Operation Groundswell Partnership Report 2016

EAST AFRICA:FEMME INTERNATIONAL

GOALS » To share information with the community

group Tuleeni about menstrual health. » To deliver Femme Kits – a package that

includes a menstrual cup or resuable pads – to help the girls and women of the community manage their periods safely and hygienically.

» To assist with needs assessments from the Maasai village of Mjai Moto for their project to build a special female toilet in the village.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS » Assembled Femme Kits and distributed them

in the Maasai village. » Assisted local workers in building a special

female toilet.

DONATIONS IN KIND: MONETARY DONATIONS: $1,636.07DONATIONS TOTAL: $1,636.07

Femme International is an international non-governmental organization that was founded in 2013 to address the high rates of deliberate absenteeism among young girls as a direct result of their menstrual cycles. Femme’s mission is to address the unique health and safety needs of women and girls in developing communities. While providing females with innovative tools and knowledge to facilitate their ability to overcome gender-specific barriers.

Femme International believes that in order to achieve their mission, their programs have two major components: education and distribution. Operation Groundswell has been working with Femme since 2013 on projects that directly contribute to their mission to help break down the taboos that are holding women and girls back from achieving their full potential. Our partnership involves educational discussions with girls and boys at a secondary school level and providing proper resources for women to feel clean and comfortable during them menstrual cycles.

Femme uses community contributions from our teams to create and distribute Femme Kits, which contain a reusable menstrual management tool, such as a menstrual cup or reusable pads. Femme Kits are distributed to girls once they’ve completed a Feminine Health Empowerment workshop that teach them basic feminine hygiene practices.

Moving forward, Operation Groundswell endeavours to strengthen this partnership through better communication. During the planning phase of our 2016 project with Femme, it was difficult to reach our main contact because she was not on the ground at the same time as our groups. In order to make future projects between OG and Femme more effective,

we will strive to connect our program leaders with a facilitator that they can be in direct contact with throughout the planning phase.

Another way we can grow with this partner would be to bring in a translator to support participants while hosting informational discussions on menstrual hygiene. These discussions are a great way to create a safe space for young women to ask questions about their bodies and provide the opportunity for girls talk about a largely taboo subject.

Operation Groundswell Partnership Report 2016

EAST AFRICA:JIFUNDISHE

GOALS » To have participants assist in the community

library by helping students learn how to use the new e-readers.

» To provide the community with support and materials for the school, which was lacking in stationary and textbooks.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS » Homestays allowed participants to have a

high degree of cultural exchange with host families and led to a deeper connection with the community.

» Teams were able to support Jifundishe monetarily, but were unable to meet their full goals in terms of hands on work.

DONATIONS IN KIND: MONETARY DONATIONS: $3,992.65 DONATIONS TOTAL: $3,992.65

Jifundishe (from the Swahili word meaning “teach yourself”) is an organization founded in 2004 with the mission of providing opportunities for young people, as well as adults, to teach themselves using technology and books, in addition to offering programs relevant to their lives and futures. The founders of Jifundishe recognized not only that education can improve the general quality of one’s life, but also that literacy and schooling are important aspects in addressing disease prevention, birth rates, access to income, and community health.

In 2005, Jifundishe coordinated donations of supplies and support from the United States and Tanzania to open the first Imbaseni Free Library, a resource accessible to more than 20 communities. The two-room library provides books and cassettes, and also hosts specialized programs such as eye clinics, malaria prevention workshops, children’s reading programs, dental clinics, and writing workshops.

Operation Groundswell has had some amazing experiences working with Jifundishe on community projects in the past, including time spent at a local primary school where participants painted rooms and drew diagrams for classrooms, and helped at the Jifundishe Free Library with a test-taking skills curriculum being run by another group of volunteers.

Moving forward, Jifundishe has expressed a desire to be more involved in certain aspects of OG’s program planning where it relates to our partnership. They have specifically mentioned an interest in engaging more with budgeting, so that it is clearer which party is responsible for each aspect of the project expenses. Due to the uncertain visa and immigration requirements for visitors and volunteers in Tanzania, Jifundishe is also undergoing some reconstruction of their volunteer program, as requiring work visas for

our participants might end up increasing costs for the program. This may affect the capacity in which OG is able to work with Jifundishe in the future.

Both Operation Groundswell and Jifundishe have voiced their eagerness to work with one another again in the future, but understand that there will need to be open lines of communication in order to ensure both organizations are clear about what is expected of them, and for our partnership to continue to be mutually beneficial.

Operation Groundswell Partnership Report 2016

EAST AFRICA:KIPEPEO

GOALS » To have participants engage with the Kipepeo

volunteers and beneficiaries, and assist them in painting classrooms to create a more positive learning environment for students.

» To have teams help the students prepare for their spelling bee and assist with competition setup.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS » Participants worked well with the Kipepeo

volunteers and successfully helped paint ten Mjimwema Primary School classrooms.

» Participants assisted in training students for their school-wide spelling bee competition.

DONATIONS IN KIND: MONETARY DONATIONS: $5,904.36 DONATIONS TOTAL: $5,904.36

Kipepeo (“the evolving mind”) is a grassroots organization that seeks to improve the quality of education and livelihood of youth in Tanzania. Their organization is a social enterprise working towards a better education system through capacity building, creating youth employment opportunities, and improving learning environments. Kipepeo’s approach reflects a butterfly life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adulthood. In the same manner, they aim to gradually transform youths’ learning capacities and critical thinking by refining their experiences at each stage, contributing to the improvement of Tanzania’s education sector.

2016 was the first year Operation Groundswell worked with Kipepeo to support their community projects. The project our Tanzania: Social Innovation teams worked on was initiated by four founders (including one past OG program leader) who had a passion for improving youth education in Tanzania through fostering community development within the schooling system. According to a 2012 Tanzanian census, youth make up the majority of the population facing many challenges with poor quality education and limited life skills. This is why Kipepeo tends to work with students at a primary school level, with the goal of setting expectations about the schooling system early on.

As 2016 was the first time OG partnered with Kipepeo, there is still much room for improvement, and there are many opportunities to strengthen our new partnership through collaborative community projects. Our Tanzania: Social Innovation program leaders and members of the Kipepeo team have both mentioned that the most successful part of the partnership has been our ability to contribute equally to the common goals of the project.

Kipepeo doesn’t receive much outside funding, and as such, OG’s community contributions can go a long way in supporting Kipepeo’s ongoing work. Determining how to distribute those funds before arriving at the school would help us use them

more effectively, and would allow materials to be purchased ahead of time so participants can start immediately upon arrival.

Kipepeo has expressed their desire to start a computer programming workshop for the schools they work with, and has requested any assistance OG can offer in connecting them with an organization that donates laptops and computers. A computer programming project could be a great way for participants to contribute specialized skills toward a more long-term venture.

We are excited to continue growing and developing our partnership with Kipepeo in the years to come!