 Mrs. Petroline Arunga (Founding Co-ordinator)  click for larger view Here are some of the members of Duonga Women Group We are located in Ateng' Location, West Karachuonyo Division, in Rachuonyo District. Rachuonyo District is in South Nyanza Province, Kenya. Duonga translates to those left behind. Many of our family and friends have moved to the towns and cities and many of our husbands have died and many of the parents of the children we are caregivers to have died of AIDS.  This is our Library Sign We received thousands of books from the African American Women in Seattle, a librarian came and helped us organized them and we built shelves for them. Having a library means that our children are better students, and our elders can increase their literacy and be life long learners. We also received reading glasses. | The Duonga women organized in 1999 and registered as a Women Group the year 2003. The coordinator was and continues to be, Mrs. Petroline Arunga. We started with only 10 members, by the year 2003 we had 16 members, currently we have 30 registered members, and 66 names in the waiting list. We will grow as we raise more money to establish women in their own sustaining income generating activity. Our members are women who struggle with many issues and coming
together as a group and working in collective action make life easier
for all of us. Some of the members are living with HIV/AIDS, some are
widows, all are caregivers to the many orphaned and vulnerable children
(OVCs). Our chair is Mrs. Grace Kisero who is a widow. Our secretary is Mrs. Margaret Opiyo, also a widow. Our Treasurer is Hilda Opiyo a teacher from Kapenguria. We spend much of our time on water projects, education of our children, learning leadership skills, working on income generating activities that allow us to be self sufficient. One of our income generating activities is catering. In May, 2009 World Vision used our catering service for a conference they had. Along with catering we own 100 chairs and a tent and we rent these out. This income generating activity was made possible by a joint venture investment from the AAKEWO women in the United States and learning leadership skills from their Institute for Cultural Reconnection. Also we have received loans from the Kenyan government. We paid back the first loan and then applied for a larger one that we are paying back. The European Union is helping us find ways to work on activities that can earn us money and help our environment. We are finding solutions to our many problems that come from having to care for many children, get them educated and keeping them well. We appreciate the help we get from others, but we are not waiting for others to solve our problems we need help with resources to make the solutions work. |