Women of the Month
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Rose
The Pangea woman of the Month for March 2011 is Rose Opande, the chairlady of Sisters of Hope Women's group in Huruma, located in Nairobi, Kenya.
Rose Opande was born in western Kenya, in a place called Nambale, which is at the boarder of Kenya and Uganda. Her father died when she was five years old and she and her seven siblings were brought up by their mother. Her mother, a farmer and vegetable vender, could not manage to keep all of her children in school through high school. Rose completed her primary education, joined high school but was unable to continue due to lack of fees. She then joined a tailoring school where she would help her mother sell vegetables and attend classes part time. Still struggling to care for everyone, her mother married Rose off at the young age of fifteen. Rose and her husband had five children before they moved to Nairobi to try to find work. Meanwhile, she continued with her tailoring. Life with five children and an unemployed husband was difficult. Things were so challenging, Rose and other women in Huruma joined together to form Sisters of Hope whose main objective was to give hope to women and encourage them to continue on despite their dire circumstances. It was their belief that as Sisters they could overcome any hardship. Their belief has become a reality as they not only support each other emotionally but through Pangea's trainings have learned valuable business planning, management and bookkeeping skills.
Rose, by nature, is a very humble, soft spoken and intelligent woman. She is Pangea's woman of the Month because of her dedication to her group. Besides establishing their individual businesses, the Sisters of Hope cooperative started a chicken rearing project with a small loan from Pangea. Rose was present everyday at the Huruma chicken coop and went out of her normal schedule to make sure that the chickens were fed and that the house was cleaned despite a duty roster that had two people assigned per day. She was the first to arrive and the last to leave, confirming that the chicken coop was securely locked and the chicks were comfortable. Rose goes beyond the call of duty as the chairlady of the group and her continued dedication makes her Pangea's March woman of the month. Congratulations Rose. You are an inspiration to us all!
Rose (far right) with group members and day care children - Photo by Marti Corn
