The Journey from Students to Entrepreneurs in Zambia
Village Women Came To Learn And Teach English, Then Became Entrepreneurs!
This year a group of ladies decided to band together with Adijah Phiri, one of our Uyoba school reading assistants, and apply for a micro loan from a local bank in order to start a craft shop near the national park. With a loan of $50 each (18 women) they bought materials and began making custom clothing, local jewelry, art pieces, and handbags. With the help and support of Jenny Waterhouse, CEO of Raise a Smile nonprofit, they built a one room shop on the main road and named it the Baobab Craft Shop (Baobab is a local tree that is iconic throughout southern Africa).
Within a few months of opening, the ladies had made enough profit to pay off their micro loans. The store is thriving and a “Must Stop” for the tourists visiting the South Luangwa National Park. The Africa Hope Fund supports the shop with sewing and jewelry making materials. But that’s not the end of the story!
Our library at Uyoba offers classes to all the local villagers in reading and writing English for those who never went to school. Another group of local women, being taught by our very same reading assistants, decided they too could start a business. With the help of Jenny, Debby Lott from The Africa Hope Fund board, and Alies Felix, master chef and wife of Devan, Conservation South Luangwa pilot, they began making canned preserves from the local mangos which are so prolific in November and December.
They sell to the Safari Lodges and local stores as gifts for the tourists, and for use by the locals in off season. And their new enterprise is called “Mama’s Mangos”. Congratulations to all our amazing entrepreneurial women and thank you to all that supported their efforts!
