REST-Africa has initiated community engagement for the THRIVE+ Project by holding an introductory meeting with chairpersons and representatives of four selected women-led groups in Ibonde Cell, North Division, Fort Portal City.
THRIVE+ Transforming Household Resilience through Integrated Village Empowerment Plus is REST-Africa’s flagship women-led household resilience and community transformation model. The model builds on Village Savings and Loan Associations, strengthening them as Community Transformation Hubs through which women can improve their livelihoods, household nutrition, health preparedness, financial resilience, agricultural productivity and environmental wellbeing.
The introductory meeting created an opportunity for REST-Africa to present the purpose of THRIVE+, explain its planned interventions and clarify the role of the participating groups. The engagement also enabled group leaders to understand how the project will work with existing community structures to promote local ownership and sustainable household-level change.
Key areas discussed included practical livelihood activities such as liquid soap making, briquette production and mushroom growing. Participants were also introduced to household gardens, fruit-tree growing, saving for health and emergencies, and improved agronomic practices intended to strengthen food security, household income and resilience.
The representatives welcomed the initiative and expressed their willingness to mobilise the wider membership of their respective groups for subsequent orientation meetings and project activities. This commitment provides an important foundation for inclusive participation and community ownership as THRIVE+ implementation progresses.
Through THRIVE+, REST-Africa seeks to demonstrate that challenges affecting women and their households are interconnected and require integrated, practical and locally led solutions. By bringing together livelihoods, health, nutrition, savings, climate-smart agriculture and environmental action, the model will support women to become stronger drivers of household and community transformation.
The introductory engagement marks an important first step in REST-Africa’s partnership with the women-led groups in Ibonde. Further engagements will deepen members’ understanding of the project, confirm implementation arrangements and prepare participating households for the planned interventions.
At REST-Africa, we believe that when women thrive, households become resilient—and when households become resilient, communities prosper.