The women, whom some of them are widows, told The Zimbabwean economic hardship had forced them to venture to the male-dominated field as the growth point continues to expand.
Margaret Chidza, founder of Hope Brick Moulders, said perennial droughts had made the women abandon agriculture to embark on the income-generating project.
But the project is plagued with difficulties. “We do not have adequate water. Water has always been a problem here. We have to travel long distances to rivers using scotchcarts where we fill up drums of water. We are therefore appealing to donors to rescue us by providing water browsers,” said Chidza.
Another member of the group, Lucia Makahamadze, said: “We also face a shortage of firewood to bake the bricks. We have running battles with the Environmental Management Agency who are accusing us of cutting down trees. But we have told them that we only useexotic trees that we buy from our suppliers.”
Despite these problems they are managing to make 20,000 bricks per month.
Post published in: News