Yemayá Networks: Health Comes First

Madrid, September 1, 2021. The women beneficiaries of the Yemaya Networks – Mozambique project, in the province of Inhambane, held a virtual meeting yesterday with a group of women from southeastern Kenya, who were participants in the Nikumbuke project, promoted by the Health by Motorbike organization, to share knowledge and initiatives on health issues.

Although the Yemaya Networks project aims to strengthen women’s leadership in the fishing sector and promote their organization through cooperatives, throughout the summer, the Mozambican women have been receiving training in health, as it has been identified as one of the main problems facing their communities.

This training, which culminated with the meeting, was given by Araceli Alonso, a professor at the University of Wisconsin. Alonso is also one of the leaders of the Health by Motorbike initiative and the Nikumbuke project, dedicated to the training of women health promoters, which is already active in 18 localities in southeastern Kenya.

During the meeting, which lasted a couple of hours, the women from the two countries exchanged information about their respective environments, both in terms of health and gender equality, which showed that the problems they face in the two countries are not very different. It is clear that women are the breadwinners in both countries.

The Kenyan women insisted that nothing can be achieved without health first and recounted how their efforts in this area, in addition to preventing many deaths, especially maternal and child deaths, have led to significant social and economic progress in their communities.

The project will now continue with new meetings and training in the cooperative and business areas.

Yemayá Networks – Mozambique is carried out together with Aspegi, the Association of Professionals and Businesswomen of Gipuzkoa and the Duna Lodge initiative, a local sustainable and committed tourism project located in the area.

Funding is provided by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa through its Gipuzkoa Coopera program.