In her work as a member of the Tanzania Gender Networking Program (TGNP) – one of five partners in Engage! Women’s Empowerment and Active Citizenship – Jovita Mlay supports community members in entrepreneurship and advocacy approaches to increase women’s empowerment. Her connection with Coady extended beyond the Engage project in 2023-2024 when she mentored Pathy Fellow Jacqueline Tomazic in Moshi, Tanzania.
The Pathy Foundation Fellowship is an intensive 12-month opportunity for graduating students from six partner Canadian universities (Bishop’s, McGill, Carleton, uOttawa, Queen’s, and St. Francis Xavier University) who have an existing meaningful connection with a community anywhere in the world and an innovative initiative idea to strengthen that community. Coady Institute is a partner in both Engage and the Pathy Foundation Fellowship
During her time in Tanzania, Jacqueline learned about the women’s empowerment projects that Jovita is involved in and learned that many adolescents in Tanzania cite menstruation as one of their barriers to confidence.
“We empower them to understand, to prepare for it, to normalize menstrual issues for both boys and girls but also for their teachers and for the community,” Jovita says.
For her Pathy Fellowship initiative, Jacqueline created a menstrual health and empowerment project for schoolgirls in Moshi, providing “accessibility of sustainable products, education, and empowerment programs, as well as clinical resources and outreach.”
In her work with her NGO, SASA Foundation, and the Engage project, Jovita facilitates women and children in growing their entrepreneurial skills and confidence. She said that asset-based community development (ABCD) has expanded her perspectives, especially surrounding the deepening of community engagement with women.
“You cannot help women to be empowered economically if you do not address the issues that are barriers for the involvement in economic activities,” Jovita says.
Sasa Foundation supports women to grow entrepreneurial skills and confidence.
Jovita Mlay receives her certificate for Livelihoods and Markets at Coady Institute
Normalizing menstrual health through advocacy and education.
Jovita said Coady teachings about ABCD have also made her more conscious of how to link entrepreneurial women to different suppliers and markets so that the community can best benefit.
Many women in the area are now making sanitary pads, and they are becoming successful in not only sowing and tailoring the pads but also in sourcing materials and marketing them to a broader audience.
As a facilitator in Dar es Salaam, Jovita has assisted community members in identifying issues that need to be addressed, the assets that they can offer, and the empowerment to contact their representatives and construct possible solutions.
For people who have begun entrepreneurial ventures as a source of revenue and empowerment, Jovita says that their financial stability has allowed them to attend community meetings that they could not previously attend and focus on other issues, including infrastructure, schooling for their children, and maternal healthcare.
“The Engage project is one of the unique and very successful projects that we help communities start to deal with policy issues,” Jovita says.
Looking forward, Jovita hopes to see greater implementation of women’s empowerment programs across the country, so policy plans are implemented.
Visit these webpages to learn more about Engage and the Pathy Foundation Fellowship.