This program addresses gender inequality in rural Indonesia, where women have fewer employment opportunities, possess fewer assets, and participate less in leadership roles, while also improving environmental sustainability and food security.

The proposed project’s main goal is help women achieve their potential as catalysts for rainforest conservation, by creating opportunities for local women to lead and drive forward conservation and health activities that benefit their broader communities. HIH plans to accomplish this through enacting a series of complementary initiatives that include:
(1) Women in Leadership at ASRI: Female staff receive training or continued support to fulfill positions of leadership or highly-specialized technical jobs; (2) “Green Kitchen” Gardens: Local women, especially the wives of illegal loggers and organic farmers, are empowered as household financial managers and providers through establishing organic vegetable gardens that reduce household expenditures on food, as well as dependence on logging or forest resource extraction to fulfill daily needs; (3) Alternatives for Logging Families: The wives of illegal loggers will be engaged in starting small businesses that will help their husbands make the transition to new livelihoods; and (4) Goats-for-Widows: Widows receive pairs of mated goats for establishing goat herds that serve as an economic “safety net” in times of hardship, and improve each widows’ economic independence.

 

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2012 Featured Grant Info

 

Project Title: Health In Harmony

Location: Indonesia

Grant Amount: $33,000

Grantee Website: www.healthinharmony.org

Areas of Impact: Economic Sustainability, Health

Mission of Health In Harmony: Featured (2012), Sustained (2016-2018)
Health In Harmony is committed to supporting the inherent connection between human and environmental health. They work with local communities to provide high-quality, low-cost healthcare, while integrating sustainable, locally designed conservation and livelihoods programs — promoting a shared commitment to protect vital natural resources.

Summary
Widows in rural areas of Borneo suffer from economic deprivation and low social status. Goats for Widows program gives them an opportunity to "purchase" two goats. Repayment is the first kid goat and two bags of manure for the organic farms. The women can sell the future offspring, milk and manure which provides income and this gives the women a higher social standing in the communities. They are likely to use their incomes to invest in the education of their children as well as creating their own vegetable gardens to help feed their families.

Why We Love This
Not only does this program help address the needs of widows, it also works to reduce de-forestation by teaching organic farming methods. Women in this program are seen as active participants in the villages rather than recipients of charity. They can now feed their families and also use the income for healthcare and schooling for their children.