband left me. I struggled to earn an income and I was so ashamed when I was unable to afford to pay for my children to go to school or when they went to bed hungry,” explains 42-year-old Lucita from Haiti.

“I wanted to do so much more for my family, this is why I was so happy when I had the opportunity to attend a business skills workshop organised by ActionAid for the women in my village.

“I learned how to apply for a small business loan which I used to buy goods to resell in the local markets.

“I attend the markets every day and make a profit of 100 gourdes [£1] on most items.

“My older son has trained to be a carpenter and he is helping my younger son to become a carpenter too while he finishes his education.

Thank you for supporting women like Veena to earn a living 

“Warm greetings from India. My name is Veena, I am 37 years old and I live with my husband and our son in a rural village surrounded by a forest.

“I had tried my hand at several jobs including keeping a record of the labourers' hours and growing some crops, but they were often low paid.

“I really wanted to earn my own income to help cover our household expenses, especially my son’s education.

“This is why I was so happy when ActionAid arranged for the women in my village to take part in sericulture [silkworms] training.

“The trees in the forest that surround our village are perfect as the silkworms mostly feed on the leaves of these trees.

Thank you for helping Susan protect girls from FGM and child marriage

“I was 13 years old when I underwent female genital mutilation (FGM) and was forced to marry, ending my education,” explains Susan from Kenya.

“Many years later, I attended ActionAid training sessions about FGM and child marriage. A group of us women decided we needed to be a voice for the vulnerable girls in our community.

“Together we founded our Women’s Network.

“We work with communities explaining the dangers of FGM and child marriage.

“We also visit schools and speak to the boys and girls to change the views of the younger generation.

“Girls know they can come to me if they are in trouble and are able to stay in our safe house.

Thank you for helping Joyce protect the education of young girls

“Greetings from Malawi! My name is Joyce, I am 38 years old and live with my husband and four children.

“As in the rest of the world, the schools closed when the coronavirus pandemic reached Malawi. As families started to struggle to feed their children because they had lost their jobs, we saw a sharp increase in the number of girls who should have been in school getting married.

“I am part of an ActionAid-supported Mothers’ Group and we made it our mission to protect as many girls as we could.

“We held meetings with community leaders, teachers and parents to raise awareness of the Child Protection Bill which does not allow anyone to marry under the age of 18 here in Malawi.

“We also discussed with them the rights of girls and their right to an education.

Thank you for helping Lina to fight HIV

“At 15 years old I became pregnant. My baby’s father worked in South Africa, returning home occasionally. After our second child, I started to have constant health problems and was losing weight,” explains Lina now aged 23, from Mozambique.

“The local women’s group, which is supported by ActionAid, urged me to take an HIV test at the health centre. My daughter and I tested positive.

“We immediately started the antiretroviral treatment. With ActionAid’s support, I received training in nutrition where I learned eating a nutritious diet helps boost my and my daughter’s immune systems.

“I began to use my story to help other women who suspected they were HIV positive but were too scared to take a test.

Thank you for helping to put food on the table for Shyani’s family

“Greetings from Nepal! My name is Shyani, I am 23 years old and I live in a small village in Southern Nepal with my husband and two children.

“We own a small piece of land that we grow crops on for a few months of the year. The rest of the time we use my husband’s wages to buy what we need.

“Since the government declared lockdown here in Nepal, many families – including ours – have lost their only form of income.

“Our second child was born just before the lockdown began in our village. As a new mother I need to make sure I eat enough to be able to breastfeed my baby. The local markets closed down and we quickly used up our meagre savings.

“I was so grateful when ActionAid distributed emergency packages to pregnant and breastfeeding women which contained essential foods for my family, as well as face masks, soap and a thermometer.

Thank you for helping Grace receive the training that she was missing out on

“Women farmers are not treated the same as the male farmers here in Nigeria; there are many government initiatives in which we are not included,” explains Grace, a married mother of four.

“ActionAid supported the women farmers from my village to visit the local government to campaign for the training and support normally offered only to the men.

“I am pleased to tell you that I was selected to receive training by the Ministry of Agriculture.

“I have always struggled to grow crops during the dry season, so I was excited to learn that there were crops that do well during this period. I received tomato and sweetcorn seeds plus fertiliser.

“On my return to my village, I shared the seeds and my newfound knowledge with 10 other women and so did the other participants.

Thank you for training women in the fight against Covid-19

“In 2014 we suffered an outbreak of Ebola here in Sierra Leone and I lost five members of my family, so when I heard about Covid-19 and how it was impacting the entire world, I was very scared,” says 31-year-old Mariama, a mother of two.

“I am a member of the Disaster Management Committee in my community and have attended many different workshops organised by ActionAid in the past.

“I received training on how to help our communities prevent Covid-19 infections.

“This included printing posters to raise awareness of the virus, dispel any myths and explain the steps they can take to reduce the spread.

“Hand washing in itself is very challenging as many houses have no tap or running water.

Thank you for providing Mariam’s community with a water supply

“Access to water is a challenge for my community,” said Mariam, a mother of four from Tanzania.

“It is the role of the children, especially our daughters, to collect the water before and after school. However, the route to the water source was over a game reserve where wild animals roamed. The distance they had to walk meant that the children would often miss class or not go into school at all.

“I am part of an ActionAid-supported women’s group and during a meeting, we all agreed that we needed a water supply in our village so our children could receive the education they are entitled to.

“We arranged a meeting with a local councillor during which the children acted out a play demonstrating the challenges they face every day collecting water for their families.

Thank you for helping Fanta represent women in the local legal system

Fanta is 48 years old. She lives with her children in a rural village in The Gambia. She is separated from her husband and is a survivor of domestic violence. She’s an inspiring woman who is determined to help other women affected by violence.

Fanta told us: “We have a District Tribunal where I reported my husband’s violence, but it was run by men. I was never allowed to share my side of the story which left me angry and frustrated.

“After attending an ActionAid training session about the rights of women, I realised I no longer had to live my life this way, I had options.

“A group of us women started a campaign for women to be included in the District Tribunal. I wanted to help prevent other women going through the same.

“I am pleased to tell you that I am now a member of the District Tribunal, sitting alongside the men and making sure the women can tell their side of the story.

Thank you for supporting women like Lydia to earn a living

“Warm greetings from Uganda. My name is Lydia, I am 38 years old and I live with my husband and children.

“Traditionally, women like me do not own anything and are totally dependent on our husbands, which is very limiting.

“This is why I was so happy when ActionAid helped to set up a women’s savings and loan association in my village, which brings women together and helps us to save and access funds.

“Through this group I received business training and using a loan from the group I set up a small business buying and selling millet grain, I also make and sell pancakes.

“With my profits I have bought two goats which have multiplied to four. I plan to sell two to purchase a cow.

“I have also been saving my profits and used these to purchase iron sheets to improve my family home.

Farming support has transformed Pham’s life – thank you!

“My name is Pham, I am 53 years old and live with my husband, son and his family – three generations under one roof. We work hard together growing maize, rice and raising chickens, but we often paid my grandchildren’s school fees late.

“We’d heard about new farming techniques, but we had never given it a try. This is why I was excited to have the opportunity to join a training course organised by ActionAid.

“I learned about the devastating impact of using chemical fertilisers and that by not rotating my crops, my soil quality was poor.

“ActionAid supported my family with a loan so we could buy organic seeds and farming tools so we could start our organic vegetable garden immediately.

“When I first joined the training, I had my doubts, but now we are 100% committed to organic farming. We grow cabbage, lettuce, spinach and arugula which we sell every day. We have doubled our monthly income.