Juana Neyra García - "What men can do, I can do as well"

Juana lives in Malacasí, Peru with her son. She used to assist her husband with his work on his small lemon farm, but when the work in the field was not profitable anymore because of a drought, he left the village to search for a job. Juana and her family experienced a hard time with little income.

Therefore Juana has taken over the lemon farm. Thanks to a CARE-project, made possible by the H&M Foundation, she will now learn how to cultivate lemons more efficiently. “I want to learn how to grow lemons even better and become an expert producer of lemon. I realize that I need to learn more about this crop, so I can gain more income. That way I can take better care of my family.”

Women empowerment

CARE and the H&M Foundation believe that women empowerment is the key to better quality of life for poor communities all over the world. Educated girls have healthier babies and are more likely to educate their children. Empowered women are likely to earn more money, which they invest in their family and community. This creates a snowball effect that increases the quality of life in these communities. That’s why CARE and the H&M Foundation invest in women empowerment, all over the world.

During the women empowerment program in Peru, CARE will:

help women from poor communities develop the skills they need in order to earn a better income from their work,

assist women in developing business plans and administrating their enterprise,

help women increase the quality of their products,

strengthen the women’s organizations so that they are in a better position to negotiate and influence policy-making decisions related to the local economic investments,

raise awareness in the community about the importance of women in achieving economic development and a better division of labour and care-taking tasks among family members.

Together, CARE and the H&M Foundation will strengthen more than 100.000 women in poor communities all over the world.

Breeding birds

Besides the lemon farm, Juana also has decided to start a new business: breeding birds. “What men can do, I can do as well. Before, women could not work. We just dedicated our time to work inside our houses. That has changed now.”