The role of women in ADIPSA

At ADIPSA, we actively urge women to take up positions on our governing bodies. Currently, three of the seven members of our Management Board are women, whilst women make up two of the nine positions on our Support Committee.

Women and education

Education is the driving force behind our Woman's Development programme: workshops, skills-building activities, educational meetings and exchanges form the backbone of the program.

Projects

We currently run three women's development projects in San Agustín's communities:

Vegetable Gardens, Bread Making, Dressmaking

Vegetable Gardens, Bread Making

Before running these projects, our woman's development coordinator observed serious deficiencies in the diet of many families in the communities of San Agustín. Many women only had beans and corn available to feed their family and had no prospect of earning income to pay for other products.

Our Vegetable Garden and Bread Making projects aim to provide families with a healthier, more varied diet and to produce surpluses to sell at the local market. The projects benefit the entire community and generate new incomes for participants.

Thanks to these projects, families and communities now enjoy a whole series of products not previously available to them:

The bread making project produces fresh bread, baked locally. Before, villagers had to buy from delivery men who would come from the neighbouring region. Now, they can buy bread locally (and cheaper) and thus inject money back into their own community.

The vegetable gardens produce a range of vegetables: lettuce, carrots, onions, celery, courgettes, cucumber, cabbage, beetroot, radish, coriander and Swiss chard.

Women participants also attend cookery classes and learn about the medicinal value of plants and herbs native to the area, which they now use to combat general ailments in the family.

Dressmaking

Our dressmaking project enables San Agustín's women to provide their families with quality clothing and also to generate new income by selling clothes at the local market. Our women members now produce all kinds of clothing, from bed linen and tablecloths to blouses and even wedding dresses.

Sustainable Development

Our projects help the women of San Agustin create a role for themselves in the home and the community over and above that of housewife, mother and carer of the elderly.

By providing women with the necessary skills to become independent producers, our projects contribute the sustainable development. They allow women to contribute to the health and wellbeing of the family and to take a participative role in the community as a whole.

Gradually, San Agustin's women are assuming a more participative role in decision-making in the home and the community, and they are beginning to make their voice heard as equal members of society.