Written by Vista Hermosa Grants Team
As we continue celebrating Women’s History Month, our team at the Broetje Family Trust is reflecting on the contribution of women in communities across the world. Through the Vista Hermosa Foundation, we’ve had the honor of partnering with organizations and leaders investing in women’s education, economic opportunities, and wellbeing. Earlier this month, our board approved a total of $1,930,000 in grants to six projects that uplift women in India, Kenya, and Uganda.
Among the six projects are two partnerships that are new to us: Mlinda Charitable Trust and Desai Foundation. These two organizations are deeply involved in empowering women to create equity and address the social challenges facing communities in India.
Mlinda Charitable Trust will work with the community in Gumla District in Eastern India to promote sustainable economic development to holistically empower and transform the lives of women in 20 villages using decentralized village-level solar mini-grids. These solar grids help power machinery that women use to support businesses such as spice grinding and oil pressing, affording them financial and social freedom. As these women realize their collective power, they have started advocating for themselves by addressing community challenges such as alcoholism and abuse.
Desai Foundation is working in the Western state of Rajasthan to educate communities about menstrual health, with the goal of ending period stigma among men and women. In many communities, menstruating women are viewed as physically and spiritually dirty, and are prevented from participating in school, washing, and going to the temple. Women leaders are selected in the community to sell and distribute pads to others in the village, providing discreet access to higher-quality pads while also securing a livelihood. By educating men and women of all ages about the normalcy of menstruation and providing access to low-cost pads, Desai is helping women reclaim their dignity and self-worth.
The recently concluded UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) highlighted that an additional $360 billion is needed per year to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment across key global goals, including to end poverty and hunger. Solutions to end women and girls’ poverty are widely recognized: investing in policies and programs that address gender inequalities and boosting women’s agency and leadership. VHF is proud to be part of a larger movement to lift up women, and therefore everyone, in vulnerable communities globally.
