Penduka - assignment 1

Penduka Foundation is an organisation dedicated to empowering women and transforming lives. Since its establishment in 1992, Penduka has been driven by a powerful social enterprise model, focusing on the economic empowerment of women in Namibia's marginalized communities by helping them develop skills and promoting their creativity. Hundreds of women’s lives have been transformed by the foundation. Penduka offers unique and high-quality handmade that showcase the remarkable talents and stories of their artisans (the women empowered by it). The organisation raises funds for supporting women via donations and via selling the hand-made products the women create.  

The organisation is continuously involved in meaningful projects that help support women. Three initiatives are highlighted here in connection to the assignments: 

1. The first one is the 1 woman = 1 euro campaign. The campaign was created by Yes Women Monaco to support Penduka and its cause. The idea behind it is a donation model (via a QR code) in which, with one euro, a person can support a woman in need. The donation model is meant to be shared by Penduka via its social networks.  
2. The second initiative is Penduka’s Period Plan (PPP). This is a community-driven programme that provides sustainable menstrual wear solutions through the production and sale of reusable products, including absorbent briefs and reusable inserts. Beyond providing access to affordable, dignified products, the initiative also creates income-generating opportunities by equipping women with production kits, skills training, and support to manufacture the products themselves. In doing so, the project not only addresses menstrual health needs but also empowers women economically and strengthens community resilience. The plan includes several steps: having women in Namibia working on making the products, selling the products locally, and making the products available as part of the Penduka product line. To start with, Penduka wants to reach out to a group of 12 women in Namibia to show them how to make the inserts and take it from there.  
   Currently, Penduka and its Fair-Trade partners in Korea are investigating the purchase of high-absorbency materials from Taiwan and machinery needed for the production processes used by factories that make the reusable underwear (in Shri Lanka). The increase of oil prices is making the process more complicated and expensive now. The import and legislation in Namibia seem to be a long process as well, since this will be the first production ever of underwear in Namibia. 
   
3. The third is the Penduka store in Groningen (https://www.facebook.com/PendukaNL/), a local opportunity for supporting women in Namibia.  

Cultural adaptation and good translation of the 1 woman = 1 euro campaign (see point A above) in order to reach more target audiences in Europe. The research for this project is already done, however, the student(s) involved can do further research if necessary. It now needs content and purpose to be spread across Europe. A specific area in Europe can be chosen for a first assignment relating to this campaign (e.g. Nothern Europe). The technical part behind the QR code is handled by Yes Women Monaco. The QR code can be spread via different partners in the Penduka network, for example the Peace Corps in the US. 

This assignment can be done remotely and can take around 3 months.

This assignment can be done individually.