Summary of project status and achievements:
In February the knitting and sewing class that had been held with many Congolese women at Road 36 concluded and a graduation ceremony was held. While several women were unable to attend the graduation due to the protests at Road 36, many attended and spoke highly of their experience with the outreach and of the skills they had learned.
A new sewing and knitting outreach was begun shortly after the last graduation to target the women at the transit centre who are waiting to go back to Angola. When the rains stop in April and May these women will be repatriated to Angola and Jacqui and Annita felt that they should go home with a skill to feed their family once they arrived at their new destination in Angola.
In February we continued to see very poor attendance of the saving circles due to rains, cultivation, and the fact that many women do not have any money to save or repay loans at this time of year. A letter was sent to these women encouraging them to be ready to begin saving again in mid March.
Future activities and projections:
Annita has recently suffered a miscarriage and has been out on sick leave recovering from it. Dinah is due to have her baby in early March and has taken maternity leave effective March 8, 2010.
March 8, 2010 is International Women’s Day. While recent activities in the camp have made it difficult to plan for a celebration on this day, Jacqui has been working with MCDSS to make plans to celebrate the event. However, due to lack of funding, the event may be postponed.
Indicators and statistics:
Please see M&E spreadsheet.
Substantial problems or issues:
None at this time
Wishes or requests:
None at this time
Budget:
Please see expense monitor.
