Lupane Women’s Centre, a community based organisation with activities in 28 wards of Lupane District in Matebeleland North, have been weaving baskets for 15 years. But now they’ve come up with a unique plan to broaden their reach.
The Centre has 20 staff members and is funded by Liechtenstein Development Service. It started with 14 women in 1997 and now has a membership of 3,502. The Marketing Officer, Khayelihle Sibanda, told The Zimbabwean that they were working with a top international designer who was training the women.
“We are going to be making clothes for the first time and it is a good opportunity for us in terms of widening our market. Since 1997 we have been weaving baskets but we want models to utilise our products. Our outfits will be unique and selected models will go on the ramp showcasing them during HIFA ,” she said.
Hildigard Mufukare, the manager of the centre, said women needed to learn not skills that could assist them to earn a living.
“In this modern society people think that without academic education one is doomed. But even more important than that is exposure. Once they have that, the rest can follow. Look at this noble idea where women are going to be making outfits using their skills. It is a non-academic process.
“Women should be assisted with loans after they have been given management skills so they can realise meaningful income,” she said.
Mufukare lamented that efforts to empower women through basketry weaving and agriculture were being affected by poor infrastructure and limited funding.
“The road network in Lupane is very bad, which makes it very difficult to transport our products especially during the rainy season. Our funding is limited which means that our projects are restricted.
“We were granted a 40 hectare plot opposite Lupane State University that we want to develop into a larger training centre for the women of Lupane, but we do not have the capacity at the moment,” she said.
She said LWC had made significant strides in empowering women economically as they had managed to establish small businesses and were sending children to school.
“When we started, Lupane women were just looking after their families without any form of income but today they make at least $150 every month. They invest this in livestock and the activities have improved the women’s esteem,” Mufukare said.
The community now recognises and respects women as partners with males in the development of the area.
“There has been an increase in the number of assets owned by women in the community and they are now well informed about their rights and responsibilities. The women have gained a lot of technical and business skills which has improved their livelihoods,” she added.
Post published in: Economy