Empower 100 SHEpreneurs in Rural Zimbabwe...

One unique component of the training and support Talia Womne's Network gives to the SHEpreneurs is the one on one coaching done at three intervals during the life of the project. At inception, a baseline coaching visit is conducted where the SHEpreneurs get to set goals for themselves. These goals, usually financial are a key motivator for the participants which drive them to work hard even when the going gets tough. Some of the goals set by the women include sending their children to better schools, building a home for the family and purchasing household assets. Midway through the training, a mid-term coaching visit is conducted to check on progress made to date. It is through this coaching visit where the lead coaches establish whether the SHEpreneur is still on target to meet the goals, identify any challenges they are facing in program implementation and brainstorm on possible solutions to the challenges. Two months after the 6 month training period, exit coaching vists are conducted to assess whether the SHEpreneurs met their goals and to ascertain whether their income generation projects will be sustainable in the long run.

Meet Rhodia a young mother of three and a high school drop out because of financial reasons. Without much of an education, Rhodia relied on her husband to sustain the family. There are so many things that she wished she had in life but with the limited financial resources in the family, the wishes seemed like just a dream. When the opportunity was presented for Rhodia to receive business management and financial literacy training, Rhodia was quick to enrol and her major goal was to improve the livelihood of her family and to build a home for her family. Rhodia wanted to prove to her husband and to those around her that she was enterprising and given the opportunity she could improve the quality of her life and standard of living.

Following the training, Rhodia started a poultry project and started earning an income. However, she barely had enough to send her children to school and feed the family. Rhodia did not forget her dream of owning a home and started moulding bricks with the help of her husband. Eight months down the line, Rhodia is a proud owner of an almost complete home, which she built using the bricks she moulded herself. Rhodia used the little income from the poultry project to join a village savings group and is using her personal savings to purchase the other building requirements for the construction.

Rhodia was beaming with pride as she showed off her home during the coaching visit. She is truly grateful for the training and support she received. She has had a mindset shift and is now positive about what the future holds. Her husband also sees her differently. The quarrells over money issues are gone, he sees her as an equal partner who contributes significantly to the welfare of the family.

The Street Business School training has helped us transform the lives of women in rural communities in Zimbabwe. As we end the year 2022, we are proud to announce that 166 women graduated from the program in this year alone. Now that is what we call ending the year on a very high note... Seeing these women graduate and change the futures of their families and communities has been the highlight of the year and we are truly grateful for all the support we receive.

Coach Lorrator heard about the training from past participants in her community and she decided to take a chance with the hope of transforming her own life. Going through the six months of training and coaching, made Coach Lorrator realise the potential she never knew she had. The training was all she needed to ignite change in not only her life but also in the lifestyle of her family.

Having gone through the module called Finding Capital and Starting Small, Coach Lorrator took her few savings and started selling sweets and stationery to school children by the roadside. She was very disciplined in managing her profits and reinvested them into her micro-business. Within a couple of months, Coach Lorrator was able to afford renting shop space at the local community centre. She increased the products she offers in her shop to incude plasticware, kitchen products, baby clothes and confectionery. The coaching sessions enabled her to set goals for her business and gave her the drive to achieve them. Coach Lorrator also received support from her husband as she was establishing the business. She has been able to increase her profit to $85 a week and uses the funds to cater to the needs of her children. Coach Lorrator has so much peace knowing that she afford her children's education and healthcare needs. The quality of her life and standard of living have greatly improved...