Empower Women through the Self Help Group Approach

For the next few reports, I would like to focus on some of our CFs (Community Facilitators), introduce them to you, and explain the work they are doing. Let us first look at the Sekororo District, where we currently support 2 CFs. This is a large area south east of Tzaneen in Limpopo Province, made up of a lot of villages. There is 1 large shopping mall, and plenty of other small shops and businesses, many schools and clinics and 1 hospital. The area is rural and many people are  employed as labourers, planting, picking and packing the sub-tropical fruit, and vegetables grown on nearby large farms. There are also many unemployed people here.

The CFs are Mokibela and Mavis. Mokibela started working as a CF for Thusanang in 2013 and Mavis in 2019. They have been particularly energtic this year, and between them, have established 27 new groups. The two of them are now in charge of 64 groups with 1237 members. They have to start each group by finding approximately 20 ladies of a similar economic status living close enough to one another to walk to the weekly meetings. They then train the bookwriters (treasurers) on how to keep records of all savings, loans taken and loans repaid. They train members of the group on topics such as the Self Help Group Concept, Communication Skills, Conflict Resolution and how to start and run a small business. They have also encouraged the members of the groups to start businesses and there are some really interesting projects on the go. These include vegetable gardening (on a small and large scale,) beadwork, making brooms and mats, hairdressing and making and selling food at nearby schools. In the photos Mokibela and Mavis are proudly displaying some of the beadwork made by one of their SHG members.

The members of the groups can hardly believe that by saving R5 per weeek, they have been able to improve their homes by adding rooms, painting and paving and putting up watertanks. Others have taken loans to start small businesses such as selling snacks at schools. The loans have enabled them to buy their start-up stock.

Your donations support people like Mokibela and Mavis and enable them to continue their great work of helping unemployed women to help themselves and their families. Thank you so much.

Links:

• Help Rural Women Help Themselves