Ayen, a 40-year-old mother of 5, is a member of Tang Kony Baai women cooperative in Mingkaman camp for internally displaced people (IDP). Tang Kony Baai is an innovative female cooperative for income generating activities based on re-use of waste materials. The group is now composed of 30 internally displaced women.
Before displacement, Ayen relied on small-scale farming to fend for her family’s livelihood back home in Bor. Ayen joined the women group in October 2015 after ACTED, women leaders and local chiefs created awareness on the program in the community. What captivated her attention was that the project was going to empower women with life skills that would enable them raise an income for their household. This was good news for her, since she was constrained in the camp with meager resources. She discussed her interest to join the women cooperative with her husband and he was postive about the idea, after realizing the future benefits their household would have thanks to the new skills aquired by his wife.
Ayen has participated in a comprehensive training on how to make crocheted bags from recycled paper bags and paper bags from waste paper. “From inception I have made 12 crotcheted bags each worth 300SSP and still making more because this is our greatest source of income in the household besides relief support we get on a monthly basis. In a month, I manage to raise close to 500SSP. With this income, I am now able to meet medical and scholastic bills for my family.”