[미리보기] Due to poverty, my sister couldn’t attend school and was forced to marry at an early age, and had died eventually. To never let my sister’s story pass on to the next generation of women in Malawi, the Karonga Women Rice Cooperative(KWRC) was established to secure women’s rights. Although adversities such as COVID-19 and gender discrimination still exist in Malawi, I want to let women work rightfully as an appropriate member of the society and be fully educated. With the women of KWRC, I want to make a better world for women. -CEO Francisco of KWRC(Malawi Karonga Women Rice Cooperative) |
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Malawi, sounds familiar but not sure where it is? Malawi is located in Southern East Africa, sharing a border with Tanzania and Zambia. The population is about 17,000,000, 8 out of 10 people relying on agriculture. |
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According to the 2021 Report of the World Bank, Malawi is the 4th highest country with the national poverty rate, 1 out of 2 people suffering from extreme poverty. Malawi society is matrilineal and women earn a living to support their family and overcome poverty by collecting charcoal. It is an environmentally destructive and strenuous work, but there is no other choice for women to sustain their lives. |
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My sister was no exception for the tough reality that Malawi women were facing. Due to poverty, my sister couldn’t attend school and was forced to marry at an early age, and had died eventually. To never let my sister’s story pass on to the next generation of women in Malawi, the Karonga Women Rice Cooperative(KWRC) was established to let women work rightfully as an appropriate member of the society and be fully educated! |
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Karonga Women Rice Cooperative(KWRC) is a cooperative which supports women to sustain their lives by working rightfully and to be fully educated. Farmers in Malawi have difficulty selling rice, since rice is mostly sold in the main harvest season which is May to July. The rest are left since there aren’t any affordable places to keep the rice in other seasons. |
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However, KWRC has a huge warehouse supported by a funding organization in Scotland, where rice in large quantities could be kept safely for the whole season. KWRC buys rice in large quantities from local farmers, and sells it to the local customers after distributing and packaging the rice. Because of the work done in KWRC, women can have a sustainable work for living and the local farmers can also have a higher income! |
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KWRC not only focuses on selling rice, but also focuses on enhancing women’s rights and education! There is low social awareness of women’s rights in Malawi, since women can’t go to school during the menstrual cycle or talk about menstruation in public. As KWRC is a cooperative that is taking the lead in women’s rights advocacy, KWRC is trying its best to reduce women’s rights violations. By visiting schools to educate the importance of education and capacity enhancement to girls, and monitoring the income of women to be used to protect girls rights of education, KWRC is on its way to empowering women’s rights! |
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KWRC is on its endless journey to secure the self-reliance of women. Starting its journey with 25 women in 2018, it has grown fast into a size of 60 women working together! However, since there aren’t adequate transportation services to transport the rice and lack of income to buy additional rice, there is difficulty to broaden the business. With the impact donation from The Bridge International, KWRC will be able to afford transportation services to transport the rice and sell it more effectively! |
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To let women in Malawi continue on their journey for self-reliance, please support the Malawi Women Rice Cooperative(KWRC) with impact donation! |
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