Gender Equality Ecuador Project #32064

Empower Ecuadorian Women to Elevate Communities

by Fundacion Hearts of Gold

Project Report | Nov 8, 2018
Learning, Growing, Improving

By Kelly Mitchell | Hearts of Gold Program Manager

Cuenca Expats visit Kallpa Warmi

Another month later, and you are still helping us empower women in Ecuador. We are so grateful!

We would like to take a moment to share updates from the field, but first we would like to share an inspiring article that very well demonstrates what the realities in Ecuador. These realities are the inspiration for the Mírame project. This past month ELLE Magazine published an eye-opening piece that demonstrates the challenges women face in rural Ecuadorian communities. 16.9% of teenage girls in Ecuador are pregnant. This rate is alarming, and the highest in South America. We believe that by empowering and educating women, we can target these issues and support the female population in the long-term.

Currently, our efforts are focused on a research and evaluation project with Kallpa Warmi! We are honored to have another student research group from WPI University. The 4 students are working with Kallpa Warmi's community-based micro-finance program, "Cosechando Sueños!" This program gives microloans to local women who are members of the initiative. It is designed to empower women economically so that they may escape domestic abuse and/or gain economic independence. The students' research is evaluating the pilot year of the program and addressing critical questions such as: what investment did you make? What was your return on investment? Do you feel a personal or emotional growth by participating in the program? What are your dreams for the future? We look forward to delivering the results of this project!

Our goals for the future? We have many!

Looking back on the pilot year of Mírame so far, we want to see it grow! We have been fortunate to provide empowerment workshops in the themes of holistic health, nutrition, motivation, yoga and meditation, and stress management... but there is so much more to do! We look forward to developing a formal curriculum for Mírame and expand its impact by inviting more participants from Cuenca's rural and urban communities. Our relationship with the rural women's cooperative Kallpa Warmi is one to be proud of, but we want to meet and collaborate with more women's groups!

If you'd like to learn more about the program efforts or get involved, please send us a message! We work with volunteers remotely and on the ground. You can help us make a difference in the lives of these spectacular women!

Students from WPI University start their research

These strong rural women inspire us!

Links:

ELLE Magazine Article on Women's Issues in Rural Ecuador

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Oct 10, 2018
Women's Empowerment Continues Strong in Ecuador

By Kelly Mitchell | Hearts of Gold Program Manager

Women advancing their culinary skills!

Everyday we are trying to contribute to the betterment of women and their livelihoods in Ecuador through the Mírame initiative! To us, that means working through an empowerment model where women have an opportunity to receive education and make decisions in their own lives!

Here are some of our most recent activities:

Hearts of Gold is proud to announce that we launched our first Women’s Empowerment Conference “Contra Reloj!” 100 women from the Cuenca community gathered for a night of inspiration with three keynote speakers presenting on nutrition, self-care, and motivation! Thank YOU for making fabulous gatherings like this possible!

We are honored to continue working with Kallpa Warmi, a women’s entrepreneurial and agricultural collective in the rural town of Sayausí! Last month we led a group of 17 expats to spend a day in the country, learning about farming and culinary practices in support of Kallpa Warmi’s eco-tourism program. This month, we connected with the international CHANGE Magazine to feature the work of Kallpa Warmi and their endeavors as women to protect the agriculture and water of Ecuador. Check it out!

Now we embark on a new research project to evaluate Kallpa Warmi’s “Cosechando Suenos” project. The Cosechando Suenos project is a local micro-credit initiative where 40 women and 4 men are investing in the group’s savings and receive micro-loans for their agricultural or entrepreneurial production. The inspiration behind this initiative is to give women a chance to escape abusive environments, beat the odds of the local economy and cycle of poverty, and achieve economic independence!

The pilot year of the initiative went very well and 45 micro-loans were disbursed and paid in full. Alongside Hearts of Gold, 4 students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) are undergoing a research project to assess the success of the program, which loans and activities had more return on investment, and how the group is impacting social and gender-based issues in the rural town. We can’t wait to report back on what they find!

To ensure their success moving forward, we invite Kallpa Warmi to attend all capacity building programs we offer, along with mentoring hours to push their goals forward!

This cycle Kallpa Warmi participated in networking events to meet other local leaders, the Contra Reloj Women’s Empowerment Conference, and our second annual Somos el Cambio (“We are the Changemakers”) Seminar in Marketing and Communications.

We look forward to expanding Mírame’s programs with women’s groups in Cuenca and beyond! Stay tuned as we continue to grow and together empower women in Ecuador!

The beautiful agricultural life in Sayausi

Expats visiting Kallpa Warmi

Presenters at our first conference!

A huge THANK YOU from the Hearts of Gold team!

Links:

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Jul 13, 2018
Scholarship Recipient Announced & Projects are Underway!

By Kelly Mitchell | Hearts of Gold Program Manager

Kallpa Warmi joins as our newest partner

Mírame and Hearts of Gold are excited to announce the winners of our first scholarship position to KALLPA WARMI!

"Kallpa Warmi" means "strong woman" in Quechua, an indigenous language of the Andes. That is exactly what this group is! These strong, brave, hard working women from Sayausi (a small rural town outside Cuenca) fight every day to support their families. With this scholarship, Kallpa Warmi has access to workshops focused on strengthening their organization and entrepreneurial efforts, as well as dialogue circles focused on women's empowerment! Please join us in giving Kallpa Warmi a warm welcome!

Our relationship with Kallpa Warmi has quickly developed, and we are already engaged in several projects that are empowering these 90 women!

So far, women leaders of Kallpa Warmi have attended professional workshops in Strategic Planning (7 hours of instruction), Leadership and Communication (40 hours of instruction), and Fundraising for Nonprofits (7 hours of instruction).

Aside from these capacity building workshops, we also organized a private workshop with Kallpa Warmi where 15 women and 3 men learned about women's health, holistic practices, and wholesome self-care through natural remedies. Given this group's tie to mother nature, this workshop connected participants with the roots of their culture, and encouraged feminine personal care. The next workshop series we are planning is in entrepreneurial branding for artisans.

This month we also had a lovely site visit with 15 Hearts of Gold stakeholders to meet the women of Kallpa Warmi and learn more about their artisanal, agricultural, and entrepreneurial projects. It is very special for supporters and program participants to bond and develop respect for one another. If you'd like to read more about the donor experience, we encourage you to watch a short video showcasing our special visit, or to read a reflective piece written by Hearts of Gold supporter Jeremiah Reardon!

Interested in keeping Mirame’s momentum high? Next week on Wed. July 18th, you can make a gift that has DOUBLE THE IMPACT! For 24 hours, your one-time contribution will be matched at 50%, and any new monthly donations will be match at 100%! Stay tuned for your chance to grow this incredible program!

The women's collective meets every Wednesday

Its official, welcome Kallpa Warmi!

Site visit to meet the women and their projects

Welcoming Kallpa Warmi into our nonprofit network

Learning about women's health

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