Jeanne Ratzloff

In 2008 I started working with Congolese women refugees living in the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement in Uganda. I founded the US registered non-profit organization Peopleweaver in 2009. In 2011 I retired from the Institute of Telecommunication Sciences where I worked as a computer specialist to focus more time on Peopleweaver.

Peopleweaver was established to provide EDUCATIONAL and ECONOMIC assistance, such as microcredit loans, to impoverished girls, women and women-lead family groups in developing countries. The intent of this assistance is to help girls and women escape extreme poverty. Our efforts are focused on Congolese women and girls living in the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement in Uganda, and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We have formed partnerships with local people and organizations to achieve program success.

Although our primary focus is education and economic growth, aid has also included food, malaria nets, medicine, reading glasses, communication tools, treadle water pumps, and two cooperative grain mills. We started a "Free Little Library" at a primary school in the Kyangwali settlement. Adding books and libraries is ongoing. In 2013 we partnered with a local grassroots organization to start an adult school in Kyangwali. We have expanded the school project to other locations.

The Kyangwali Refugee Settlement is located in Western Uganda. Kyangwali hosts approximately 115,000 mostly Congolese and Sudanese refugees. The majority of the women we work with are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Most are widows providing for their families; some are orphans caring for other orphans. Many have lived in Kyangwali since the late 1990s. Many were born in Kyangwali and know no other life.

The women are isolated because of the location of Kyangwali and poverty. The refugee settlement is three hours by taxi from the closest town. The taxi fare is 25,000sh (about $10), which few can afford. Refugees must get permission from camp officials to leave the settlement.

The women spend their time farming their gardens. What their family does not eat they sell at the local market. Buyers come from outside the camp to buy maize and other produce. Because of the women’s isolation, the buyers are able to purchase the produce at below market value. The women are lucky if, on average, they earn $1 a day.

Thanks. Jeanne

Email: [email protected]

More information can be found at http://www.peopleweaver.org