Welcome to EquipCare U.S.A

“As more cash and assets get into the hands of women, more of these earnings get into the mouths, medicine, and schoolbooks for their children, while at the same time increasing women’s bargaining position and power in the family and community, and their ability to act against violence in the home and in the world. There is no development strategy more beneficial to society as a whole – women and men alike – than the one which involves women as central players.”

         ~ Kofi Annan, Former Secretary -General of the United Nations

EquipCare U.S.A is a not-for-profit, international women’s development and microfinance organization. We are an American organization, independent of any government or governmental funding.

We were founded with the fundamental belief that if given the necessary resources, know-how and expertise, the poor, powerless and marginalized women of Africa will able to help bring themselves out of stifling poverty. EquipCare U.S.A equips women with self-sufficiency. We believe it is the only engine that allows for lasting results.

Our goal is to create a systemic and sustainable solution that promotes both immediate and long-term benefits for women in the poorest segments and the most dangerous and isolated parts of Africa.

At EquipCare U.S.A, we offer a hand up, not a hand out. We believe that handouts to the poor only offer temporary relief; and if it is relied upon as the only method of aid, there is a risk of creating a culture of dependency, that suffocates the initiative of its recipients and prevents the dignity of self-reliance.

We believe that the poor do not remain underprivileged, because they are unwilling to work to support themselves or lack the necessary ambitions, skills and goals. They continue to be poor because they simply do not have access or the means to create a path out of poverty and secure a brighter future.

For the most part, all the poor asks from society is an opportunity to be equipped with the necessary resources that will allow them to stand on their own feet and support themselves and their loved ones. And perhaps in the process of becoming self-sufficient, they want to discover and nuture their individual hidden talents.

EquipCare U.S.A was birthed for the sole purpose of responding to this need. By equipping women, the heartbeat of the overall development of their communities, with the necessary funding and know-how that are essential for them to start small businesses, they will be able to increase individual family expenditure on better nutrition, basic health care, and decent accommodation and education for their children. In the process, they will stimulate their local economy, and the cycle begins paying forward.

To carry out our mission resourcefully, we collaborate closely with other non-profit organizations, community leaders and local institutions, which magnify our influence and ensure that our programs are implemented sustainably.

In The News

And the Award Goes to…

  

GAMAL NOMAN/AFP/Getty Images/Getty

It is with great joy that we at EquipCare U.S.A join in the celebration of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Leymah Gbowee, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Yemeni pro-democracy activist, Tawakkul Karman. We consider this prestigious award, by the Nobel Committee to these noble ladies, recognition of our cherished philosophy that women are, indeed, the custodian of innovative ideas to the challenging problems of their communities. As poignantly noted by the Nobel Committee:

“We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.”

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