WE Project for Widows
WealthyGen establishes sustainable livelihood activities for widows who are struggling to feed their children and fight poverty after the loss of their husbands. In many countries, these widows face a lot of abusive practices. Sometimes, they face degrading and life-threatening burial rites. Most times, they lose their properties and other inheritance. Some are associated with witchcraft, stigmatized, and even ostracized. These are some of the major barriers these poor widows face in their socio-economic empowerment.
The Problem
Nigeria has now overtaken India as the country with the largest number of extreme poor people with about 87 million Nigerians living in extreme poverty according to 2018 report by Brookings Institution. Of those living in poverty, about 15 million of them are widows (FIDA, 2015). Some of them could barely afford one square meal a day, with their children malnourished and prone to diseases. Without any financial support, they go hungry most days and are forced to withdraw their kids from school.
The Solution
WealthyGen provides better life for these widows by establishing sustainable livelihood activities for them. The WE Project has four components:
Financial Literacy: At the core of our WE Project is enhancing the financial literacy skills of the beneficiaries to increase their financial capability in knowing and understanding how to use financial services and make informed financial choices.
Financial Inclusion and Support Fund: In collaboration with local financial institutions, WealthyGen assists the participants to choose and open a savings account and assess any other financial products that meet their needs. WealthyGen also provides support fund, which is deposited into the account for them to begin to practice their financial literacy skills of using financial services and managing their money. This support fund also puts food on the tables of these widows and their children for the first one month to allow the business to take off successfully.
Enterprise Development: WealthyGen supports the participants with financial capital necessary to develop and increase valuable livelihood activities that will improve their overall financial wellbeing and economic empowerment. Building upon the financial support, beneficiaries would be equipped with money management skills to properly use the capital efficiently and grow their businesses.
Potential Long-term Impact
When we empower a woman, she is better able to support and empower her family, give her kids sound education, and break the cycle of poverty. The WE Project benefits the women, their children, their entire families, and the society at large.
Apply for Empowerment
Are you a widow? Do you know a widow who lives in a poor household and is struggling to fight poverty? We’d love to hear her story and meet her to discuss how WealthyGen can help her to establish an activity to generate sustainable income for her family.
To qualify for financial empowerment by WealthyGen, applicants must meet these criteria:
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- Must be a widow
- Must demonstrate economic hardship through convincing story, pictures, and or videos
If you or a widow you know meets these criteria, use the form below to apply for empowerment.
Other Ways to Empower
Here are other ways you can empower:
In-Kind Donation
By donating a store space (paid for one year or more), you are helping a widow establish a sustainable livelihood activity and empowering her.
You may also support by donating marketable products needed to establish the business.
To make an in-kind donation, please send an email to donate@wealthygen.org
Select a Specific Widow for Empowerment
You may choose to provide empowerment for a specific widow in our project.
Here are widows in our project who are waiting to be empowered: