Philomina is determined and motivated to venture into more diversified and profitable income-generating activities, resonating with her dream of seeing her life as a rising graph. She has set her eyes on investing her income in dried fish, poultry, shop, and piggery. All of which will build towards reaching her long-term dream of owning a car in the near future.

“I want my life to show progress like a graph, progressing from selling clothes, expanding my business to including poultry, piggery until I park a car here,” as PHILOMINA RONGEDZAI (46) points at a cool shade made by a mulberry tree at her homestead. A mother of four children, three girls and a boy, she used to earn a living from securing casual work, mainly weeding neighbors’ farms for two to three days.

The labor only earned her a bucket of maize (17.5kg) worth, equivalent to five United States Dollars. Undertaking hard labor was new to Philomina as she came from a more comfortable background before she married OSMOND CHARUMBIRA (53).

APRIL, 6, 2022: PHILOMINA RONGEDZAI (46) poses for a group photograph with members of her family. ©Sydney Saungweme/ CARE

“My father worked and would provide food every month and paid school fees in full yearly.” Philomina remembers,

“One time I failed to raise exam fees for my son, PRIDE RONGEDZAI when he was 16 (turning 22 on 19/08/2022) to sit for crucial Ordinary level exams.”

APRIL, 6, 2022: OSMOND CHARUMBIRA (53), Philomina’s husband, showcasing a section of the house his wife developed using proceeds from the VSLA. ©Emmanuel Mazangwa/ CARE

In turn, Philomina humbly sought assistance, “I had to ask my aunt for help to pay exam fees for my son.” Not one to be left behind, she did not want the same fate for her daughters. “I attended the Takunda Community Visioning (CV) process at Mhiti Business Centre in November 2021 and learned the River code.”

The River Code is an illustrative short skit depicting how different people internalize the process of getting help to cross a river. Some need to be carried, others need to be hand-held, and others need to be shown how to cross, while there are those who fear and simply don’t attempt. Philomina says she is one of those that learned how to cross, while there are some members in her community that did not even attempt. The process resulted in the development of a Community Action Plan (CAP). One of the activities they chose in their action plan was participation in VSLAs (savings groups).

As a resident of Nyambi village, Philomina always wanted to save money through VSLA, but Osmond, my husband, had reservations, “We had tried this before with another donor, and we were made to contribute towards the purchase of butter-making machines. We were swindled out of the little that we had by some of the members. So, when I heard that my wife wanted to be part of the VSLA, I was reminded of this experience,” said a cautious Osmond. Convinced that VSLA would improve the quality of life, Philomina joined Tichafara VSLA behind Osmond’s back, “Some of the things I did without telling my husband, Osmond.” When Osmond started to see the returns from his wife’s membership in VSLA, he started to be supportive.

APRIL, 6, 2022: PHILOMINA RONGEDZAI (46) proudly stands inside her house, “Takunda yauya, ndakakwanisa kutenga ma bag 5 esemende ndikawedzera kukudza imba yangu nekuwedzera imwe room kuti aite matatu”, after joining Takunda, I managed to buy 5 bags of cement which helped me to extend my house and to add another room to make them three rooms using. Philomena used proceeds from her income generating activity. ©Sydney Saungweme/ CARE 2022

Upon joining, Philomina’s initial loan was USD 60 which she invested in a business where she purchased clothing for reselling worth USD 40. She used the remaining USD 20 for transportation to and from Harare. As a result, she earned USD 130 from the sale of these new clothes. She made another round of orders worth USD 100 and earned USD 250, part of which was used to repay her loan with interest back to her VSLA group.

Philomina is determined and motivated to venture into more diversified and profitable income-generating activities, resonating with her dream of seeing her life as a rising graph. She has set her eyes on investing her income in dried fish, poultry, shop, and piggery. All of which will build towards reaching her long-term dream of owning a car in the near future.