The participation and empowerment of women is at the core of women’s rights and it helps them gain control over their lives and influence their societies. Every year, 92hands carries out workshops in the community and encourages participation of every woman. These are aimed at collectively discussing the challenges they face in their daily lives and brainstorming solutions to solve them. This has truly increased their self-confidence and feelings of empowerment; they feel validated and heard. It has produced and fostered the feeling of identity and created a safe and supportive environment where they can share concerns.

Empowerment is the surest way of making women partners in development. We emphasise strengthening and motivating women at the grassroots to change their lives. This is being achieved through involving them in making the decisions that affect them and making them part of the process by giving them equal participation. We create the opportunity to make sure that the voices of women are properly heard. We gather their views and perspectives and use them to design relevant programs that suit their demographic and effectively addresses their challenges.

Without the basic tools necessary for achieving their goals, individuals who do not have an adequate level of literacy cannot be fully involved on a completely equal basis in their own development. The value of education cannot be overestimated. Our literacy program supports the development of reading and writing skills in rural women in our community.

We target women and girls who have not had the opportunity to learn how to read and write or adults with literacy difficulties and instruct them in the development and practice of reading, writing and numeracy skills. Due to little or no education, they are powerless and locked in the vicious cycle of poverty and helplessness. These skills encourage their independence and curiosity and encourage lifelong learning. Our goal is that they will be able to communicate and materialise their ideas and thoughts in a meaningful way and make use of the opportunities that come their way.

The ability to find gainful employment is a way to escape a life of poverty helplessness. We live in a world where the job market favours people who are adequately educated with useful skills to compete effectively. We empower the women who are economically disadvantaged who have little or no education by training them in vocational skills so that they can gain value, economic independence and self-esteem. Many of them do not have access to the training and resources that can help them become financially sufficient and independent.

Skills development is the key to improving household productivity, employability and income-generating opportunities for women. We train them in vocational courses like book-making, making arts and crafts, hair dressing, tailoring among others. Later, they can be able to establish their own businesses through a micro-finance program, with support from 92Hands. We will also teach them business skills like starting their own business, how to wisely manage their finances and provide them with the opportunities for growth and empowerment. This is truly transform their lives through creating dignified work opportunities.