The chairperson and co-founder of the Safe-nest Housing Cooperative stood in front of the group’s 70 members last Saturday to allocate their housing stands after four years of hard work. The Co-operative was formed in 2009 by a group of women in the high-density suburb of Glen View. It has 70 members, 50 of whom are women earning their living through various means that include vegetable vending.
Nkala formed the cooperative with Agnes Mutimbanyoka, Stembile Chinzou and Patricia Manuel with the aim of defying the odds of a patriarchal Zimbabwe, where women are not expected to own property.
“I had been joining other housing cooperatives and I got so tired of funds being abused and nothing ever materialising. So we thought to ourselves why not start our own housing cooperative? We were mostly women, though we have been strongly backed by some men along the way. Our dream was to create a better life for ourselves,” she said.
“At first people were really sceptical about joining something that had an all-women executive. But events today have proved that women can be leaders and deliver.” The housing stands distributed last weekend ranged from 290-840square meters. For some women this meant a bright future for their children.
“When I committed my time with the other women in forming the co-operative I had my children in mind. I wanted a better future for them and I am happy that this is going to happen. Initially most of the members were parents joining to test the waters for their children. It is a great breakthrough for our community,” said co-founder Mutimbanyoka.
Post published in: News