Women's Health Workshops in Africa!

In 2013 I moved to east Africa  to work with refugee impacted women from Rwanda, Tanzania, and Burundi. It was the most challenging and reflective time of my life. The work I was charged to do, build the capacity of women  who were products of physical and mental abuse, genocide, poverty, left me feeling broken and confused about my own abilities. I doubted myself often, I cried often, I grew. I grew stronger and I grew closer to the women. Their narratives , their hopes, their families; these women made me proud to be African, proud to be a woman. 
As I transitioned back into the policy sector in Washington, DC, I took those women with me. They influenced my work as an advocate for  reproductive rights for women and girls across Africa. Now, two years later, my experiences as an African writer, feminist, and trainer, have led me to start PopWorks Africa : A collective of like-minded international development consultants working to craft innovative and impactful capacity building programs for Africa's most precious resource: it's population.

In the fall of 2016, PopWorks will return to east Africa as we launch our first capacity building program. Our first project will pilot three reproductive health workshops in different villages throughout rural northwestern Tanzania. These workshops will be specifically tailored for illiterate women and their husbands. Using unique and dynamic pictorial guides, comics, and posters, these workshops are intended to foster social and behavioral change towards women’s sexual and reproductive health. With the inclusion of husbands and domestic partners, we also aim to foster equitable gender relationships.

These workshops will cover:
1. The female reproductive system
-When can you get pregnant
- Understanding ovulation windows
2. Benefits of planning for a family
- What are the health and economic benefits of the healthily timing and spacing of births
3. What can be done if there are no contraceptive supplies in the area

PopWorks Africa seeks donations of $10,000 to fund these workshops. Donations will go towards:
- Creation of pictorial guides and visual resources for women
- International and local travel for trainers and translators
- Meals and small stipends for participants
- Workshop materials for participants
- Monitoring and evaluation
- 501(c)3 start up costs and filing fees for PopWorks Africa