Increase Agency
We create safe spaces to empower widows through a series of transformative workshops to increase agency – make better decisions, for self–efficacy and live a life free from violence with access and control over resources, and become change-makers in their communities.
Social & Humanitarian Empowerment
Dignity Housing
Sponsor a House for a Widow
Most rural widows live in abject poverty in dilapidated undignified grass thatched houses – the need for housing is huge. Building basic iron roofed shelter for widows provides not only a stable descent environment for the widow headed families. The basic shelter is built as a community event to break the cultural beliefs that prohibits widows from building and/or repairing their own houses. We are seeking your support to build a basic shelter for the widows under our programme Sponsor a House for a Widow at a cost of $650.
TIMBo – Trauma survivors’ trainings, Mental Health & Wellbeing
Our programmes offer care, education and support to both the individual and the group. We believe the trauma survivor is the healer. We create safe spaces like widow groups, wisterhood (widow sistershood) forming a collective of similar lived experiences that support, trigger and enable widows to heal and thrive.
Our dignity housing programme is a localised version of ‘home makeover’ a popular TV series in the West – it offers a helping hand to build basic iron shelter in one day for widows with dilapidated or no home at a cost of $650. In the last decade, Rona has built over 65 homes directly and indirectly through partnerships.
In February 2017, the The Global TIMBo Empowerment Project partnered with Rona Foundation and completed phase 1 of our 3 phase training. This project brought together 35 widow leaders from 5 counties, with 30 women change makers from USA, and was funded entirely by fundraiser dollars raised by the American women.
TIMBo believes trauma survivors can become powerful healers and change makers in their communities. To help improve global access to mental health and wellbeing, TIMBo partners with like-minded organisations in some of the world’s most marginalised societies to provide a simple, accessible and powerful tool for re-empowerment at virtually no cost to them.
The 35 widow leaders are being trained to become TIMBo Facilitators and to spread TIMBo through their widow groups and communities. Today, they use the skill in every workshop and training. Gladys Ochiel, a young widow leader, is hired by schools to teach TIMBo to both secondary and primary school children. Phase 2 and 3 remain incomplete.