Zambia: The interim country direction of Zambia based organization, ActionAid, Jovina Nawenzake visited some women groups. Nawenzake visited the Mukukutu Community of Nalolo district to check on the women on November 29.
The aim of the visit was to understand how they were managing their resources in creating alternative sources of livelihood. The women groups were given a seed money from Actionaid in 2021.
The members of the women’s groups have since grown it and are able to lend the money out to members.
During the visit, Jovina Nawenzake took the time to understand how the women self help groups were functioning. The Swalisano women support group secretary Sifuba Judith explained that a bank account was opened using a part of the seed money. The members could access loans at a minimal interest every six months.
Nawenzake however observed that the women are still facing domestic challenges from their homes. According to the reports, Most husbands had no income and were indulging in excessive alcohol consumption.
Most of the families in Mukukutu were being headed by women while men spent most of the time imbibing alcohol. Accordingly, the ActionAid Country director engaged the women group into peer-talk. She encouraged them to seek means of addressing the high alcohol consumption problem in their homes.
She also urged the group to focus on higher targets in the next five years so that their income levels could be more.
Swalisano group is currently preserving vegetables, fruits (Mangos) and producing beverages from wild fruits as part of their income generation activities.
Earlier Nawenzake had a meeting with the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) indunas in Nalolo. In this meeting, she took the opportunity to appreciate their role in the governance of the community.
She met induna Mooto and Induna Amaloti. The traditional leaders pledged support towards ending early marriages in Nalolo and promote the education of children. They also committed to raise more awareness in protection of the environment.
