by Ayuska Motha, AIWC Cologne
You probably already know that FAWCO’s Target Project for 2020-2022 is S.A.F.E. (Safe Alternatives for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Elimination), an initiative of Hope for Girls and Women in Tanzania. The goal of S.A.F.E is to protect girls from FGM and foster positive social change from within the FGM-practicing communities in the Mara Region of Tanzania.
It is relatively easy to see how Hope’s work is improving human rights, human health and education, but did you know they are also working to improve the environment? As you will read, Hope is not only advocating for girls to continue their schooling [1], but they have also launched a Digital Champions program where local water sources are being mapped.
Hope operates two Safe Houses, one in Mugumu and the other in Butiama. The Safe Houses provide shelter to girls fleeing FGM, child marriage and other forms of Gender-Based Violence (GBV). While staying at the Safe House, the residents are not only provided with shelter, but also either continue with their schooling or learn a marketable skill, such as tailoring. After the main FGM “season” is over and the imminent risk of FGM to the girls has decreased, Hope works with each girl’s family to reconcile them. This process involves educating the families on the risks of FGM, informing them of the girl’s rights, and mediating an agreement that the girl will not undergo FGM. Hope also works with the girls and their families to emphasize the importance of continuing their education.
In addition to this impactful work supporting the two Safe Houses and all their residents, Hope is also training and supporting female Digital Champions from each of the 87 villages in the Serengeti district.
Smartphone Training
The 87 Digital Champions have each been lent a smartphone, since very few people in the villages own one. The phones include downloaded Swahili videos about agriculture, FGM and women’s rights. Each Digital Champion has been trained in general smartphone basics, as well as how to use several apps, including WhatsApp and mapping apps, and she has also been shown how to report cases of GBV using her phone.
Helping to Stamp out Gender-Based Violence
The Digital Champion helps to monitor and protect the women and girls of her village. Using the downloaded videos on her smartphone, the Digital Champion brings about general awareness on women’s rights issues, FGM and GBV and provides support to those girls or women in need. Potential next steps may include starting a girls club to bring the girls of the village together for regular social gatherings. All 87 Digital Champions are part of a WhatsApp group through which training still continues with representatives from Hope, the social welfare offices and the police gender desk. In addition to working in this way to stamp out gender-based violence in their communities, the Digital Champions have been instrumental in mapping their local communities.
Mapping Rural Communities
Previously, maps of the rural areas and villages did not exist, making it difficult for volunteers and the police to find and pick up the girls fleeing to the Safe House. Crowd2Map Tanzania is a “crowd-sourced mapping project aiming to put rural Tanzania on the map.” The Digital Champions have been working with Crowd2Map Tanzania to improve or add detail to existing maps. By working together with community members rich in local knowledge, the Digital Champions are able to add details of roads, buildings, schools, health facilities and water sources to open source data maps through the use of a mapping app.
Working to Protect Local Water Resources
In the most recent phase of this project, the Digital Champions have been involved in water source mapping. In order to better protect and manage precious water resources, the Digital Champions have been locating the local water sources and collecting the following data:
- the Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates,
- taking photos,
- collecting information on what type of water source is present (e.g., a borehole, stream or pond),
- noting whether the source is seasonal,
- noting whether the source is working or degraded,
- noting whether the source is flooded during the rainy season,
- assessing the quality of the water (i.e., if it can be used for drinking purposes or only for domestic or agricultural use),
- and also noting whether the water sources are contributing to the resilience of the local community.
In addition to requiring water for drinking and domestic purposes, many of the villagers are subsistence farmers who rely on a dependable source of water throughout the year to provide food for their families. Due to global warming, Tanzania is projected to not only be exposed to longer heat waves and more severe droughts but also an increased frequency of floods [2]. In order to better prepare for these worsening water supply limitations, a good overview of which water sources are currently present and working and which need to be repaired or restored is needed. The information from this portion of the mapping project could be used in conjunction with existing data (e.g., population data) to support longer term water planning and management.
Map produced and provided by Herry Kasunga
Challenges
The Digital Champions face many challenges in the work they are undertaking such as:
- many have no electricity to charge their smartphones. They need to be taken to a central point in the village where electricity is regularly available for charging.
- there is very poor connectivity in these remote areas.
- the Digital Champions rely on data packages to access the internet, which can be costly.
- the smartphones are very basic, so often there is not enough memory to store multiple apps, photos or GPS coordinates; even updating apps is sometimes limited.
Despite these and other challenges, the Digital Champions program is creating a network of trained, connected women leaders to bring about positive social change and build environmental resiliency within their rural communities of the Serengeti. [3]
Special thanks to Herry Kasunga, Geographical Information Specialist and Janet Chapman, Chair, Tanzania Development Trust and Founder, Crowd2map for their interview time and the many resources they provided. All photos have been provided by Hope for Girls and Women.
We would love to hear from you! Contact me, Ayuska Motha () or Janet Chapman () with any questions, comments or ideas.
Links and References
- Project Drawdown
- Climate Risk Profile - Tanzania
- Digital Champions Project - Potential next steps might be to replicate this Digital Champions project in the Butiama District, where Hope’s other Safe House is located.
