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Home > Activities
> Women
RAE gives particular consideration
to the changing roles of women in pastoralist
societies, defining ways to enhance
their lives, while remaining sensitive to existing
cultural norms.
Women in pastoralist
societies today are often left with double the
work load as men migrate to urban areas in search
of employment, and many children who assisted
them with
domestic chores and herding in the past now go to
school. Women benefit directly from RAE's
multifaceted programme through various income
generating activities and initiatives geared
specifically towards meeting their changing needs.
The role of women as active
environmental managers and decision makers of
reclaimed areas has had considerable impact on
improving their lives and the lives of their
families. Women's increasingly active participation
in RAE activities has also been key to the overall success of
the programme. |
As in
other pastoral societies, women in Baringo have no
traditional ownership rights over land and
livestock, especially cattle. Their successful
efforts to obtain land for reclamation from
relations and elders are thus highly significant.
A growing number of of both private and communal
fields are now set aside and managed by
women exclusively. In addition, in the
many cases where husbands are away, their wives
manage and generate income from their private
fields for the benefit of themselves and their
families.
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A women's group making
decisions about the use and management of their
field
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Women treating their own cattle
for future sale

Naitemu Women's Group
chairlady explaining groups activities to visitors
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Equally significant is women’s success in
rearing and fattening cattle. Women field managers carry out
livestock fattening programmes, buying and selling
mainly cattle for a profit from their own funds
accrued through successful income generating
activities. Women are particularly successful at
implementing multiple activities to optimise
profits from their reclaimed fields. As active environmental managers
generating substantial income from diverse
activities, the women of
Baringo have become a positive example for
women in other dryland areas. Baringo women's
groups, individual women, wives and widows often
welcome and train groups from other areas, giving
detailed explanations and case examples of
their challenges and successes. Successes
usually relate to actual benefits that have
improved their livelihoods, especially cash
profits that have enabled them to pay towards
school fees or buy food and
clothing for their children. |
Work
with Women’s Groups:
RAE works with an increasing number of women’s
shareholder groups
that manage reclaimed areas. Many of the groups
have followed the lead taken by Naitemu Women's
Group, of 36 members, who successfully manage their 95 acre field.
The decision to hand over
this productive field to the women was made at a
large community meeting in 2002, after elders' management
attempts had failed for many years. As with other field owners, RAE continues
to work closely with women's groups, training them
in improved management strategies and record
keeping while listening
to their experience and suggestions. Over the
years, Naitemu Women's Group, and other women, have
clearly shown that when given access to improved
dryland resources women have the capacity to manage
and sustain the resources for the benefit of
themselves and their families.
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The
healthcare services provided by the RAE Clinic
continue to expand in relation to the growing
needs of the community, particularly women and
children. For further information about Clinic
activities, download our current
Flyer (325kb PDF file) The RAE Clinic specialises in the treatment of
burns and wounds, as well as
providing reproductive health care and HIV/AIDS
support services. RAE
records confirm that access to reliable health and
reproductive care facilities are essential in the
alleviation of poverty and the creation of healthy
dryland environments and economies.
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Burns
and Primary Healthcare:
The RAE Clinic's positive results, especially the
successful treatment of burns with little or no
scarification, are well known throughout the
Baringo lowlands where healthcare facilities are
limited. RAE's small one unit facility has begun
to outgrow its capacity, with people walking from
over 60km away to seek treatment for increasingly
severe cases. As requested by the community, there
are plans to expand Clinic facilities, including
the formalisation of an agreement with a private
hospital who will treat Baringo patients that could
otherwise not afford specialised treatment.
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Successful treatment of a
burn after two weeks
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Reproductive
Healthcare:
Urban migration, increased poverty, and an annual
population growth rate of 5.4%, has left more and
more Baringo women providing for their children on
their own. A growing
number of women, and more recently men, have
embraced the reproductive healthcare services
provided by the RAE Clinic. More simple family
planning services are provided on-site, while more
long lasting methods are provided by the Marie
Stopes Outreach Team who visit the Clinic
bi-annually.
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A thank you from RAE and
the community to the Marie Stopes Outreach
Team
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HIV/AIDS:
With the HIV/AIDS endemic in the Baringo region,
the RAE Clinic has started to provide counseling
services, facilitating patients' access to ARV drugs
when necessary. As patient numbers continued to
grow, RAE established the ‘Love and
Hope Group' in 2005. Members of the group meet
once a week to
ensure that their drugs are taken properly, as
well as to provide moral and financial support for
each other, pooling their scarce resources
together for emergencies.
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