{"id":34841,"date":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1970-01-01T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cuso.wpengine.com\/stories\/breaking-barriers-with-youlead\/"},"modified":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1970-01-01T05:00:00","slug":"breaking-barriers-with-youlead","status":"publish","type":"stories","link":"https:\/\/cusointernational.org\/fr\/recit\/breaking-barriers-with-youlead\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking barriers with YouLead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jacinta Dickson runs one of the only women-owned cassava processing facilities in Cross River State, Nigeria.\u00a0<\/span>The 32<\/span>–<\/span>year<\/span>–<\/span>old\u00a0<\/span>is<\/span>\u00a0empowering other women in her community and showing them\u00a0<\/span>how they don\u2019t need to\u00a0<\/span>practice<\/span>\u00a0traditional gender roles.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cassava is widely cultivated by young women and men in most communities, but the processing of the root vegetable is a\u00a0<\/span>male-dominated\u00a0<\/span>trade. Women\u00a0<\/span>tend to\u00a0<\/span>shy away from cassava processing due to\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>lack of experience in operating the equipment.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jacinta was determined to shatter\u00a0<\/span>that<\/span>\u00a0barrier<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>She learned how to operate the required machinery<\/span>\u00a0and launched her own\u00a0<\/span>cassava processing<\/span>\u00a0business<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI grind, press and fry cassava in my factory. Other woman can do the same if they put their mind to it,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her journey started while participating in<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Cuso International\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0YouLead<\/span>\u00a0(<\/span>Youth Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Access and Development<\/span>)\u00a0<\/span>program<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Jacinta\u2019s instructor told her\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>l<\/span>ook around\u00a0<\/span>her<\/span>community, identify a problem and find a money-making business solution.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She realized that most people were processing their cassava in small pans or using local equipment<\/span>\u2014<\/span>a<\/span>time<\/span>–<\/span>consuming<\/span>\u00a0method.<\/span>\u00a0With her new mindset and training, and support from her family to rent land, she was able to raise enough money and gain the necessary skills to open her business.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cultural expectations to stay at home and tend to their families often prevent women from participating in the business supply chain.<\/span>\u00a0But\u00a0<\/span>m<\/span>any young women\u00a0<\/span>are\u00a0<\/span>now\u00a0<\/span>stepping forward to\u00a0<\/span>combat\u00a0<\/span>these\u00a0<\/span>gender expectations<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Emilia Okon, Cuso International\u2019s Gender Equality Officer for its YouLead program,\u00a0<\/span>has been advocating for gender equality\u00a0<\/span>since\u00a0<\/span>participating<\/span>\u00a0in a leadership program\u00a0<\/span>at<\/span>\u00a017 years old.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cW<\/span>e talked about women<\/span>\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0empowerment<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0what barriers we were facing as young girls<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and of course, how we could overcome them<\/span>\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0be persistent and go beyond what society was offering us<\/span>,\u201d says the now 36-year-old. \u201c<\/span>That opened my eyes to all the possibilities that a young girl\u00a0<\/span>could be.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With Cuso, Emilia ensures a gender perspective is integrated\u00a0<\/span>throughout the\u00a0<\/span>YouLead<\/span>\u00a0program<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>This includes finding ways to work around challenges that affect women and other marginalized\u00a0<\/span>groups<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have quite a number of women who can<\/span>\u2019<\/span>t read and write. We c<\/span>a<\/span>me up with\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>\u00a0strategy to ensure the applications are simple enough for them to access or we walk them through th<\/span>e<\/span>\u00a0application.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>We come up with different approaches just to ensure that no woman is excluded<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Jacinta\u2019s business grows, her success is having a ripple effect on her community.\u00a0<\/span>She<\/span>\u00a0has hired other young people to work with her<\/span>, and the\u00a0<\/span>r<\/span>educed processing times means she can sell more cassava and she and her employees earn more income for themselves and their families. She\u2019s also taken steps to ensure her processing factory doesn\u2019t pollute the environment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

P<\/span>articipating in YouLead started\u00a0<\/span>Jacinta<\/span>\u00a0on a path for success<\/span>\u00a0and s<\/span>he encourages other young women to not\u00a0<\/span>limit themselves<\/span>\u00a0based on their gender<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful to Cuso International for leading me in the right direction,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>she\u00a0<\/span>says. \u201cI gained\u202f<\/span>self-confidence<\/span>\u202fduring the training and it pushed me to start the biggest cassava plant in my community.\u00a0<\/span>I advise women not to be limited by cultural expectations of what a woman can or cannot do.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Help us send more volunteers where they are needed most<\/span><\/i>. Please consider donating today<\/span><\/i>\u00a0to make a real difference in the lives of\u00a0<\/span><\/i>young women like Jacinta<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","country":[],"post_theme":[],"class_list":["post-34841","stories","type-stories","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBreaking barriers with YouLead - Cuso International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cuso's development programs & international volunteers work to advance gender equality & improve economic opportunities for youth across four continents.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cusointernational.org\/fr\/recit\/breaking-barriers-with-youlead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breaking barriers with YouLead - 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