Melinda Kramer is an everyday women living in Berkeley,
CA. She is the founder and co-director
of Women’s Earth Alliance. At just
twenty-four years old she launched a world-wide program that focused on issues
of women's empowerment and environmental sustainability.
Women’s Earth Alliance has worked with thousands of women in countries such as Bolivia, the Philippines, Africa, India, and
throughout Native American communities in the United States. Working with organizational partners in these
areas they facilitate local knowledge and bring outside resources to equip
women with appropriate technologies, resources, information, networks, and
business development skills as they launch environmental projects in their
communities.
What motivated you to
create Women’s Earth Alliance?
If you asked me ten years ago I would never have guessed
that this would be my path. For a long
time I had been involved in environmental work and this passion brought me
across the world to Africa in 2000 where I was working with an international
organization called CARE. I discovered
the dynamic profound intersection of environmental issues and women’s
issues. Despite the great challenge that
women face I have seen tremendous courage, resilience and creativity at the
grass roots level. It’s about discussing
these environmental issues holistically and including the issues of health,
human rights, social justice, education, and economic development.
When you launched the
Women’s Earth Alliance how did you know where to begin?
There was so much I didn’t know. What I had was a question. I wanted to know what the world would look
like if women environmental leaders had a platform to amplify their message and
to design the way they wanted their communities to look like. I asked my advisors. I asked my mentors and I asked my peers what
it would look like and if they wanted to design this together. Our organization was born out of a
collaborative design from women all over the world.
What is the impact
you’ve seen from women working together as a community?
For decades development strategies have been about the
transfer of information, resources and knowledge, a one way movement from
places of privilege to under-served communities.
My interest in the work we do with Women’s Earth Alliance is much more
reciprocal. I believe that there is a
great deal of knowledge, skill, instinct and wisdom at the local level. When local leaders have the opportunity to
envision and design their future something very powerful happens. And when local leaders have the opportunity
to connect with outside resources and information in a dynamic way, to share
what they know and request what they need I think change is much more long
lasting and sustainable.
You recently returned
from Ghana. How has the training
enhanced the lives of the women and their community?
We just returned from the 2010 West African Women in Water
training, where we worked with a group of organizational partners to focus on WOMEN’S self-reliance. Women learn business
development skills, the theory behind water and sanitation, discussing climate
change and gender. They were stirring
cement, building solar cookers, water filters, and rain water harvesting
systems so they could go back to their community and not just talk about water
but actually design solutions in their communities. Each team has access to a grant of $1,500 to
launch their pilot program and most of the trainers are local women from Africa
who have first hand experience.
World Water Day is
taking place on Monday, March 22nd.
What is the connection between women and water?
If you look at any community in the developing world women
hold the burden of water literally on their heads and on their backs. 1.2 billion people do not have access to
clean water right now and more than half are women and girls. Women walk an average of four miles a day to
get water in developing countries. When
you hear the stories of women who haven’t had a chance to go to school or
create a livelihood for themselves because of the burden of accessing water,
which is their responsibility, it is so
deeply upsetting because we know there are ways to avoid this. Women can be the gate keepers to water
solutions. When I celebrate World Water
Day I celebrate the leadership of women.
Every time I turn on the faucet I am reminded that my
experience with water is very different from my colleagues. Yet we share the same dependency on this resource. Water is life and allows us to have
everything else.
What is your message
to women around the world?
We don’t need to wait for the experts. We are the experts and need to acknowledge
the wisdom that each woman holds as a caregiver. We can be designers of our own communities
and we’re not alone. The more we can
come together and unite our voices, the more powerful our work will be.
Get Involved –5 things you can do today to celebrate World Water Day every day
1. Inform yourself about local, regional and global water issues.
2. Use your social networks to spread the word about water and sanitation.
3.
Write your representative and demand greater U.S .leadership on access
to drinking water and sanitation for the world's poor.
4. Attend a local permaculture, rainharvesting or irrigation workshop to learn more about how you can conserve water.
5.
Support and donate to organizations like Women's Earth Alliance and
the Rotaract Club of Nevada County that are working in developing
countries to improve health and access to clean water.
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