OVERVIEW
Sunrise for Rural Dwellers supports the people of Uvuru, Nigeria. One of our projects, Women for Widows, supports the widows in this community. Women in this area of Nigeria are often denied inheritance rights and have their property taken after the death of a partner. With most having no education, they labor for dollars a day, not near enough to feed their children. Since they are widowed, they are often abused socially and many physically by members of their community.
Our organization provided sustenance for the widows and their families through a Christmas meal and food drive in 2021 and 2022. In 2022, we helped the widows secure land, seeds, and tools for a widow-run farming cooperative. Produce from the farm is used to create food stability for the widows and their children. The surplus produce, including cassava and red palm oil, will be sold in the market and distributed among the widows, creating an income generated by their own cooperative farm. At the end of 2023, the widows asked for funds to educate themselves. Our organization provided funds for teachers and supplies.
UPDATE
Our board member, Philip Tirone, returned in June 2024 from Nigeria to inspect a hospital our organization is building just down the road from the widow’s farm. See the farm progress with these three videos taken during the trip.
The Widows Clearing The Farm from 2023: Watch Video
Interview with Agnes (head widow): Watch Video
Seeing the Farm for the First Time: Watch Video
What is Next on the Farm: Watch Video
Size of Widow’s Farm: Watch Video
GIVE
“If you educate a man, you educate an individual. But if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.”
- African Proverb
“If you want to lift up humanity, empower women. It is the most comprehensive, pervasive, high-leverage investment you can make in human beings.”
– Melinda Gates, A Moment of Lift
Research has repeatedly shown that when you invest in women, they invest in everyone else. Women invest their earnings back into their families, including their children’s health and education. Therefore, this investment in widows lifts their families, Nigeria, and society.
Your funds will:
- Purchase seeds, milling equipment, and other farming supplies
- Purchase school supplies and pay teachers’ salaries
- Allow the women to plan and invest where they see fit.
Your American dollar multiplies 20 times when invested in Nigeria. A $100 monthly investment makes a $2,000 impact.
Give what you can. Cancel at any time. You will receive your tax deduction statement at the end of the year.
With love and gratitude,
The Women of the Sunrise for Rural Dwellers Board:
Lily Tirone (Vice Chairman of the Board)
Carter Mogren
Linda Sredzenski
PS—You can donate in a person's name, and they will be emailed and notified of your tribute gift.