TGNP organized female leaders and their spouses to narrate success stories

 

Our Reporter, Kondoa

The Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), in collaboration with the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF-T), has conducted a workshop on storytelling for female leaders and their spouses to discuss the challenges they face in fulfilling their leadership responsibilities.

Women Leaders and their spouses during the StoryTelling session held at Riverside Cottage, Kondoa

The workshop involved female councillors and their spouses, as well as leaders from wards, villages, and sub-villages in the Kondoa District Council in Dodoma Region.

Speaking, TGNP facilitator Deogratius Temba said that the project aims to build and strengthen relationships between leaders and their spouses while also addressing the challenges faced by female leaders on their journey towards development.

Storytelling facilitator, Mr. Deogratius Temba, during the session 

"Every leader present here has achieved success, and these successes have come through challenges as well. To reach a good state, there have been people who have enabled you to get there, perhaps your spouse, neighbor, teacher, party leader, employer, religious leader, or anyone else. But your story will build understanding for others and inspire them," said Temba.

He added that through storytelling, councilors will encourage female leaders from grassroots levels like sub-villages and villages to move forward. These areas often present significant obstacles related to customs, traditions, negative perceptions, and unpaid care work that weigh heavily on female leaders and hinder them from effectively fulfilling their leadership duties.

Hon. Fatma Idd Said the special Seat Councilor, Kondoa TC narrates her leadership journey

Sharing her story of facing obstacles and succeeding in her leadership journey, Fatuma Iddi Issa, a Special Seats Councilor in the Kondoa Town Council, explained that despite starting her political journey at the age of 20, she didn't achieve her goal at the expected time due to obstacles from people close to her.

"I was supposed to go far; if I hadn't been held back, I would be a Member of Parliament today, not just a councilor. But I lost my way in the middle. I haven't given up; I'm moving forward with confidence," said Fatuma.

Through discussions and storytelling, the spouses of female leaders also narrated their spouses' leadership journeys and how they helped them fulfill their leadership responsibilities by assisting with household chores such as child-rearing, meal preparation, fishing, farming, and livestock care.

In the storytelling of their leadership journeys by the attending female leaders, their spouses provided testimony on how they contributed to their wives' achievements. This included persuasion, financial empowerment, providing resources, and giving them time to fulfill their leadership duties.