Our Mission
The Village Net partners with existing women’s groups in African villages to empower poor, economically active women in their efforts to achieve personal, family and village sustainability. We work in the areas of finance, education, health and basic human needs (food, water, power, sanitation) as prioritized by the village women.
We are mindful of the quote at the top of this page. “Good” work can result in misuse of environmental resources, negative impact on existing businesses in the name of better businesses, and irreversible change to a local culture in an effort to promote growth. The village challenges we address are identified by village residents. The villagers work on solutions. We merely connect our villages with the resources they need — financial, material or technical — to achieve their goals. These resources are brought to bear as part of a learning process about personal resourcefulness, and the identification of local or country resources instead of reliance on outsiders.
Our mode of operation is collaborative. Recipients of our support invest in the project in whatever ways are possible for them. It is our intent to “exit” a village at the point that the projects and solutions are ongoing and sustainable, preferably without reliance on outside aid.
Our guiding principles will support us in:
-
Creating a community of mutual respect and acceptance
-
Enabling individuals to achieve their goals by offering choices and providing support
-
Fostering independence, self-confidence and integration into village life
-
Collaborating with educational institutions, private enterprise and government agencies
-
Initiating and developing a culture of inter-organizational cooperation and resource sharing
-
Respecting the environment and promoting sound environmental practices and policies
-
Expanding the understanding of personal well-being into a desire to move the entire community forward
-
Ensuring the ongoing viability of programs with sustainable economic activities
The Village Trust — Dream to Reality
Professor Harriet Stephenson started her career as an entrepreneur when she and her brother managed a swimming pool to pay for college. She has worked in the field of entrepreneurship all of her adult life. While attending the November 2006 Global Microcredit Summit in Halifax Nova Scotia, she heard the latest statistics on microenterprise and its affect on reducing poverty around the world. For years, she had mulled the possibility of starting an international project on her own.
An immediate benefit of the conference was that Harriet me Dana Dakin and Susan Kraeger, Founder and Executive Director respectively, of the WomensTrust (www.womenstrust.org). They described the work of the WomensTrust and Harriet knew that she had found kindred spirits. And as Dana talked about the organization’s mission, she said that it was their intent to replicate their model with any group that sought such an undertaking.
That was the catalyst for The Village Net. Immediately upon her return to Seattle, she called a meeting of folks involved in economic development in the United States, and polled their interest in helping a developing country. That meeting started a series of conversations within a core group of participants, and at the end of January 2007, Harriet Stephenson, Chris Weber, Donna Mace and Cindy Butler, combined their abilities, resources and beliefs to make a difference through microenterprise by partnering with WomensTrust.
In March, the four traveled to Ghana where they met with Susan and her in-country staff. They hosted a meeting in the village of Ofankor, just a short distance from Pokuase, and some 100 women and 30 men expressed their great desire for a microloan program. That overwhelming expression of interest and need sealed the deal, and thus was formed the WomensTrust Women’s Center-Ofankor, the pilot project of The Village Net.
Our work in Ofankor was made possible through collaboration with WomensTrust, a 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in New Hampshire, United States. WomensTrust provided fiscal sponsorship, staffing and support until January 3, 2009, when The Village Net received its own nonprofit status from the IRS.
