# Stories From Our Communities

**Rose Njiro – MIMUTIE WOMEN’S ORGANIZATION. **

To say the truth, I find it difficult to find the right words to say about me journey with WFT because it is a long journey. What surprised me from the onset was the fact that although our organization was young and without a track record with meagre resources having been established just in 2012 WFT took an interest in our work and accorded us the respect that we thought was reserved for big organizations. Age wise we are grown however resources wise. 

It is surprising because in today’s world small community organizations are faced with considerable challenges in securing funding but for me since in 2007 when I came to get to know Mama Mary through TGNP.

The trip itself is memorable because when I first came in 2006, I was afraid of the tarmac roads! At the time we were 45 women to a meeting convened by TGNP.

We were afraid of slipping on the tarmac road being from Maasai communities, we had never seen such a thing and it looked like you could slip and fall! Mama Mary made it possible for us to come all the way to Dar es salaam. Mama Mary was then the ED of WFT. In 2017 we applied for the first time for a grant from WFT and we were awarded 10 million shillings. 

When we got that grant, we celebrated for 5 days! Because we said this much money cannot be finished! We managed to put up systems in Maasai leadership structures where we were able to influence the community through WFT grant something that has never happened before. We now have women in Maasai leadership structure so now we have a structure led by women that (39:22). 

Is actively involved in fighting against all forms of violence against women and children in Maasai communities.

**JANETH MAWINZA - WAJIKI**
I’m not entirely sure where to start but I must speak. 

The journey was long from where I started from. The struggle started when I was an entrepreneur after I had quit working for NGOs. I fell economically to a point where I was reduced to selling juice on the streets. 

One day which is in a way the beginning of my safari and this determination I was watching television and they were broadcasting a women’s festival. I was very interested to find out more so I started asking around where would I meet these women who are meeting and celebrating their successes! 

Where were they? 

Why was I on the street? 

Every time I would get back around 11:00 pm and setting down my bucket of juice and turn on the TV I would see these movement women in the midst of activism! I went to talk to my neighbour told her every time I see these women who look successful on TV meeting and discussing their issues, but where do they meet? 

She told me lets inquire. After asking around my neighbour informed me that it was true, and people say they meet in Mabibo! We agreed to go find them but my friend didn’t have bus fare, I told her I will provide the fare but we need to go and meet these bold and empowered women. That was the beginning of my going to TGNP Mtandao at Mabibo but the journey stated through those TV broadcasts.

From then I became an activist, I started seeing bold women talking, meeting with one another and there many of us who were inspired and encouraged by these women. This was for me the fountain of empowerment and activist actions. It was here that my activism started and later grew. 

TGNP steered us and taught us through seminars and trainings. Through TGNP I came to learn about WFT where we were connected through TGNP to go and do cleaning work at their offices. We went to clean at WFT and while we were going there, I said to myself we also have issues to address so I told them I come from Mwananyamala where there are many forms of violence and we have done 1, 2, 3, 4 so we also like to be part of this movement to ensure women are emancipated. 

We continued to work with WFT and Dada Mary, Just let her be called Dada Mary, let her be called a vision bearer because when she heard about our work and activism she asked where are WAJIKI? Let us look out for them.

In truth from there we started to be funded by Women Fund Tanzania in 2015, we implemented the first project and when we came back with our results they were impressed and they supported us again through unsolicited funds! 

They themselves called us! Go and continue with the work you have started! That is when we started the anti-sexual corruption (Sextortion) campaign. As for this campaign I personally cried. 

The day we were being trained through WFT where our understanding of sextortion was sharpened. I asked myself,

What is this? Because I realised that I myself was a victim of sextortion! 

I realised that the reason I was terminated from work was because of sextortion. I cried a lot that day. But I found solace and encouragement and I vowed to fight to ensure that these inhuman acts of sextortion are eliminated in our society. It was obvious that for this to happen the entire community and especially at the community level must be educated and sensitised to understand what sexual corruption is and how it affects the community at large. 
It was with great personal satisfaction to me that we were able to launch this campaign at Leaders grounds where people celebrated and vowed to fight sextortion. That day had a very personal significance for me as a woman and a s a victim of sextortion. I felt vindicated by this campaign and I believed that the monster that victimised me was finally going to be addressed! It meant that the enemy who got me fired from my work was now in the open and that others will be spared what I went through and be saved from the inhumanity and pain.




**MSAFIRI MWAJUMA MARIAM - SUKITA **

My name is Msafiri Mwajuma Mariamu.

My journey as an activist and transformed male I can say has been very successful although in the beginning the journey was filled with patriarchal mentality because I believed that a woman was meant to be subjected to the male authority, that women cannot be leaders. 

I was happy to see men being at the helm of all aspects of social life including ten cell leaders, kitongoji leaders, menders of parliament or president. Even at home I believed that a man was by default the head of the family.

I come from a family that cruelty against women was open and rampant and the example I like to give is of the history of my own mother who my father abandoned early on while I was six years old. 

From that time, I witnessed my mother playing multiple roles of parenthood, guardian, my protector, leader and my mentor in my life’s journey. 

Until I became independent. The contribution of my mother in my upbringing is the motivation for my decision to change my name from Msafiri Shabani Kamoni to Msafiri Mwajuma Mariamu. I wanted to appreciate and value the contribution of my mother. She was the role model of a leader that I looked up to growing up. 

My mother played many different roles; She took care of us, saw us through school, clothed us and fed us through income from her petty business. I still remember how she would carry me on her side, my young sibling on her back and a heavy load on her head while being handicapped on her leg and suffering from diabetes.

In 1998 I met Mama Mary while she was working with TGNP.The the time she was in the company of other feminist activists the likes of Mama Gemma Akilimali, Mama Shekilango, Mama Ruth Meena.These women were spearheading GDSS platforms where different seminars were being conducted. We were being taught many things such as extension, feminism, patriarch and strategies to dismantle patriarchal power. 

These trainings were instrumental in my growth in the agenda and in shaping my ideological understanding of inequality and its impacts. 

The training also made me to question my own role in being a defender and a proponent of women rights and in protecting those rights and saying no to violence against women and children. 

I sat down and considered how statistics show that men are leading in perpetrating violence against women and therefore I felt that I have a responsibility to educate men about the effects of violence. I realised that I was the change that was needed to start the wheel rolling because change begins with me. Since then, I have carried the banner against all forms of violence against women and the effects it has on the community as a whole. 

My message not only stops at the negative effects but I also elaborate on the benefits of believing in the inherent potential bestowed on women and girls in general.
Our Agenda 
From the beginning SUKITA decided to work with ending violence as an overarching agenda but we have also focused on sextortion and how it affects women and girls. Another related agenda is women and leadership. I firmly believe that women can and should be leaders and that from experience we know that women have demonstrated that in some instances they are better than male leaders.

**WFT contribution to SUKITA**

Women fund Tanzania trust is a liberator of community-based organizations operating on the margins of mainstream NGOs. Organizations such as ours have long been forgotten and neglected but through WFT funding we have been capacitated to acquire working tools, equipment, and infrastructure that has enabled us to reach the community much more effectively. WFT has built our capacity and confidence to get close to the government and work with them. The list is long: TAKUKURU, TAMISEMI, President’s Office and Local governments to name but a few. This has enabled us to receive a trophy as an entity that has managed to push forward and advocate for women equality agenda. As we speak WFT has enabled us to have an office with furniture. We no longer have to work from our homes. This has enabled community members to reach us more conveniently and access our services.

**Funding eco-system**

To be honest WFT is very different from other funders. This is because WFT does not discriminate. They work with different stakeholders from the lowest rungs of society. For instance, our organization comes from Mabibo locality which is a very poor neighbourhood, their funding goes to other communities that are marginalised such as Mansese, Longido, Loliondo and other remote villages. 

Their guidelines and requirements are basic where one does not require one to have higher education to apply. In most cases one just need to know how to read and right and have a transformative idea to qualify for a grant. Another thing is their accompaniment support which supports grantees to articulate their ideas in a co-creation fashion which builds our capacity as well as strengthen our ownership of the agenda we work on. 

Another aspect which I believe is very important is that even when you do not get a grant, they will still continue to pull you into the movement building processes and involving you in different interventions, building your capacity through networking and training and collaboration. But above all WFT has managed to continue to be our advisers and thought leaders in different issues and acting as our guardians whenever we need their supportive parenthood.


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On Stories From Our Communities, Women's Trust Fund shares inspiring stories of women who have benefited from their programs.

Stories From Our Communities

#JUSTICE FOR MESONII

Criminal case no 23/2022 opened at the Resident Magistrate’s court Arusha region in September 2022. Under Resident Magistrate Regina Wohilai against two accused Maasai men, Lamendea Lesirio and Kulasa Mandeya, who were faced with three counts of violence against a minor, grievous bodily harm and rape under statutory rape due to the plaintiff’s age. The case defied Maasai age old customs and a culture of violence that has spiralled out of control to include community complicity.
The plaintiff (victim), was Mesonii Kachori, a 16-year-old girl resident of gelailumwe, kitombeine ward in Longido. The court heard how on that material date of 13/09/2022 two friends and a mother in-law turned on an innocent adolescent girl, shackled with an early marriage into a brutal bondage. With tears streaming down her face and talking through an interpreter as she could barely speak Swahili, the plaintiff narrated the ordeal of that fateful day in which she has been given a bottle of veterinary medicine for safe keeping but as she was going to keep the parasitecide she accidentally dropped it and the bottle broke. The plaintiff further narrated that she went to her husband friend’s house to beg his friend to go and plead on her behalf as it was an accident but contrary to that intent her husband’s friend who is also a friend of the first accused having been instructed by the husband took her and stated to beat her up all the way to her husband’s house accusing her of being negligent. Upon reaching her house her mother in-law took a rope which was used to tie her up so she couldn’t run away. They continued to beat her until her husband arrived upon which he joined in the beating with sticks. She was not allowed to sleep in the house and was given a jute sack to sleep on in the open by her mother in-law. 
The next morning her husband woke her up from where she had slept out in the open and demanded that she take the cattle out to graze but she could not, being too weak and in extreme pains from her wounds. she was having trouble to even stand and walk. The husband interpreted that to mean she was being stubborn and summoned his friend (The second accused) and together they carried her to the bushes where they stripped her naked and beat her again with sticks after which they tied her and made her to kneel down whereafter they dumped her in the bush after a three-day ordeal. On the third day, boys tending to their cattle found her but all they could do was untie her. Being too weak she couldn’t walk but she managed to crawl on her knees in search of help. Later that day Mesonii was found by a good Samaritan who rescued her and took her to his house and informed her family who came and picked her up and took her to the hospital for treatment. Later the family informed social welfare workers who took the girl to police and human rights defenders including Rose Njiro from MIMUTIE Women Organization.  
Mesonii is not the first nor the last victim of a culture that oppresses and victimise adolescent girls under the guise of traditions and norms. Early marriages are a sad but normalised practice in these parts of Maasai pastoralist communities. Mesonii was married off at the early age of 14 years in 2020 to her husband. In a community that objectifies women and young girls her plight would probably not see the light of day had it not been for the tireless efforts of Women Rights Organizations that work tirelessly to end gender-based violence, fight against early marriages and other oppressive traditions. One such organization, MIMUTIE Women Organization was instrumental in raising voices in support of Mesonii. When they heard about this injustice, they quickly sprang into action and galvanised other protection mechanism such as social welfare officers to take action. Mesonii was supported to get medical attention and get treatment, her case was taken to court and women rights defenders flocked the courthouse every time the case was mentioned.
Finally, Case number 23/2022 came up to judgement on 27th December 2023, the two accused stood before the resident magistrate faced with three counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm, violence against a minor and statutory rape of a minor in a case that took 4 months.
In her judgement, Magistrate Regina, contended that the defence offered by the defendants did not have weight because the court did not need any number of witnesses to convince the court in making its ruling because the plaintiff was able to identify the two accused and was able to narrate vividly how the entire the episode unfolded. It was obvious from the evidence that the plaintiff was beaten extensively, she was tortured and was left to fend for herself out in the bushes. Furthermore, although the marriage act of 2019 under article 19 allows for a girl to be married at 14 years the law stipulates that in such a situation the groom has to convince the court that there are grounds that merit such marriage and that there was no evidence that the first accused had sought such court permission. That being the case the court finds that the plaintiff was married while she was 14 years old and that the material customary marriage was consummated as evidenced by testimony of both the plaintiff and the doctor who investigated the plaintiff. The magistrate stressed that although customary laws within the Maasai culture and customs may allow such unions but in the eyes of the law it is unlawful to marry an underage child as it constitutes statutory rape regardless of implicit or tacit consent. 
In her judgement reading, Magistrate Regina found all the accused guilty of two and three counts respectively. The first and second accused were both found guilty of two counts of violence against a minor and inflicting grievous bodily harm and were sentenced to 5 years for each count and a fine of 2 million shillings. On the third count facing the first accused alone who is also the plaintiff’s self-professed husband, the court found Lamendea Lesirio guilty of statutory rape under the penal code and thereby sentenced the first accused to 30 years in prison.  
The lesson in this case is that communities can be empowered to raise their voices and stand firm to see justice served. The multitude of proponents of justice voices that joined the call for justice for Mesonii made it a public interest case which without a doubt lent weigh to tipping the scales in favour of Mesonii even in the face of staunch customary law advocates and paved the way for the law of the land to prevail in her favour. It is a tribute to women from community level who work tirelessly and sometimes in dangerous conditions to confront patriarchy….but it is a also a tribute to organizations that support their work such as Women Fund Tanzania Trust. 


Criminal case no 23/2022 opened at the Resident Magistrate’s court Arusha region in September 2022.

JUSTICE FOR MESONII

TAWIDO is an NGO based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania that operates a call center providing counselling, referral, and health information services for GBV survivors and families, HIV/AIDS patients, and other marginalized groups. TAWIDO also provides support for women’s economic emancipation by fostering links between economically disadvantaged women and dedicated economic empowerment groups.  

They have a toll-free hotline through which any person receives clear messaging and guidance on reporting GBV and testing for HIV thus promoting health-seeking behaviors especially around HIV. Calls received cover a wide range of issues including inheritance,  

From December 2020 to Mid-2021, TAWIDO’s call center has received 577 GBV cases of which 566 are closed or resolved. Resolution could mean that a teenager has been saved from being married off, or a sexual violence case has been processed in court and a perpetrator been jailed.  TAWIDO’s Call Centre that now boasts 3 operators had humble beginnings in 2016 with only a landline and everything written by hand. Currently, all information is capture online: the case registers include the location from which the call is made, the relationship between the client (survivor of abuse) and the caller, brief case narration, whether the call needs referral (in the case that the subject is not covered by TAWIDO e.g., STI information) or whether the caller needs to be linked with another organization.

TAWIDO prides itself on reaching people who were previously not able to report and is able to achieve this through a two-pronged approach: Peers go into communities to create demand by sharing their personal stories and give education on sexual and reproductive health and rights. 

They follow the Social and Behavior Change Communication model which promotes changes in knowledge, attitudes, norms, beliefs and behaviors following the strategic use of communication approaches at the different levels of influence.  

Miss Rosemary Michael, a board member with 3 years of experience in peer education commented, “people are becoming more self-aware, they understand what GBV is; they test themselves and seek access to healthcare services”. 

When speaking on challenges faced, peer educators responded that the lack of cooperation from GBV victims themselves or family members create roadblocks in justice being served. 

TAWIDO prides itself on focusing on special groups who are afraid to attend health centers for fear of being judged.

TAWIDO’s peer educators successfully collaborates with key stakeholders including Social Welfare Officers, Regional Police Commissioners, lawyers, paralegals, gender desks, Officer Commanding Stations, and Officer Commanding Districts. 

MSICHANA Initiative- inter-generational 
MSICHANA Initiative is a young women and youth led organization, working to advance gender equality through advocating for girls’ right to education, as a result, contributing in creating a society where rights of girls are safeguarded, and girls enjoy the recognition, dignity and excel to their fullest potential. We employ feminist approaches and principles in implementing core agenda of economic empowerment, inspiring activism and SRHR to inspire adolescent girls and female youth to shape their stories, build their agency and determine their own future. Msichana Initiative works with girls and young women directly, communities and the government in the advocacy for gender-sensitive legal frameworks as well as engaging with broader national and local women movements in catalyzing and sustaining feminist movement in Tanzania and beyond. 

Msichana with support from Women Fund Trust is conducting the ENHANCING WOMEN AND GIRLS’ RIGHTS MOVEMENT THROUGH ENDING CHILD MARRIAGES EFFORTS IN TANZANIA project. The project aims to build strategic alliance within and across girls and women’s right spaces in designing and implementation of ending child marriage strategies. Moreover, to enhance collective advocacy amongst national and grassroot women and girls to demand the government through the parliament to table the Bill for the amendment of section 13 and 17 of the Law of Marriage Act, 1971 which allows the girl child to be married before the age of maturity i.e18 years. 
The project also intends to promote intergenerational linkages and learning between veteran women rights activists and emerging young feminists, on advocacy for gender sensitive legal frameworks and gender equality.  To bring young women leaders together through the child marriage agenda, inspire activism amongst them and influence young women to advocate and carry forward their agenda. 

Overall goal of the project is to build strategic alliance within and across girls and women’s right spaces in designing and implementation of ending child marriage strategies. 

Through this project funded by WFT-Trust, MSICHANA Initiative supported 80 women and girls on women rights, movement building and enhanced capacity on the Model bill and have gained common understanding of the agenda.
10 empowered movement representatives were immersed into actual ground situation, known the actual magnitude (cause-effect) of child marriage in Loliondo (Masai communities) and now have become champions in advocating for ending of child marriages in Masai communities. (Narrative Report 2022)

On 24thOf January 2022, Msichana Initiative conducted stakeholders meeting which brought together women and girls’ rights representatives across the five regions in Tanzania (Arusha, Tabora, Shinyanga, Dodoma and Dar es salaam) to understand the proposed model bill for the amendment of the Law of Marriage Act, 1979 Bill so they will be able to internalize the demands and use their different platforms to advocate for the change and campaign for the amendment of the law.

DOOR OF HOPE:
Success story of Door of Hope Advocacy campaign towards transforming lives of survivors of sextortion at workplace in Mtwara (example of mainstreaming funding into human rights realm- he introduced the agenda of sextortion and has used funding to influence human rights sector).

Door of Hope to Women and Youth Tanzania (DHWYT), popularly known as the DOOR OF HOPE received a grant of TZS 15 million from WFT-Trust to implement a grassroots focused awareness and educational campaign titled DOOR OF HOPE CAMPAIGN BRINGS HOPE TO WOMEN AND GIRLS AT THE WORKPLACE. The campaign was kick-started as part of the 2018 commemoration of 16 Days of Activism in Mtwara and is an initiative that continues to-date with great outcomes. To achieve this DHWYT employed several strategic interventions for an impactful and successful implementation of the project. It engaged key holders in knowledge sharing and gender senstive dialogues, which has resulted in these issues being perceived differently. School Clubs and Youth Platforms have been instrumental in grounding the fight against sexual corruption issues in young women in Mtwara district as well as empower them to advocate for themselves. Similarly, through increased collaboration and engagement with government officials and departments (duty bearers) such as PCCB, Police officials, and others at the community level, Door of Hope has managed to influence transformative changes in duty bearers. They  are now ready and committed to engage in different capacities in the campaign to eradicate GBV, sextortion against women and girls in Mtwara District and beyond. 
WFT’ s grant enabled Door of Hope to successfully manage the roll-out of the national Anti-Sextortion campaign to communities and public institutions in Mtwara District- it did not only ground the movement locally but gained transformative result in government offices and the corporations.


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TAWIDO is an NGO based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania that operates a call center providing counselling, referral, and health information services for GBV survivors and families, HIV/AIDS patients, and other marginalized groups

The Impact of Women Fund Trust
Tanzania in Advancing Women's Rights.

Stories From Our Communities

JUSTICE FOR MESONII

TAWIDO Success Story

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The Impact of Women Fund Trust Tanzania in Advancing Women's Rights.

Stories From Our Communities

JUSTICE FOR MESONII

TAWIDO Success Story

The Impact of Women Fund Trust
Tanzania in Advancing Women's Rights.