news
Ifaty Village now has Women’s Association
Jun 16, 2007
Through talks with ReefDoctor and the President of Ifaty village it was decided to create a Women’s Association. A meeting of all the women in the village was held in the local school and the reason for creating the association explained and the positions filled by voting. The bureau (or committee) who represent the association, comprises of one president, two vice-presidents, two secretaries, two treasurers, two account auditors and two advisers. The association has 80 members and now a legal standing which means that they may be eligible to apply for grants from either government or non-governmental sources.
The Women’s Association will help decide alongside FIMIHARA where to spend funds generated from the Rose Garden Marine Protected Area and will also act as a point of contact in the village for community development projects. Presentations about health and hygiene, 1st Aid and Sexually transmitted diseases prevention are underway. The association will also allow entrepreneurial women from the association (with ReefDoctors guidance and training) undertake potential new business ideas such as, bakery through solar ovens, help with subsidised rice flour for making mokary and sale of local honey to tourists and hotels and small shops selling local handicraft such as embroidery table cloths etc..
These are just a few of the ideas being explored to help generate new business practices and incomes. Gerald Stewart, project coordinator at ReefDoctor, says, “Alternative incomes relieve the pressure on people to catch fish no matter what”.
“With family incomes diversified over a number of different areas, it is possible for them not to fish when the weather is bad and when fish catches are suffering but still generate income for their families”.
Future plans include animal husbandry classes to help improve the quality of village livestock. In particular, villagers are keen to improve growth rates in their pigs to gain higher incomes from their sale.
