Rockflower is pleased to announce our newest partnership with Flicker of Hope, a community based organization located in Nyamira County, Kenya. The organization aims to organize and empower vulnerable rural populations in drought prone areas, with an emphasis on women and children, by helping them to build sustainable livelihoods and to empower the communities to become self-reliant. Rockflower has provided funding for their project, Promoting Smokeless Fuel & Sustainable Incomes for Women, which will be addressing a number of issues including resource and water scarcity, deforestation, pollution, public health, and the lack of sustainable employment in the area.
Nyamira County is an area with very few options for earning a living. The area is prone to crop failure and drought. One of the only consistent resources in the area has been wood from the forests, which are used for fires and building materials. However, the prevalence of deforestation has caused the few watersheds in the area to dry up. Due to a lack of resources, the forest is being destroyed, water is being depleted and the air is becoming polluted from all of the smoke.
Flicker of Hope is partnering with Rockflower to bring smokeless bio-briquettes and cookstoves to the county. This project will reduce deforestation, utilize untapped resources, increase public health, and provide income to rural women who will produce the bio-briquettes. The briquettes are made primarily from brush and bushes, which until now have not been utilized as a resource and also inhibit forest growth.
Additionally, this is a self employment opportunity for rural men and women. They will train people on how to collect the brush and provide a consistent source of income to those people. Jobs will also be created through the production of the bio-briquettes as well as through distribution and transportation of the product. The organization will focus on providing jobs to disadvantaged women and girls.
Rockflower looks forward to working with Flicker of Hope as they promote the effective utilization of resources, conservation and preservation of the environment, improved opportunities for child education, adoption of healthy & hygienic lifestyles, financial inclusion, skills development, entrepreneurship & women empowerment.