Spring 2007 Newsletter — Contents
Gender Equity Works! Member Profile
President of ADZK
My name is Anaise Alcena Saintius. I am the president of the Association for the Development of Kasis (ADZK). About a year ago, my organization approached the Lambi Fund with a project we developed to help us improve our condition. We wanted to increase the number of pigs we raise because having pigs is like having money in the bank. The Lambi Fund agreed to fund the project and offered great seminars to members of ADZK. I participated in the Lambi Fund women's training seminars, and I am here to give testimony about the way these gatherings changed my life.
I was born to a peasant family in Kasis, strong hard working, but knowing that as a woman my duties were exclusively those of wife and mother. When I was given the opportunity to meet with other women to discuss the need for us peasant women to take greater leadership roles in our communities and within our organization, I knew that I had what it took to be a leader. I had been one all my life. I just never applied those skills within the organization. When I came back I did not waste any time and became more active with ADZK. I applied the same work ethic I use running my farm and raising my children, empowered by the administrative skills I had acquired through the Lambi Fund's skill building workshop on project management.
I was recently elected president of the organization, the first woman ever in Kasis to hold such important office. While I am respected for my administrative skills and my ability to manage the project, one of my proudest accomplishments, is that I am encouraging and mentoring other women members to become more active in the organization and seek leadership positions as well. I can say that I am still a good mother and a good wife, but I am also doing things that are important to me as a woman and a member of my community.
Help other women like Anaise become leaders in their communities. Donate now to the Lambi Fund Women's Leadership Training programs.
