2014 Project Inspire Finalists-Global Sisters-The refugee from Sierra Leone giving hope to Migrant Women
Hawanatu Bangura, 25, from Sierra Leone, is a member of the Advisory Circle for Australian microfinance organisation, Global Sisters. Hawanatu – along with her Australian teammates; 40-year-old Mandy Richards, 39-year-old Heather Thomson, and Robyn Robertson, 40 – was recently named as a finalist in the 2014 Singapore Committee for UN Women and MasterCard Project Inspire competition, which works to empower women through entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
In the words of Hawanatu Bangura-
“As a child, I kept hearing the limitations of being a woman – I am one of three girls in my family, and being the youngest I sensed disappointment from some relatives that I was not a boy; that my parents don’t have a son to carry the family name and responsibilities. I questioned myself for being female but as I grew up my mentality changed; I realised women are equally capable of doing anything in life.”
Global Sisters encapsulate her dream of reducing poverty & empowering women, and their values align with their vision. The Global sisters broke the cycle of poverty and giving women the opportunity to claim back their right to provide for their family and fully participate in the economy. This not only transforms their lives but has the amazing flow-on effect of benefiting their families, communities and ultimately the entire country.
Anietie Etuk – Roadside Fruit Sellers in Nigeria Inspire Idea for Gender Equality
Anietie Etuk along with his team mates Orieinte Johnson Anietie and Ohaneje Promise Chinedu from Nigeria was named as a finalist in Singapore Committee for UN Women ad MasterCard’s Project Inspire, an annual, global, social innovation competition, which empowers women through social entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
The project proposed by Aniete aims to establish a co-operative of existing businesses in Nigeria, and teach women business expansion methods via weekly lectures, which are delivered to the women’s mobile phones via SMS.
The inspiration of this project is the moment when Anietie was driving was driving home from work when he noticed a mother with two children, selling bananas from a table top. The mother was breastfeeding one child, while the other was playing, and it was beginning to rain. Just as Anietie considered how difficult it must be for the woman to work; exposed to the elements and attempting to care for her two children at the same time – Anietie passed another transient fruit stall. “Just two blocks from this lady, three other ladies were also selling bananas.
Aniete Etuk is 34 years old, he is the Managing Director of Nigeria-based, business development company, Corehead Business Solutions. He began to contemplate the banana-sellers’ situation in more depth by thinking “If these four women came together to raise their funds and capacity… they would be more productive,” This inspired Aniete take the project ahead and thus, made him one of the finalist.
For more information on project, visit Gender Equality.
Watch the Global Sisters video entry here- Project inspire Global Sisters.
