WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT
LUMBIE MLAMBO CEO and Founder at JB Dondolo Inc. By Jules Lavallee
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ou are an Advocate for clean water and empowering women to lead healthy and fulfilling lives. Tell us about your work. No one can live a healthy and fulfilled life without clean water. On the most part, our bodies are made of water, so I can’t imagine anyone going without it. Water is a human right! It is a basic necessity. Everyone deserves equal access to clean water. The ethical issues that women and girls face with water can be helped. All it takes is action. So, my organization JB Dondolo, Inc. focuses on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are in line with our mission: SDG 1 – No Poverty, SDG 5 – Gender Equity, and SDG 6 – Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. We know that women and girls in underserved and impoverished communities are the most disadvantaged. Collection of water heavily relies on women who must walk miles to fetch water. So, addressing water first, solves the issue.
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At one of JB Dondolo’s projects at Matobo Hills, women and girls walk up to 18 miles a day to fetch water for their families. This leaves women with no time for anything else. So, how can girls go to school when they have to assist with the collection of water? At school, there are no facilities with water for girls to care for themselves, especially during menstruation periods. The lack of education puts them deeper in poverty. So, if we’re to close the gender equality gap, we need to focus on women and girls first. To me, the best way to solve the problem is to start with water. We provide access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene so everyone can pursue a better and more equitable life. When everyone is healthy, they live fulfilled lives. By helping women and girls, we help the whole family as well. When women and girls get them out of the cycle of poverty, they can focus on other things such as entrepreneurship and education to improve and advance themselves.
Share your background. Who inspired you to help others? My background is in technology and philanthropy. However, I’m a mother and wife first. I graduated from Indiana University South Bend and Texas Woman’s University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and a minor in Mathematics. I’ve been working in IT for
