Edith’s Seed Grant: Pursuing a Master’s Degree
“In my area where I come from, we have no ladies who have a master’s, surely. So this is a big deal through Planet Women that we’ve been able to raise one woman from my village to go up to that level. It’s a privilege and I feel I should use it to support other women in conservation.”
Edith Muhindo is head of the Environment and Natural Resources Department at People and Nature Rwenzori Mountain (PNRM) where she works with small community groups of women, men and youth. PNRM is dedicated to improving the livelihoods and development of underserved communities in hard-to-reach rural villages on and around the Rwenzori mountain range on the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. PNRM’s programs include sustainable agriculture, formal education, and health services.
When Edith came into the Women’s Leadership Circle last year, she wanted to gain skills and knowledge to support “my rural women whose voices may not be heard due to illiteracy challenges amidst the long-term financial inaccessibility challenges they are facing.” While Edith has long cared deeply about supporting women, she says the Women’s Leadership Circle brought out her passion.
“It has been too silent in me but was woken up by the training sessions of the WLC. That’s when I realized and gained momentum in speaking up for the women. The WLC woke me up and assured that I speak up. I was quite silent. From these trainings I also gained a lot of confidence as a woman.”
Edith Muhindo. © Edith Muhindo.
Seed grants help break barriers and change communities
Edith is using her $3,000 seed grant to pursue her long-held dream of getting a master’s degree in natural resources management. She will be the first woman in her village to earn a master’s degree.
A little over $2,000 USD covers tuition fees for four semesters and the remaining funds go toward weekly transport costs, meals and accommodation for her two years of study. Each week, Edith works Monday through Thursday. Then on Friday, she travels 80km from her home to the Mountains of the Moon University to attend her weekend study program until Sunday when she returns home. During the time she’s gone, her husband takes care of their nine-person household.
“I’m so humbled by the support of Planet Women because I had lost hope of going back to school. It was busy to balance with family requirements and school fees. But this opportunity came. I’m gaining that knowledge and capacity to really see that women’s voices in conservation are heard.”
Gaining confidence to tackle social norms
One of the WLC trainings Edith took to heart focused on self-care. So, Edith decided to share what she learned with the communities she works with on conservation projects. “Through the trainings, I’ve talked to the ladies in these communities to be positive about themselves and about self-care. I had a lot of positive energy in the trainings that I’m now building on to do my community work.”
Edith’s discussions with community members about self-care are changing cultural norms. “Normally, women have no time for ourselves. We think about everyone else and give all we have to the other people. But I tell them no, we must take care of ourselves. When I was talking to them, I also included their husbands. Men and women together.” They looked over the women’s daily calendar “and the men were able to appreciate that yes women have a lot of work, they’ve overloaded, they surely deserve to have some time for themselves. And we all appreciated that.”
Edith said the WLC trainings also gave her the confidence to focus her master’s research on the women’s sector. “I realized that while a lot of women are working in conservation, this work is sometimes not documented. It’s underrated. It’s not even known. Men are at the top but women are the ones doing a lot of work on the ground. So women should have recommendations to change policies and influence systemic change.” Her research will provide a baseline on the needs of local women’s groups, and this will help determine what conservation projects will best meet their needs.
We are so proud of Edith for her commitment and hard work, and thrilled that she has support from her husband and family as she pursues a master’s degree! Thank you, Edith, for being an inspiring conservation leader!