Regina Malajiwa, chairperson of the Bukoba Women’s Empowerment Association (BUWEA) in Tanzania, has over eleven years of experience building the groundwork for the empowerment of disenfranchised women in rural Bukoba. Her ultimate goal as the leader of the organization is to create opportunities for women living in rural areas to increase their household income. BUWEA, in collaboration with the WGC and other national and international partners and associates, has provided grants and developed a revolving loan fund to support their endeavor. Regina also believes that by helping women to build business and computer skills, and by providing education on health and nutrition, the organization will be increasing their chances for success in life.
Regina explained during an interview what motivated the founding group to start a women’s cooperative:
No one recognizes you as an individual, unless you are in a group of five or six. So we found it was necessary to work in a group, since you don’t know everything by yourself. You need people with different skills: someone who is a nurse, someone who is a teacher, someone who is from a different region and know something you don’t know. So we realized that by getting together we could learn from each other.
The leader of BUWEA also demonstrated how the group’s efforts impacted their lives and on the local community:
We are planning to work on our loans so it grows. And as it grows we can get more products or improved products. Now others can see that we are doing something that didn’t just collapse within a short time, it is still on, so we became teachers of others who saw us.
BUWEA has now access to Internet connection directly from their office in Bukoba. The women's association has achieved important milestones in the past five years.