If Zimele rushes to fill the need they will be under resourced and unprepared.  Furthermore this will perpetuate the mentality of many of the people that they can just wait for other people to meet there needs.  However, if Zimele works at mentoring women and fostering community, the table is set for them to care for themselves.  In a conversation today with Zimele founder and Director, Rosetta Stander, she predicted it won’t be long until there are women in the community who want to start a home care group.  This will mean some more work for Zimele, but because the people in the community will be making the first move, the likelihood of success is far greater.  Their ownership of such a project will insure that Zimele workers will not become burned out with a wave of new time-consuming work.  Instead, people from the village will be the ones to run it.

I love this model!  Westerners so often come into a situation and ask, “how can I fix this?”  This savior-mentality may be quicker, but it can create dependency for the suffering and burn out for the care givers.  Zimele chooses a different route.  One that seeks to develop the people first, then watch and serve as the people themselves seek to better their own community.  It is amazing!

Ubumbano Savings Group

The women of the Ubumbano savings group started a collective farming venture using land donated by a group member and by pooling their savings to buy seeds, fertilizer, and farming tools. They have already used half of the field to plant and harvest potatoes with plans to use the other half to plant maize.

The group currently has 14 members and has saved R1234 to date. One of the members is 85 years old and she is using the benefits from the group to improve the wellbeing of her extended family of grandchildren and great grandchildren.

One member of the group lent the group use of her field to start a collective economic farming venture. The group used their savings to buy seeds, farming tools, and fertilizer. They have so far used half of the field to plant potatoes which will be ready for harvest in a month’s time. They plan to use the other half of the field to plant maize.

Vukuzenzele Egg Vendors

This savings group pooled their savings to start a group business. They bought 18 trays of eggs for each of them to sell. They sold the eggs at 2x their costs, which allowed them to repay the group loan and have enough money to buy another 18 trays of eggs debt free!

The fourteen women of the Vukuzenzele self help / savings group pooled their individual savings together to start a group business venture. They collectively borrowed R300 to start an egg selling business. With the initial group savings they purchased 18 trays of eggs and distributed among the women in the group to sell. Which they were able to sell for R600! From the sales, they were able to pay back the R300 loan and still have R300 remaining to invest back into the business. There plan is to buy another 18 trays of eggs, sell the eggs, double their purchase capacity, and go from there.

The recent success of the group is even more encouraging given that when the group first launched, one of the members borrowed from the group and then disappeared with the money. Despite that setback, they resolved to continue with the group but only allow loans to be taken against the group for group ventures instead of allowing individuals to loans from other members of the group. Through Zimele’s capacity building workshops the group members were able to regain their trust with each other and get to their current place.

iThemba Barbers

Mthobisi and Nkosingiphil, two young orphan boys and their friend, Nkululeko who lives with his mother joined the iThemba Self-Help-Group in 2007. All three boys are in Secondary School.

With their savings they bought a hair shaving kit and started a haircutting business to earn enough money to put themselves through school. Mthobisi and Nkosingiphile also use the money to buy food for their siblings. The savings and business skills they learned in the Self-Help-Groups taught them how to save and how to start and run their business.

Mthobisi and Nkosingiphile said that it is tough to be a parent while you are still a child yourself. Fortunately, the members in the Self-Help-Groups have filled the role of a caring family and the weekly meetings have become the highlight of the week for the two orphan brothers.

Zamakuhle Savings Group

In Zulu, zamakuhle means ‘we are trying to achieve the best’. This name signifies the hope that the savings group brings to the women, since many of the 10 women are grandmothers of orphaned grandchildren due to AIDS. As the members learned financial discipline, they were able to consistently purchase food to feed their grandchildren. As they became better savers, and as their savings grew, they able to use loans to dramatically transform their lives. One woman in the group, took out a loan to buy a brick making machine so she could add a room to her home. She used this room to open up a ‘tuck’ shop or a small grocery store. Prior to this, she ran a ‘spaza’ or a small road side stand and was barely making ends meet. The new addition allowed to her work from home, sell a greater variety of products and provide food and education to her grandchildren. One of the objectives of the savings groups is to develop a spirit of community trust and cooperation. As the women in Zamakuhle group met, they soon recognized a common need for fresh and inexpensive produce. They decided to start a group vegetable garden. Lacking access to a reliable source of water, they not only identified the nearby high school as the ideal location, but approached the school and obtain its permission to use its water for their garden.

Khethano Artisans Group

Yvonne is a middle-aged, African lady who lives in a one room house, all by herself just outside town. She was married, but her Zulu husband abused her and her only child and then left. He might be dead because Yvonne is now HIV/AIDS positive.

Her family, who live just 100m away, have ostracized Yvonne when she became sick and her son, who worked as a fuel attendant in town, was arrested by police last year and is still in jail. The illness and worries was detrimental to her well being, physically she became very sick, it entered her soul, stole her dignity and confidence and left her bereft of any hope.

Yvonne was nearly dead before she sought help from a hospice run by a Zulu granny. She was given (antiretroviral drugs) ARV’s and slowly but surely her body started fighting back. She recovered to such an extent that she was able to return home and reseal her house with mud before the summer rains started.

She heard about Zimele and during a visit to her home, I convinced her to join the Khethano group of Zulu grandmothers who made the embroidered blocks for our handbags. She did not turn up the first time. The second time, someone went to visit her. The third time she asked someone to go with her. She had embroidered one block, but she lacked the confidence to show anyone.

The grandmothers in the group realised that something was wrong and reached out to this thin woman who has been robbed of all dignity and self esteem. They told her that they were also scared the first time, that they also did not know what to expect, that they were also insecure about their work but that now, after only a couple of months of training and practice, their embroidered blocks have become their proud signatures.

Now, after three months, Yvonne is making 12 blocks a week – bright, beautiful designs and flowers, and her speciality, a happy human figure waving to whoever cares to wave back! She does not miss a workshop. Although she still does not talk much, her shy smile has become a regular feature at each meeting where the friends from the group have embraced her with the love that each human being on this earth deserves.