Roseline Orwa's New Entry: A widows led NGO that is reviving communities with widows as change makers
KenyaKenya
Year Founded:
Project Stage:
2013
Organization type:
hybrid
Growth
Budget:
$1,000 - $10,000
Website:
Twitter:
Scaling strategies launched within the past 6 months:
Organizational Growth
Trainings, Consultation
Campaigns
Lobbying, Policy Change
- Fundraising
- Income generation
- Social enterprise
- Child care
- Early childhood development
- Human Rights
- Land rights
- Vulnerable populations
- Women's issues
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
Rona Foundation draws the attention of this Committee to some aspects of widows’ lives in the context of the 13 critical areas of concern which they must address:
WOMEN AND POVERTY: Widows are among the poorest of poor women, due to lack of rights to inheritance, land, property, employment, credit, and services. Widowhood is a root cause of poverty across the generations and must be addressed through the post 2015 Millennium Development Goals. Now SDGs.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF WOMEN: Widows’ marginalization, illiteracy, forced immobility and oppression under harmful traditional practices bars them from accessing training and employment. The most common first survival strategy of poor widows is to remove their children – girl child
Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.
Stop Widow Abuse in Kenya Campaign Population affected Over 8 million widows in Kenya
Creation of Law by Parliament Under Domestic Offenses Bill-Article 3-iv Widow Cleansing
Print, Radio and TV campaigns about Widow Abuse 30 radio Interviews15 TV Shows10 Major Mainstream Print Media Coverage Reached 30 million viewers/Readers”
Replication CBos and Widow groups 10 Counties Reached
Sauti ya Wajane Kenya Creating a Widows Consortium in Kenya 10 Chapters Launched in 10 Counties
Founding the 1st loss and grief centre in Kenya
Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?
Launching County Chapters
Upgrading and replicating the loss and grief centre in various counties
Advocating for widows inclusivity to decision making organs
Financial Sustainability Plan: What is this solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?
Upgrading and putting up cottages at the 5 acre piece of land at the Rona Centre for income generation
Installing 8 green houses and storage facility for large scale agricultural farming
Constructing fish cage farming facility at the Rona Centre that is right at the shores of Lake Victoria
Upgrading a dispensary and maternity facility for income generation
Upgrading the ECD and technical training facility at the Rona centre
Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?
The Government of Kenya
Elected Legislators
Community Stakeholders and duty bearers
Its the only organization that broke the silence in outlawing harmful cultural practices and at the same time supporting widows and orphans through the the sysytem of loss and grief centres within the community.
Founding Story
Roseline Orwa is a widow. A childless mother of 166 orphaned children, cervical cancer survivor. Motivational Speaker and a TV Talk show host. She is the Founding Director of Rona Foundation. Early experience of childlessness, abuse and brutal divorce woke her to the reality of a society where the value of a woman is in the number of children she bears. Divorce got her Nairobi house burnt to ashes, her tailoring business was also set on fire; Years later a remarriage short lived, ended in abruptly with the death of her 2nd husband. Widowhood and the cultural practices that followed sent her searching for answers; and none existed. She then founded Rona foundation to find these answers. And show the world the valur of barren, widows.
Team
Zablon Wagala
Kefa Ngito
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