Community Update: Investing In Women's Leadership and Agriculture
- May 25
- 3 min read
From leadership workshops and craft training to food support and farm harvests, the Arukah Goma Cluster has had a busy start to the year. JACKSON from the Cluster shares what they’ve been doing, why it matters and what they have planned for the future…
What activities and training courses has the Cluster organised so far this year?
We've been active on several fronts at once. On the leadership side, we held a training on women's leadership and inclusive governance, and a separate series on transformational leadership for our sub-cluster leaders.
On the economic empowerment side, we started a basket-weaving training to help members develop a craft skill they can turn into income. We also continued our food assistance programme for orphaned and vulnerable children — something we run every Thursday. And earlier in the year, we supported survivors of gender-based violence through agricultural activities, with a maize harvest in January and a cabbage harvest in March, both done in partnership with a local community organisation.
What was the goal behind each of these programmes?
The Goma cluster is growing and currently consists of 18 sub-clusters with 340 members and 14 AVECs (Village Savings and Credit Associations) with 280 members. Each programme that we run addresses a different but connected need in our community.
The women's leadership training was about strengthening women's voices in community decision-making — in our sub-clusters and beyond. The transformational leadership training took that further by building the management and mobilisation skills of sub-cluster leaders themselves.
The basket-weaving programme is purely about economic empowerment — giving members a practical skill that can generate real income from the local market.
The food assistance programme is about protecting the most vulnerable children and the households around them, and strengthening community solidarity in doing so.
And the agricultural activities for GBV survivors were designed with socio-economic reintegration in mind — helping women rebuild their financial independence and contribute to their household's food security through their own hands and hard work.
What difference have these activities made to your members?
The feedback has been genuinely moving. After the women's leadership training, several women told us they now feel equipped to participate more actively in community forums — forums where their voices weren't always heard before. That shift in confidence is something you can't easily quantify, but it's real.
"The harvests enabled us to meet certain essential household needs and gradually regain our dignity and autonomy." — GBV survivor
For the GBV survivors involved in agriculture, the impact has been both practical and deeply personal. The harvests helped families cover immediate needs, but more than that, the women described feeling a restored sense of dignity and independence. That matters enormously.
Across all the programmes, we're seeing stronger coordination within our sub-clusters, more organisational capacity among leaders, and growing resilience in households that were extremely vulnerable just months ago.
That’s amazing, Jackson. What's coming next for the Cluster?
We hope to set up a community pharmacy to improve healthcare access for our sub-clusters in Goma and run public health awareness campaigns on the prevention of contagious viral diseases and other health risks.
In terms of agriculture, we hope to install a chicken feed production machine to support local livestock farming and reduce costs for community members. We also plan to launch rabbit farming activities to provide a new income stream for vulnerable households, and establish community vegetable gardens to strengthen food security and improve nutrition across our network.
Thank you for sharing, Jackson! All the very best as you continue bringing change to the community and region!
Learn the story of the Goma Cluster here