Women in Sudan: in the fight against the lack of perspective with New Horizons e.V.
Sudan – Women who live here are exposed to stigmatization and unequal treatment from their birth. Few women who have some training or financial security – paralyzing lack of prospects is often the result. This is exactly where the New Horizons Association comes in: with a food project, Sudanese women get career opportunities and new hope.
Little capital, but big effect
With a little financial resource, the food project near the Sudanese capital Khartoum (Omdurman) developed into a self-perpetuating. The idea is as simple as it is effective: unskilled women are trained in exactly the area where their greatest strength lies, in the preparation of traditional food. Because most of the participants have been cooking all their lives for their husbands and families – it is this ability that makes New Horizons e.V. a valuable resource from it.
Cheap purchase prices ensure that the food produced can also be sold cheaply to customers. And the kitchen of the participants encounters many orders: So, benefits from the homemade specialties, on the one hand, the poor population, which receives a high-quality meal for a small price. At the same time, enough money remains, so that the cooks receive merit. Although this wage is relatively low, for most participants it is the first time that they earn their own money in their lives.
Ordering a home-cooked food is booming
New Horizons e.V. cooperates with the local Sudan Association (Albayan Scientific Organization), which trains participants in health, hygiene, food preparation, and marketing. This ensures the quality of the offered food and the work. The ordering of good and cheap food is so booming where meanwhile 35 Sudanese women are involved, and the project continues to grow.
In the long term, however, New Horizons wants to leave the food project. Of course, the association remains a constant contact, but the goal from the beginning was empowerment: emancipation and self-employment for women who are structurally disadvantaged in Sudanese society. With their current knowledge and skills, New Horizons e.V. sees that the women are well equipped to push the project forward on its own.