Our Core Programmes
At The Heart of a Woman (ATHOW), we design holistic, sustainable solutions that address immediate vulnerabilities and create long-term transformation for women, youth, and communities.
Education & Vocation
An educated child can build and enhance her self-confidence, acquire the skills to make independent decisions, broaden her horizons, and develop effective communication skills. Our vocational training programs aim to increase women’s earnings, improve overall employment rates, and promote higher rates of formal employment.
Community Engagement
The organization engages the community to in-order to create more effective solutions. This engagement empowers and integrates people from different backgrounds, fostering opportunities to discuss their concerns and collaborate on addressing them.
Advocacy
At The Heart of a Woman advocates for gender equality and rights of the women. We aim to creating a society where everyone feels safe and has equal access to opportunities and rights, regardless of their gender.
Economic Empowerment
Investing in women empowerment sets a direct path towards gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive economic growth. ATHOW gives these women and children a chance to learn how to become resilient and resourceful economic agents, overcoming persistent, gender-based barriers to advance the well-being of their families.
Healthcare
ATHOW aims to improve healthcare access to women and children, with a focus on reproductive health, mental well-being, and emotional wellness.
Youth & Agriculture
We recognize the crucial role agriculture plays in creating sustainable jobs and improving living standards. In collaboration with our extensive network, the organization identifies youth from diverse backgrounds and empowers them to invest in agriculture. This initiative has had a significant impact on their lives by creating job opportunities and generating income. The youth are mentored in various agricultural enterprises, with each being advised to choose the one that best suits their interests and skills.
Featured Initiatives
Badilisha Project
The Badilisha Project is an initiative of At the Heart of a Woman (ATHOW), an organization dedicated to transforming the lives of vulnerable women through psychosocial support, skills development, advocacy, and livelihood opportunities. Badilisha — which means “change” in Kiswahili — is built on the belief that sustainable transformation happens when women are equipped not just with resources, but with knowledge, networks, and a platform to advocate for themselves.
Since the start of Badilisha’s calendar year in March 2026, the project has delivered four interconnected interventions designed to build the capacity, confidence, and economic agency of its participants. This report documents the key activities carried out between March and June 2026, the partnerships that made them possible, and the tangible impact they have begun to generate in the lives of the women we serve.
The period under review was anchored by three structured training sessions: advocacy, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy, complemented by an ongoing tailoring program that is actively generating income and laying the groundwork for Badilisha’s social enterprise ambitions. A landmark milestone was the visit by Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) on 16 June 2026, during which participants not only received financial literacy training but also had individual savings accounts opened in their names, a concrete and life-changing step towards financial inclusion.
Collectively, these activities reflect Badilisha’s commitment to a holistic model of empowerment; one that equips women with voice, skills, financial tools, and economic opportunities in equal measure.
Project Milestones
The two-day advocacy training, conducted by Pamoja Trust, marked the opening training of Badilisha’s 2026 calendar year. Participants were introduced to the concept of advocacy — what it means, why it matters, and how it can be used as a practical tool to drive change in their communities.
Key topics covered during the training included:
The entrepreneurship training on 9th June built on participants’ existing business interests and provided foundational skills for running sustainable micro-enterprises.
The session was structured around two core pillars:
Record Keeping
Participants were introduced to practical systems for tracking income and expenses, maintaining simple business records, and applying basic bookkeeping principles. These skills are essential for any business owner to understand where money is coming from, where it is going, and whether a business is genuinely profitable.
Business Management
Sessions covered the fundamentals of managing a small business: setting business goals, understanding profit and loss, managing cash flow, pricing products and services accurately, and building sustainable business habits. Participants were encouraged to view their enterprises as genuine businesses, not just a source of supplemental income — and to develop the mindset and discipline that go with that.
The financial literacy training on 16th June was facilitated by a team from Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) and stands out as one of the most impactful days in the program’s calendar year to date. Importantly, this was DTB’s second consecutive engagement with Badilisha, a testament to the strength of the partnership and the bank’s genuine commitment to the financial inclusion of program participants.
The training covered three core areas:
Beyond the classroom content, the DTB team brought banking directly to the women, supporting each participant in opening her own individual savings account on the same day as the training. This practical step transformed knowledge into action.
Running in parallel with the other training sessions, the Badilisha Tailoring Programme has been operational since March 2026 and will continue through July. Participants are being trained in sewing and garment production, with an initial focus on making tote bags and cosmetic bags.
This program is a deliberate and strategic effort to generate revenue for Badilisha as the organisation looks towards establishing a social enterprise. Products made by participants are intended for sale, with proceeds reinvested into the program and its participants. The tailoring initiative is thus both a vocational skills program and the first tangible step in Badilisha’s journey towards financial self-sustainability.
Looking Ahead
The period covered in this report, from March to June 2026, has been one of significant momentum for the Badilisha project. As we move into the second half of the year, several priorities will guide our work:
We are grateful to our partners — Pamoja Trust and Diamond Trust Bank — for the commitment, expertise, and resources they have brought to this work. We look forward to deepening these partnerships and to sharing further progress in the quarters ahead.