Zimbabwe: Sewing for success

Zimbabwe’s small, rural towns are dotted with abandoned shops, often the result of ill-prepared owners or operators. But on Mapanzure’s main road sits an inspiring exception: The Good Shepherd, a thriving independent business owned by 53-year-old Eunice Mary Chitafi.

Eunice’s success started with her local Village Savings and Loan (VS&L) group. The group started by investing just $2 per month. She was initially loaned $10 from the group to purchase fabric. She used that fabric to make school uniforms and sold a remarkable $100 worth of them, allowing her to repay her loan and earn a remarkable $90 profit. Eunice did this over and over again until she was able to purchase a sewing machine and even hire laborers.

CARE’s VS&L training helped Eunice craft a strategy and apply it with planning and sound business knowledge. From the profits of her seamstress business she has built a brand new 2-room house, complete with household items, kitchen utensils and a sanitary latrine. Eunice’s success not only allows her to send her six children to school, but she is also able to provide free school uniforms to orphan children in her community.

For thousands of women worldwide, CARE’s VS&L programs offer an escape from the crushing cycle of poverty. For these women, VS&L spells empowerment.

“I appreciate CARE and especially their worker, Francis,” says Eunice. “Because of CARE I can do what I want to accomplish for my family. CARE taught me how to survive and I can take care of myself. This is the right way.”  

Village Savings and Loan (VS&L) projects have revolutionized the lives of thousands of women and their families in some of the most impoverished places where CARE is present.