Help Rural Women Start Income Generating Projects

Thank you so much for your continued support of this project. The goal of the project is to lift disadvantaged rural women out of poverty by providing them the opportunity to build lives of self-reliance and dignity. Our vision for this project is guided by the old saying,"If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you give him a fishing rod and teach him how to fish he will eat for a lifetime." In keeping with our vision, we provide the women funds to help them start income generating projects. This ensures that these women have enough money to take care of their families.

According to research conducted on the impact resulting from improving the socio-economic status of women in the developing countries, the rippple effect goes beyond an individual household to strengthen the entire community. The studies also show that women invest 90% of their income back into their families, compared to the 35% invested by men. I have witnessed firsthand the validity of this research. When I am in the field, I usually take time to sit down and talk to different groups of women who participate in this program. When I ask them about the impact of this project on their households, the answer is universal and the women usually say, "My children or grandchildren now have food to eat and I am able to send them to school". None of these women ever focus on their own needs, family is priority.

As I indicated in a previous report, the Tekeshe Foundation six caregivers are also participating in this program. Three of the caregivers decided that they wanted to start small businesses to buy and sell items such as food, clothing, soap, plates and pans. The other three caregivers opted to launch pig and chicken rearing projects. Here is an update from two caregivers:

In Her Own Words By Caregiver Lina
"I would like to thank the Tekeshe Foundation for giving me $150 to start a pig project. I launched the project in December 2019. I used the money to purchase 4 pigs, build a pigsty and buy the pig food. The pigs have multiplied. Currently, I have twelve pigs.  This project has hepled me tremendously. I am a widow and the breadwinner of my household. I have four children and one of them is in form four. With the money I earn from selling the pigs, I am able to buy food and clothing and pay my children's school fees. I am very happy and grateful for the support you have given me. Thanks again!"

In Her Own Words By Caregiver Nancy
"I am a single mother and I have a daughter named Prudence. She is sixteen years old. My husband left when my daughter was only nine months old. I worked very hard to raise my child. I used to sell soyabean chunks and sweets in order to earn a living. Things changed when the Tekeshe foundation started helping me with funds. My business grew as I started to sell big items, such as pots,cups plates etc. Then in 2019 I started to run a small shop. I am still running the shop and I am very happy with how my business has turned out. My daughter will be writing her form four final exams soon. I can afford to pay all her school fees, buy school uniforms, food, clothes etc. Thank you so much Tekeshe foundation for all the support you have given me! I cant find the words to express how happy I am. May God bless you."

We have another group of women who participate in the program. They launched a goat rearing project in 2019. Eight women participate in this project. To date we have donated $525 to the project. The women used the money to purchase 35 goats. Here is what one of the beneficiaries of the project had to say:

In Her Own Words By The Project Leader Tsitsi
"I would like to thank the Tekeshe Foundation for helping us launch the goat project. Eight women participate in this project. The goats have multiplied and I now have twelve goats of my own.This project has helped us very much. We sell the goats periodically to get money to pay our children's school fees and buy groceries. We thank you again for sponsoring this project."

As you can see from the attached pictures and from this progress report, you are playing a major role in empowering  disadvantaged rural women to build lives of self-reliance and dignity. Together we are transforming the lives of women in these rural areas. We coudnt have done it without your help!

Thanks again for all your support!

Have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Best wishes,
Thelma

Thank you so much for your continued support of this project. This project is at the heart of our organization and it is our strategy for adressing the food insecurity that plagues households headed by disadvantaged rural women. In keeping with the focus of this project we launched an irrigtion project. After consulting with subject matter experts we have decided to adopt the canal irrigation approach. Since there is no river nearby, our strategy is to dig a borehole that will be used to provide the water for the irrigation.

Having an irrigation system will address food insecurity caused by recurrent droughts. The goal of the project is to empower disadvantaged rural women so that they will have enough food to feed their families. They will sell the surplus crops to get money to run their households.The following are some of the positive outcomes that are linked to improvements in agricultural productivity:

• With Increased incomes people are in a better position to feed their families
• People can afford to send their children to school
• Improved health
• Economically stronger and more stable communties

I am pleased to announce that on May 31,  2021, the borehole that will be used for the irrigation project was successfully drilled! The community is in cloud nine! The company charged us $1,700 for drilling 39 meters. The next step is to buy a pump and a perimeter fence. Before proceeding, it is essential that borehole capacity testing is conducted. Here are some of the reasons for testing the yield of a borehole:

• Establish the safe yield at which the borehole can safely be pumped.
• Determine the safe yield duty period that the borehole can be operated indefinitely without endangering the aquifer.

In His Own Words By Mr Mtetwa - Irrigation Committee Chairman
"The drilling team has finally arrived and the drilling has started! People have been eagerly waiting for this project to start. We were starting to lose hope. The entire community is here to witness the drilling. Thank you so much for making this project a reality! It will greatly benefit our community."

In these pictures you can see some of the women who will benefit from this project.

For the past twelve years we have worked in collaboration with New England Pentecostal Ministries (NEP), friends of the foundation and New England missionaries to send twelve 40-foot containers of food,clothing, medicines and school supplies to Zimbabwe. The women in these pictures have benefited tremendously from these shipments.  Although distributing food and clothing is necessary during times of crisis, our vision for this program is to lift people out of poverty into economic independence. Our work is guided by the old saying, “If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you give him a fishing rod and teach him how to fish he will eat for a life.”

As you can see from the attached pictures and from this progress report you are playing a major role in transforming the lives of disadvantaged rural women. Thanks again for all your support!

Best wishes,

Thelma

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to you for your continued support of this project. Together we are transforming the lives of disadvantaged rural women. We coudnt have done it without your help! In these rural areas women play a variety of roles ranging from subsistence farmers trying to feed their families to lynchpins holding their communities together. Yet the vast majority of the women are disadvantaged educationally and economically and they rely solely on subsistence farming as their source of income. Sadly this area is affected by recurrent droughts. These droughts are the most serious hazard to the crops. When they occur the women usually end up without any crops which means no source of income. Lack of income results in the households having to rely on outside help otherwise they drift into poverty.

This project focuses on providing disadvantaged rural women funds to help them start income generating projects. Our goal is to lift them out of poverty by providing them the opportunity to build lives of self-reliance and dignity. This holistic approach ensures that these women and their families have proper shelter and enough food to eat and they dont have to rely on outside help in perpetuity. During my annual visits to Zimbabwe I usually get a chance to sit down and talk to different groups of women who participate in this program. When I ask them how this project has impacted their households the answer is universal.  The women usually say, "My children/grandchildren now have food to eat and I am able to send them to school". None of these women ever focus on their own needs; to them family is priority. 

1. Goat Rearing Project
In keeping with the focus of this project we have a goat rearing project currently underway. Eight women participate in this project. To date we have donated $525 to the project. The women used the money to purchase goats. Here is what some of the women who participate in the project had to say:

In Her Own Words By The Project Leader Tsitsi
"I would like to thank the Tekeshe Foundation for helping us launch the goat project. Eight women participate in this project. To date we have a total of 35 goats. This project has helped us tremendously. We sell the goats periodically to get money to pay our kids' school fees and buy groceries. This past Christmas we slaughtered a few of the goats for meat. We thank you again for sponsoring this project."

In Her Own Words By Lillian (Beneficiary Of the goat project)
"Thank you very much Tekeshe Foundation for lifting us up. I live with my two grandchildren who are orphans. This project has helped me a lot. My desire was to provide decent shelter for my grandchildren. I have managed to sell 4 goats. With the money I was able to buy building matreials and pay the builder. I also used some of the money from the sales of the goats to launch a duck rearing project. So far I have purchased 4 ducks. This project also helps me with the school fees for my grandchildren. I want to thank you again for all your support! "

2. Bakery Project

We are pleased to announce that the bakery project is doing very well. Five women participate in the project. To date the Tekeshe Foundation has donated $250.00 to the project. The women used this money to buy flour, cooking oil, yeast and firewood. They used the profit they made from
selling bread to build a bigger shed with a bigger oven that holds up to 48 bread pans. They used the remaining funds to buy groceries for their families and to pay their kids' school fees. This past Christmas the foundation supported the project by purchasing 100 loaves of bread. Our team distributed the bread to needy families and the elderly on December 24. In the attached pictures you can see our team in the field distributing the bread. Here is what the bakery project leader had to say.

In Her Own Words By The Project Leader
"Thank you Tekeshe Foundation for sponsoring our project. We used some of the profit we made to build a bigger shed with a bigger brick oven. The oven can hold up to 48 baking pans at a time. This past Christmas we were able to cater to the bread needs of the community. We thank the Tekeshe foundation for placing an order of 100 loaves from our bakery. The Tekeshe Foundation team distributed the bread to needy families the day before Christmas. This year we would like to take this project to the next level. There is a building in the township that was once used as a bakery and now it is dormant. We plan to speak with the community leaders to see if they can allow us to operate from this building. Some of the challenges we are currenly faced with are scarcity of firewood, lack of proper pot holders and insufficient bread pans. We are very grateful for all your support. Without your help we coudnt have brought the project this far. "

3. Irrigation Project

This project aims to adress food insecurity that plagues households headed by disadvantaged rural women. In keeping with the focus of this project we launched an irrigtion project. After consulting with subject matter experts we have decided to adopt the canal irrigation approach. Since there is no river nearby our strategy is to dig a borehole that will be used to provide the water for the irrigation. Having an irrigation system will address food insecurity caused by recurrent droughts. The goal of the project is to empower disadvantaged rural women so that they will have enough food to feed their families. They will sell the surplus crops to get money to run their households. So far we have identified a company that will drill the borehole for $2,500. In my next progress report I will update you on the progress of the project.

As you can see from the attached pictures and from this progress report you are playing a major role in transforming the lives of disadvantaged rural women. Thanks again for all your support! 

Best wishes,

Thelma

We would like to express our profound gratitude to you for all your support. Improving the socio-economic status of rural women is at the heart of our organization. Women in the rural areas bear almost all responsibility for meeting the basic needs of the family yet they are disadvantaged economically and educationally and they lack the resources and information they need to fulfill this responsibility. Through the Homestead, Bakery, Sewing and Small business projects we are committed to lifting disadvantaged rural women out of poverty by providing them the opportunity to build lives of self-reliance and dignity. 

Bakery Project
We are pleased to announce that this project is doing very well. Ten women participate in the project. The Tekeshe Foundation donated $250.00 to the project. The women are very organized and they are hard working. With this money, they bought flour, cooking oil, yeast and firewood. During Christmas time while I was in the village I got a chance to observe the women at work. I was really impressed! Though it was extremely hot, with temperatures of over 90 degrees, this didnt deter the women, they backed over one hundred loaves of bread in that heat. Our organization bought the bread and distributed it to the elderly and to needy families for Christmas.
"In her Own Words By The Chairwoman"
"On behalf of the Bakery Project team I would like to thank you for sponsoring our project. The project was at a standstill because we didnt have the funds to purchase the baking ingredients. We were overjoyed when we received word that the Tekeshe Foundation was going to sponsor the project. With the money we received from the Tekeshe Foundation we bought flour, yeast, cooking oil, sugar, salt and firewood. During Christmas time we supplied over one hundred loaves to Tekeshe Foundation for distribution to the vulnerable in the community. With the profit we made from the sales of the bread we bought much needed food for our families. We are very grateful for the help you gave us. "

Homestead Project Update
The Homestead Project is our strategy for addressing the basic human needs such as, food, water and shelter while helping poor women start income generating projects. The main focus of this project is to ensure that a homestead has decent shelter, clean water, sanitation facilities, a vegetable garden, some chickens and some goats and pigs. A homestead should supply enough vegetables, meat, milk and eggs to take care of the basic food needs of a family while the rest can be sold in order to generate income for the family. This holistic approach looks out for the long term economic prospects of the family and ensures that disadvantaged rural women have enough food to feed their families and they dont have to rely on outside help in perpetuity.

The Tekeshe Foundation donated $400 to the women who participate in Pig Rearing projects. The women used the money to purchase pigs. In the pictures, you can see the head nurse at Rimbi clinic handing the project leaders the money. In my next progress report I will include the pictures showing the pigs.

In keeping with the focus of the Homestead project, the Tekeshe Foundation also gave plastic basins, cooking oil, dried fish, sugar, bread and soap to over eighty needy families. The plastics basins were a big hit! The women use them for washing dishes in. You can see the women in one of the pictures dancing with excitement after receiving the items.

Thank you so much for making a difference in the lives of disadvantaged rural women.

Best Regards,

Thelma

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to you for your continued support of this project. Together we are transforming the lives of disadvantaged rural women. We coudnt have done it without your help!

This project focuses on improving the socio-economic status of rural women by providing them the funds to start income generating projects so that they dont have to rely solely on subsistence farming as their source of income.The women in these rural areas are very hard working; they spend most of their days in the hot sun tending their crops. Unfortunately even after working so hard they usually end up with no crops because this area experiences recurrent droughts. With no crops and no other source of income these households end up drifting into poverty.

Studies have shown that the impact resulting from improving the socio-economic status of women in the developing countries has a rippple effect that goes beyond an individual household to strengthen the entire community. These studies also show that women invest 90% of their income back into their families, compared to the 35% invested by men. During my annual visits to Zimbabwe I usually get a chance to sit down and talk to different groups of women who participate in this program. When I ask them how improving their livelihoods through this project has impacted their households the answer is universal and the women usually say, "My children or grandchildren now have food to eat and I am able to send them to school". None of these women ever focus on their own needs, family is priority. These findings are inline with the following positive outcomes from a previous research that are linked to improving the socio-economic status of women:

• Food security
• Families can afford to send their children to school
• Family health improves
• Reduction in the spread of HIV/AIDS
• Economically stronger and more stable communties

I am pleased to announce that the Tekeshe Foundation six caregivers are now also participating in this program. In these pictures you can see four of the caregivers holding the money we gave them to start their income generating projects. Three of the care givers decided that they wanted to start small businesses for selling items such as clothing, soap, plates and pans. The other three caregivers opted to launch pig and chicken rearing projects.

In Their Own Words By The Caregivers
"Thank you very much for the money you gave us to start our businesses. We are very excited! We promise to work hard so that we will not disappoint you. We pray that good things come your way. Thanks again!"

As you can see in these pictures the projects are in full swing.

May your hearts be filled with so much joy this holiday season as you look at these pictures and see the major role you are
playing in lifting disadvantaged rural women out of poverty.
Thanks again for all your support!

HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Best wishes,
Thelma