- DTCare Global | Women’s Empowerment -
Breaking Barriers: How DTCare Helps Women Around the World Thrive
The Global Impact of DTCare on Women's Empowerment
DTCare and DTSpark, a micro-lending branch of DTCare, assist entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe and South Africa to set up businesses. Alfreda, with our help, delivers daily baked goods to rural villages in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. Danai has partnered with DTSpark to start a baby clothing business, while Shanice's farming initiative promotes social progress and food security. DTSpark funded Colleen's chicken farming venture and provided micro-financing for Praise to start her own beauty business. In Bosnia, DTCare's MOVEMENT Volleyball Summer Camp uplifts young women through sports, leadership, and life skills. DTCare supports women-owned businesses, such as a chicken farm recovering from a fire, and helps provide sanitation facilities for an annual peace march to Srebrenica. DTCare provides training for women in law enforcement and rural women's organizations. DTCare supports women and girls in Ukraine through art therapy workshops and reusable feminine hygiene kits. We also provide a safe space for creative expression in Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Lviv.
DTCare hires many women therapists, including Polina as the head therapist, to ensure equal opportunity. DTCare provides training initiatives, access to specialized medical and hygiene equipment, and adult literacy classes to girls and women in Panama. We collaborate with clinics and hospitals to make breast cancer supplies accessible to women in need. DTCare partners with Days for Girls to provide girls and women in underserved regions with reusable feminine hygiene kits and menstrual health education. DTCare further offers women the opportunity to learn fundamental literacy and sowing skills. In Lebanon, DTCare supports women and their families through education, health, and emotional well-being. DTCare promotes diversity and food security through its partnership with Generation of Hope, and DTCare's WILD program promotes equality in sports and seeks to provide training and development to women interested in taking on leadership roles.
Freshly Baked Goods by Alfreda in Masvingo
Alfreda, with the help of DTSpark, DTCare's micro-lending branch, delivers daily baked goods, including bread enriched with vitamins, to rural villages and nearby areas in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. She came up with the idea to open a bakery in Masvingo because the nearest fresh bread is 300km away in Harare. The poor road conditions in Zimbabwe make it challenging to deliver bread to the community on time. DTSpark is helping Alfreda realize her dream of making freshly baked bread and goods accessible to the Masvingo community after experiencing the poor road conditions firsthand during a visit. The loan empowered Alfreda to purchase a vehicle, bakery equipment, and solar panels. With the guidance of DTCare on risk mitigation, Alfreda started a small bakery at her homestead. The demand from the community has been so overwhelming that Alfreda had to hire two additional workers within the first two weeks of opening.
Goals
Expand the bakery to add a greater selection to what is currently produced.
Provide an essential source of sustenance and nutrition through baked goods to underserved groups.
Empower Danai as the breadwinner of her family while she uplifts her community.
Eco Babe: Danai’s Baby Clothing Company
Danai is partnering with DTSpark to start a baby clothing business. DTSpark is assisting Danai in registering, setting up, managing, and growing the business every step of the way. Eco Babe’s slogan reads, “Comfortable, healthy, and happy,” perfectly representing the clothing that will cater to babies’ and parents’ clothing needs while being made environment and health-conscious. We provided guidance on sustainable and eco-friendly ways for the project to grow. We also suggested using recycled materials to make new baby clothes to sell. This project is part of a bigger initiative, the Chihota Farming Project, which is currently in the planning phase and will have a greater impact.
Goals
Establish a baby food and supply one-stop shop.
Educating Danai on how to run a profitable business and handling accounting and taxes.
Building a small business that enables Danai to provide for her family.
Promoting sustainable and eco-friendly business practices in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Taking Steps Toward Social Progress and Food Security Through Shanice’s Farming Initiative
The aim of Shanice’s farming business is to break the cycle of poverty and align with the United Nations' goals of zero hunger, good health, and well-being, fostering partnerships for goals, affordable clean energy, and sustainability. Shanice submitted a proposal to DTSpark for the production of high-quality, nutritious products that will benefit both Zimbabwe's health and the environment. Her current focus is on innovative research to create high-demand baby food as a short-term goal. With the assistance of DTSpark, Shanice sets out to create innovative solutions to promote social progress, equitable society, sustainable development, and community resilience through this farming initiative. Shanice is currently busy with soil assessments to identify areas that can be utilized for farming. Part of the feasibility study is to ensure access to water.
Goals
Generating sustainable income and business growth.
Creating job opportunities for young women like Shanice through the process of growing, processing, packing, and distributing baby food.
Colleen’s Chicken Farming Business
DTSpark funded a woman-founded chicken farm start-up. A year into the business, Zimbabwe experienced a heat wave that resulted in multiple chicken deaths that impacted the profitability of Colleen’s venture. Colleen gained valuable insights and experience and is eager to start up another chicken project in the near future. Limited funding and new opportunities for community members are deciding factors in not funding a second venture at this time.
Goals
Providing nutritious and affordable source of protein to underserved community.
Generating sustainable income.
Repayment of current microloan and revive poultry business.
Knowledge and experience transfer to improve future endeavors in chicken farming.
Empowering Praise to Pursue Her Dream of Owning a Business in the Beauty Industry
Praise envisioned owning a business in the beauty industry, and DTSpark micro-financed the training she needed to start. Praise is working on building her own business by renting a chair in a local hair salon. She is busy establishing a good client base and earning an income to augment her family's income and gather the funds needed to open a beauty salon in South Africa. DTSpark provided the funds she needed to purchase essential equipment. DTSpark provided a grace period allowing Praise to make her business profitable before she started repaying the microloan.
Goals
Building a client base to increase the profitability of the venture and repay microloan.
Teaching transferable skills, business principles, and training other women.
Promoting self-sustainability and learning the aspects of the financial management of the business.
Uplifting Women Through Mentorship and Skill-Building
DTCare hosted a summer camp and mentorship seminar (MOVEMENT) for girls designed to provide socialization, athletic advancement, crucial leadership, and life skills for young women and girls. 40 participants enrolled this year alongside 6 women mentors, including the first female prime minister of Zenica, Doboj Canton. Assisting woman-owned chicken farm, post-fire recovery effort, and building sanitation facilities to support the participants of the annual peace march to Srebrenica as a rest stop. Ifeta and Safeta Mejremic are some of the first women to return to their former home in Eastern Bosnia after family members were expunged and killed to start a sustainable farm. DTCare held a training seminar about interviewing tips and situational awareness for women in Law Enforcement. DTCare also held several seminars for assistance and information exchange on bee-keeping for rural women’s organizations.
Goals
Develop more programs to aid the reintegration of formerly incarcerated women into society.
Build community, unity, and a sense of camaraderie among Bosnian young people, especially girls and women.
DTCare Supports Women and Girls Through Specialized Art Therapy
DTCare runs open-studio workshops with art therapy and mindfulness at the Odesa Fine Arts Museum, providing a safe and free space where individuals, women especially, can express themselves creatively. By working with Days for Girls, we have distributed over 500 reusable feminine hygiene kits to women and girls in need across Ukraine. DTCare provides regular art therapy workshops specialized for women and girls in IDP centers and orphanages in both Odesa and Lviv. DTCare hires a lot of women therapists, with Polina as the head therapist to ensure we provide equal opportunity.
Goals
Continued provision of essential mental health support through art therapy to women and children.
Fostering a safe and accessible space where clients can express their experiences creatively.
Making mental health services with licensed therapists and art therapists available free of charge to at-risk women and children in Ukraine.
Onboarding additional therapists and licensed professionals to help expand our reach and impact across Ukraine.
Equipping Women with Resources for Health and Financial Security
DTCare offers training initiatives, access to specialized medical and hygiene equipment, and adult literacy classes. DTCare proudly collaborates with clinics and hospitals, distributing breast prostheses, specialized bras, and accessories to women free of charge. DTCare’s free services enable women to supplement costs and focus on allocating funds to their medications, while DTCare helps cover prostheses and mastectomy supplies. Days for Girls and DTCare’s partnership provides girls and women in underserved regions with reusable feminine hygiene kits and menstrual health education. Together, we have provided over 800 women with kits and menstrual health education. DTCare’s programs offer women the opportunity to learn fundamental literacy and sowing skills. Through our empowerment programs, women learn practical skills that enable them to earn an income and build a life for themselves and their dependents.
Goals
Give hope and specialized care to women and girls in Panama, especially those in underserved regions.
Guide girls and women on feminine and sexual health, encouraging gynecologist visits and feminine hygiene.
Combat the cycle of poverty and economic disparity with literacy classes and training for women.
Championing Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunity
DTCare advances the welfare of Lebanese women by ensuring access to resources, information, and invaluable support through convenient online platforms, particularly benefitting women who juggle schedules and face mobility constraints. DTCare is committed to empowering women through access to information and educational resources that nurture personal growth and development. DTCare supports children through initiatives designed to foster holistic child development, encompassing education, health, and emotional well-being. From educational outreach programs to mentorship opportunities and extracurricular activities, DTCare provides comprehensive support to help children and youth thrive. Through our partnership with Generation of Hope on our just-launched Apple Project, DTCare works alongside three trailblazing sisters to support diversity, sustainable farming, and food security. DTCare’s WILD program (Women’s Innovative Leadership and Development Program) promotes equality in sports and seeks to provide training and development to women interested in taking on leadership roles in Lebanon.
Goals
Reviving DTCare’s WILD program to champion women’s rights and opportunities in Lebanon.
Launching a sewing program in the near future, equipping women with tangible skills and the confidence to pursue economic independence.
Resources
See the resources below for more information:
