The Empowering Women of WORTH
Donna Fay Harati

For the past two months, I have had the fortunate opportunity to intern with Project Concern International’s WORTH program in Zambia. I could never adequately express my gratitude and appreciation for having been a small part of such an amazing initiative.

As soon as I learned about the WORTH model, I knew it was something special. The WORTH motto "Dependency is Not Empowerment" signaled to me that this is a program that truly values women. Coming from the United States, I was only familiar with women's development programs that provided some kind of start up money or micro-enterprise loan to begin with. After working with WORTH, I can't imagine such models since WORTH women are taught that they must help themselves to improve their own lives. Every WORTH woman I have met has fully taken this advice to heart. I had no idea women could even be as strong and empowered as the remarkable women I met.

On my very first field visit, I visited a WORTH group composed primarily of elderly women. These women were engaging in building a chicken pen. I remember watching in amazement as they stacked their freshly made bricks row upon row. What impressed me even further was how genuinely selfless these women were. They repeatedly explained that their ultimate goal was to raise money by selling chickens so that they could more adequately care for the orphans and vulnerable children in their communities.

This noble spirit proved to be a common thread among all the WORTH groups I visited: WORTH groups building schools for orphans and vulnerable children, WORTH groups visiting the elderly and sick of their community, WORTH groups rescuing the troubled youth of their area who were dabbling in prostitution and drinking. These women are not satisfied with merely being empowered- rather, they are so thrilled with their newfound voice and strength that they want to touch as many people as possible with good.

I was touched and inspired a million times over by the women I met. I always found myself thinking that American women could learn a great deal about hope, gratitude, and perseverance from these dignified Zambian women. I always felt apprehensive about intruding on their meetings, but each time, they greeted me with lovely songs and passionate dancing, immediately making me feel welcome. I feel unbelievably thankful and privileged to have caught a glimpse of the impact WORTH is having on Zambian women. I'll never forget standing in a circle with other WORTH women and listening to each woman share how WORTH has change her life – that's empowerment in action.

Breaking the Cycle of Poverty
by Janine Schooley

Everything is interconnected. Everything is vital. The interwoven issues of health and poverty form a cycle that must be addressed as a whole, rather than in separate parts. If we neglect any aspect of development, our program’s success is in jeopardy and there is no chance of long-term sustainability. Isolated interventions can seem helpful, but only as band-aids, with limited shelf life.

There are limitless examples of the connected problems we face. After years in development, I found the concept of "holistic" well-explained by one of our most visionary of funding partners:

• A farmer, even when he has access to irrigation, improved seeds, credit and markets, will make little progress if his soil is being washed away or blown away. So, environmental conservation is vital.
• A man with a potentially thriving farm business will not do well if he is cowering in the darkness of his hut with untreated malaria or AIDS. So, healthcare is vital.
• A good healthcare system will not have the desired impact if the person recovering from an illness is starving, as the drugs will have little effect on an empty stomach. So, economic empowerment is vital.
• A person is less likely to be able to take advantage of new economic opportunities if he or she cannot read. So, education is vital.
• Even if there is a school, a child cannot take advantage of it they keep contracting deadly water-borne diseases. So, clean water is vital.
• Even if there is clean water, a malnutrition child is still at risk of starvation. So, food security is vital.
  

The cycle continues…
Unless this cycle of poverty, ill health, malnutrition, and lack of education and opportunity is broken, the negative impacts will gain momentum and carry well into future generations. Project Concern International understands these critical dynamics and aims to work holistically at the community-level, addressing the complex dynamics of health and poverty in a broad and empowering way.

Unfortunately much of the funding and programming for health and development work around the world is compartmentalized or provided in "silos" and true holistic programming is not as common as it should be. This means that organizations such as PCI must use alternative strategies such as integration, layering or wrapping-around program interventions, piecing together funding from different sources to cobble together a more integrated whole.

Thankfully, the communities we serve inherently understand how the issues they face compound upon each other in their daily lives. It is these local perspectives, issues and priorities, combined with the technical expertise and experience of an organization such as PCI that ultimately leads to practical, appropriate, impactful and sustainable outcomes. This is what we call "community-led social mobilization for real and lasting change" and that is what PCI is all about.