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Exciting Student Sponsorship Updates

Exciting Student Sponsorship Updates

by Susan Vallee | Nov 22, 2021 | Malawi, schools, Sonder Update, student sponsorship

Exciting Student Sponsorship Updates Our program leadership team recently traveled to Malawi to observe and assess the impact of our programs on the ground. We wanted to understand the impact of our Sonder Student Sponsorship Program, which we established at the start...

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Today is #WorldWaterDay! Reflecting on this year's Today is #WorldWaterDay! Reflecting on this year's global theme, 'Be The Change You Want To See', we envision a world where all women are empowered with consistent and convenient access to clean water for themselves and their families. 200 million hours of women's and girls' time are wasted every single DAY as they toil and travel long distances to secure clean water for everything, from consuming, to cooking, to cleaning, to irrigation, and much more. All life depends on water, but women's lives, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, are completely consumed by it - to the point of oppression. We insist on a society that is working towards a transformation from 'Water Is Her Life' to 'Water Is Her RIGHT', and our programs are designed to catalyze that change. There are four key ways that The Sonder Project ensures that water is a fundamental right for women in Malawi and Burkina Faso: 1) Increasing access to clean water for women & girls by drilling deep-water wells in rural communities 2) Supplying year-round irrigation to women farmers on our solar-powered community farm 3) Distributing portal water filters to rural mothers who cannot access a clean water well 4) Empowering women with equal leadership and decision-making opportunities related to water management issues You can support these efforts to ensure that #WaterIsHerRight by donating to The Sonder Project today. 100% of your donations go to supporting our programs on the ground thanks to our administrative costs being covered by our committed Board of Directors and Founding Partners. Be the change you want to see by following the link in our bio to support our campaign to fund the construction of 12 new deep-water wells in rural communities this year! #UnitedNations #UNWorldWaterDay #WomenAndWater #InternationalWomensDay #SustainableDevelopment #InternationalDevelopment #WomensEmpowerment #WaterIsAHumanRight #AccessToWater #Malawi #BurkinaFaso
When it comes to ensuring that #WaterIsHerRight, i When it comes to ensuring that #WaterIsHerRight, it's not enough to treat women in our partner communities solely as beneficiaries. Instead, The Sonder Project works to empower women through positions of leadership and decision-making so they can have an equal say in guiding the water programs in their communities. For example, for each deep-water well that we plan to drill, a community committee is first formed comprised of locally-nominated leaders. In line with our values, we demand an equal number of women members on the leadership team. The same goes for our other initiatives. Each project consists of a local leadership team with an equal number of women. These values and requirements have all been critical in creating empowering relationships with the women in each community and ensuring that women's interests and rights are represented at all times. This is especially important with clean water initiatives since women and girls bear the overwhelming burden of clean water scarcity. It's their right to have their views and voices heard! Follow us this month as we focus on the profound link between women & water in Sub-Saharan Africa, and how we are working to ensure that #WaterIsHerRight in our programs. #WomenAndWater #InternationalWomensDay #WorldWaterDay #SustainableDevelopment #InternationalDevelopment #WomensEmpowerment #WaterIsAHumanRight #AccessToWater #Malawi #BurkinaFaso #WomenLeaders #WomeninLeadership #CommunityEngagement
🚨 Attention supporters in the SF Bay Area! You 🚨 Attention supporters in the SF Bay Area! You won't want to miss our next event, 'Water Is Her Right!', a concert fundraiser featuring The Fula Brothers! Set for 4.29.23 at the @pollyklaascommunitytheater in Petaluma, CA, the event will help us raise funds to provide one more rural community in Africa with the fundamental right of clean water through the construction of a new deep-water well! In addition to the phenomenal Fula Brothers, the evening will also include a silent auction featuring donated prizes from @griffodistillery , @sacrepublicfc , @thelumacenter , and more! General admission tickets are just $30, and beer/wine/refreshments will be available. For tickets and more details, just follow the link in our bio. We hope to see you there to listen to some infectious West African-fusion music, and to celebrate the transformative power of clean water access in improving women's lives! --- The Fula Brothers showcase a combination of high-spirited performers from West Africa and the USA each with a deep history of innovation and collaboration. Together they weave a West African hunters harp, finger-style guitar, percussion, vocals, and a bounty of improvisation with an ecstatic groove that the heart - and the feet - cannot resist. --- TRANSFORMING 'WATER IS HER LIFE'... Women and girls in rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa bear the overwhelming burden of clean water scarcity - spending large portions of their day collecting water that is inconsistent, unclean, and causes frequent illness in the family. The time and energy women must give to access water is all-encompassing, disempowering, and plays an oppressive role in their lives. ...TO 'WATER IS HER RIGHT!' The Sonder Project believes that water is a central issue to women's rights and empowerment, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. When The Sonder Project partners with rural communities in Burkina Faso and Malawi to construct a deep-water well, women can access clean water any time, any day, and accessing water is transformed from an oppressive burden, to a fundamental right to be celebrated. #WaterIsHerRight #Fundraiser #Petaluma #DrillingWells #AccessToWater #WaterIsLife
#WaterIsHerRight isn't just about drinking water. #WaterIsHerRight isn't just about drinking water. On our community farm in Burkina Faso we are creating a year-round irrigation system to help subsistence farmers multiply their crop yields and incomes, and 78% of our members are women! Agriculture is the primary economic opportunity for the majority of women in Burkina. However, due to entrenched gender inequality in rural areas, women are far less likely to own land, and when they do, they are at a disadvantage for land size and access to agricultural resources compared to men. Climate change has further exacerbated the issue, with more frequent droughts and less consistent rain cycles that disproportionately impact female farmers whose incomes (and empowerment) are more susceptible to these water-related shocks. On The Sonder Project community farm, we empower women in three key ways: 1) Prioritizing access to individual plots for women, 2) Distributing these plots, with access to year-round irrigation, equally amongst all farm members, and 3) Ensuring women farmers have equality in leadership and decision-making on farm issues. In this way, women farmers will have as much water as they need to cultivate their crops, thus increasing their incomes, and supplying more equal opportunity for women to provide for their families and care for themselves. #InternationalDevelopment #SustainableDevelopment #TheSonderProject #FoodSecurity #SustainableAgriculture #SolarIrrigation #AfricaAgriculture #Farming #CommunityFarm #AfricaAgriculture #WomenFarmers #FemaleFarmers #Irrigation
Last October, thanks to the generosity of @brianke Last October, thanks to the generosity of @briankelley @brittneykelly and @tribekelley donating 100% of the bar proceeds from the Surf Post Sessions concerts, we were able to break ground on a new school block for the St. Elizabeth school in the Kasungu district of Malawi. Today, we are thrilled to announce that the construction is now complete and the new school is OPEN for learning! 🎉 As you can see, the schoolchildren are absolutely ecstatic about their new learning environment! 🙌 This new block will benefit THOUSANDS of local students from three surrounding communities for decades to come! A huge heartfelt THANK YOU to Brian & Brittney Kelley, and the whole Tribe Kelley community from The Sonder Project and our partner communities in Malawi. ❤️🙏 #BuildingSchools #AccessToEducation #NewSchool #ConstructingSchools #Charity #Malawi #InternationalDevelopment #SustainableDevelopment #Education #BrianKelley #SurfPostSessions
When critical resources are scarce, conflict is in When critical resources are scarce, conflict is inevitable. Many women in our partner communities tell us of the strife caused by a lack of a consistent and abundant clean water in their villages. It is not uncommon for competition to lead to daily bickering, and arguments, between women while collecting water. This constant tension leads to a lack of trust that frays the fabric of the entire community. The mood changes drastically when The Sonder Project constructs a deep-water well. Women living in contention can now turn to celebration. The morning routine of collecting water transforms into socializing, singing, and solidarity. Instead of stress, the community women have the freedom to bond and support each other. That should be their right! Follow us this month as we focus on the profound link between women & water in Sub-Saharan Africa, and how we are working to ensure that #WaterIsHerRight in our programs. #WomenAndWater #InternationalWomensDay #WorldWaterDay #SustainableDevelopment #InternationalDevelopment #WomensEmpowerment #WaterIsAHumanRight #AccessToWater #Malawi #BurkinaFaso
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