Rockflower
Ashley Torres
100 Gardeners in 100 Days: Celebrating Charlot ...

Eliminating Poverty Through Entrepreneurial Training of Young Women

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80% of Kenyans live in rural areas, where unemployment is high and access to financial services limited. In Kisumu county, formal financial inclusion stands low at 25% in rural areas where women and youth are marginalized the most. Although a growing number of financial institutions are working to promote the growth of small businesses, often they do not lend to women for lack of entrepreneurial skills.   

Rockflower partnered with Jiwo Paro, a community based organization working to eliminate poverty by expanding access to capital, education, and entrepreneurial opportunities for women and youth in resource impoverished areas in Kenya. Entrepreneurship training will allow participants to join a network of fellow entrepreneurs from whom they will continue to curate their business and financial management skills.

Support the Kisumu County Women Entrepreneurship Project by visiting our campaign page.

The campaign is led by Rockflower Youth Advisory Board Members Lulu Ward and Connor West.

Rockflower Launches Campaign to Fund Clean Cooking Technology In Nairobi, Kenya

Rockflower partnered with the S.O.U.L Foundation to save the lives of thousands of rural, Ugandan women. This will be done through maternal health outreach by empowering and educating community members on the importance of ANC and key preventable obstetric complications that proper care can help them avoid. Through this project, S.O.U.L. will train, empower, and educate mothers and community partners and provide life-saving maternal health services.

Rockflower Welcomes Emily Chandler and Taylor Washburn as Global Ambassadors

Rockflower's Global Ambassadors advance the cause of empowering women around the world by supporting Rockflower partner projects as well as visiting partners and providing feedback.

We are happy to welcome our first Global Ambassadors, Emily Chandler and Taylor Washburn.

Emily and Taylor's first project will be raising funds for Rockflower's partnership with the S.O.U.L. Foundation to empower women to deliver with dignity in rural Uganda.

In addition to spearheading a fundraiser for the S.O.U.L Foundation Project, Emily and Taylor plan to visit S.O.U.L and report on the impact of the funding as a way to celebrate their upcoming marriage and use their honeymoon as a practical and useful experience. 

Rockflower Partners with S.O.U.L Foundation on Maternal Health Project

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Rockflower is pleased to announce a new partnership with the S.O.U.L Foundation, a community-based organization in Uganda focused on education, women's empowerment, food security, and maternal health.

Rockflower's partnership with S.O.U.L will support the empowerment of women to deliver with dignity in rural Uganda.

Find out more about the S.O.U.L Foundation Project. 

Rockflower Empowers Women and Girls in Cameroon Through Mentorship and Training

As part of the "Empowering Women and Girls Through Mentorship and Training" partner project, Rockflower and the African Youth Alliance completed a campaign to fund vocational training and economic opportunities for 60 young women in Bamenda, Cameroon

Bringing Alternative Fuel Source From Biomass to Kasese Uganda

As part of a new partnership with Rwenzori United Group for Life Improvement (RUGLI), Rockflower invested in the launch of a Bio Briquette initiative in Kasese, Uganda.

Rockflower's partnership with RUGLI will support the production of biomass briquettes made from agro-waste and household by-products as an alternative to fuel charcoal and fuel wood.

The investment will be targeted at achieving the following objectives:

  • Add value to agro-waste and household by-products that would otherwise end-up unused, causing local waste pollution.

  • Increase the utilization of biomass resources in developing and promoting more efficient and cleaner fuel substitutes.

  • Replace the use of wood and charcoal fuels, which is a major cause of deforestation and environment degradation.

In addition, 200 families from four villages will be trained in the treatment of biomass as a source of income and the use biomass briquettes as an alternative heating and cooking fuel.

Read more about the Bio Briquette Project and stay tuned for updates on participant progress.

Rockflower Launches Campaign to Train Traditional Birth Attendants (Comadrona) in Guatemala

Rockflower partnered with Saving Mothers to train traditional birth attendants (Comadrona) in the rural areas of Guatemala as well as provide vital resources such as birth kits and prenatal vitamins to expectant mothers.

First Phase of the Pehran Project Begins

On July 6th, Community Services Pakistan began a three month training of 25 young women in the art of Kashmiri Pehran. The objectives of the Pehran Project are to establish a women's handmade Gurase Valley brand to increase the visibility and value of female hand-made products and to increase the skills and opportunities for the young women, many of whom have only a primary level education. 

Progress on The Coastal Villages Deserted Womens Project in Tamil Nadu

The Society for Participatory Research and Integrated Training began implementing the women's empowerment project among the single women headed families in Manamelkudi block in the month of March 2017. Starting with 25 women in Palkudi village, the objectives of the project were to create a platform for economic empowerment, to increase self confidence and self dependency and to provide viable credit assistance to create employment opportunities. 

Pilot Project Begins for the Women's Collective in Astillero, Nicaragua

Rockflower has partnered with Casa Congo and the Tejedoras to develop a pilot project to kickstart a Women's Collective which will allow these women an opportunity to further expand upon their business ideas with access to credit.  The first phase of the pilot project began in late July with an early stage investment into a juice and smoothie bar. The Tejedoras will be trained in all aspects of juice, smoothie and ice-cream production and will be responsible for the day to day running and management of the venture. 

Encouraging Female Entrepreneurship in Rural Pakistan Through Support of Traditional Cultural Crafts

Bringing much needed training and economic opportunities to women living in rural Afghanistan was made possible through a fundraising campaign supported by Rockflower and The Community Service Program, a multi-disciplinary non-governmental organization working to generate and revitalize Kashmir's rural economy.

Investing in Economic Opportunities for Deserted Women in India Shows Positive Results

In February of this year, Rockflower funded a pilot project to support the economic empowerment of deserted women living in coastal villages in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu. The fundraising campaign was part of Rockflower's partnership with the Society for Participatory Research and Integrated Training (SPRIT), which focuses on creating sustainable economic development for female headed families after the loss of a spouse or desertion.