Lovin' Naton

I love the village of Naton! There are some things that don’t need language to be understood, and the strength of the people in this village, especially the women, is one of those things.  

So we had 2 objectives yesterday when we visited the village.  One was to bring in some much needed supplies.  We piled 50 x 25kg bags of rice, 3 bags of seeds for planting, 4 huge bundles of textiles for clothes, the first section of the fence and four people into the truck.  We really tested the limits of that vehicle, especially on the canyon-riddled “road” of the interior. But we made it in without braking an axle! The village especially needed the rice since, despite it being the rainy season, they have not received any rain - bringing their food production to a stomach-grinding halt.  

Our second objective was to begin the profiles of the 10 women who will be receiving micro-credit loans for their businesses.  After having visited Kaya, and seeing how they treated women, it is all the more impressive how the whole village is supportive of these 10 women.  We asked how they were chosen, and they said that they had come to a consensus that these would be the women/businesses that they wanted to support.   Even though only 10 women will be receiving the loans, everyone will be working to make sure that it is repaid, because they know that the success of these women will benefit the whole village and more people will be eligible for loans.  

When you teach a woman to fish....because we are starting out by exclusively supporting the women, they felt that the women should have a place where they can meet to talk out business strategy, how to invest their money, etc.  It has only been a week since this was proposed, and the men of the village have practically finished its construction!!  That is how excited they are to support this initiative!  And what is seeming to become a trend.... the women would also like to use this building to have classes on how to read and write!  This is a far cry from the opinion that “education is dangerous for women,” which was stated by our guide in Kaya. 

The village of Naton is really special.  They inspire me.  

The precarious (over)loading of the truck

Building for the women - it's only been one week!

Unloading the emergency rice

Village meeting

Aminita  - I don't understand what she says but likes to chat with me.  

Tammy's African mom - she's one spry sweetheart

The 10 business women