Meet the Mothers of the Forest

There are 40 members of the women’s empowerment group, Mothers of the Forest. They live throughout Boré, a deeply rural, heavily deforested area in Coast Province, Kenya. The Mothers come together twice a month to share best practice for looking after the trees and to rest a while to enjoy a nutritious meal together. It’s a welcome pause in their busy schedule as their lives are incredibly challenging. They are also paid to plant a few more trees on their shambas (homesteads).

Since the group started in February 2018, these amazing women have created their own network of strength and support, they’ve learned how to make their own washable sanitary pads and converted a 1 acre plot of scrub land into an organic permaculture garden to provide a wide variety of fruit and vegetables.

Many of the Mothers missed the opportunity to go to school, so since February 2018, they’ve arrived 2 hours early to their meetings to do an hour of literacy and an hour of maths, with local tutor, Michael Jefwa. They’re now able to read and write and this has been a vital element in enabling the community to lift itself out of poverty. It’s all very well having 200 spare mangoes from the trees you’re growing, but you can’t take them to market if you’re unable to count out a money exchange.

Find out more about their amazing achievements by clicking the images above.