By Lake Zone Watch Writer
A prominent business man in the Lake Zone region, Christopher Mwita Gachuma has thanked the US Embassy in Tanzania for extending the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs ( AWE) empowerment training to Mara Region, where majority of women are still rated as powerless.
Opening the training which brings together 30 women and is scheduled to run for three months at the CMG Hotel in Tarime yesterday, Gachuma said the AWE women empowerment initiative has come at the right time and right place.
“I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the US embassy for bringing the AWE training to Mara region. This is a huge milestone in the economic empowerment of women in our region’’ he said.
Gachuma who is also a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) for CCM, commended the initiative saying it also supplements efforts being made by the government of Tanzania to empower women economically, and urged the beneficiaries to utilize the chance in order to realize their full potential.
He also appealed to the trainees to reach out to those who could not attend the training.
“Please share the knowledge with your fellow women. If you are empowered, then empower the others, said Gachuma.
The AWE Coordinator, Dr Victoria Kisyombe from the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam said the embassy has been immensely impressed
by Gachuma’s support to the initiative.
“The US Ambassador Dr Michael Battle sends lots of greetings to you for supporting the AWE programme in Mara Region and has promised to be the guest of honour at the closing ceremony,” Dr Kisyombe said.
She said AWE empowers women with skills, tools and the networks they need in order to change their ideas into profitable businesses.
It has so far trained more than 300 women in Dar es Salaam, Iringa, Mwanza, Dodoma, Mbeya, Pwani, Kigoma, Kagera and Zanzibar.
AWE programme was designed and is supported by the US Government, as part of its commitment to supporting women entrepreneurs around the world .
Mara now features on the list of the regions in Tanzania whose women entrepreneurs have been supported by AWE.