Lesotho:Meisi Sefali

Mafeteng Women Empowerment Network empowering women to use what they have as business opportunity.

This is the project where women had the opportunity to connect with other women in business. Tieang Sefali is the one who advised the formation of group where individuals will come together with the common objectives, consequently those women came together as one thing (women entrepreneurs) even though there are different kinds of skills and knowledge. Everyone’s work is to do what she is comfortable with. For example, others are specialising with poultry farm, piggeries, catering, sewing and crop production.

The purpose of this is to interact with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts as the name implies. This is to reduce poverty among the members and their families by creation of jobs. To offer some help where possible with basic needs, especially to vulnerable children and people living with disability within the community.

There are 5 women and 3 men who benefited from this project directly while 6 of women are indict benefited. One of the members’ families established the enterprises like piggeries, crop production and poultry production.

In monitoring and evaluation, the group members of the project do regular meetings to check if the organization or project is growing. To check if things are still as were planned before and also considering new members as they may be unsure of themselves when they first join a group, further, to review the activeness of the old members.

Some of challenges is lack of understanding on growing business. Running both business and maintaining families at the same time is one of the challenges that women are facing in this project. Some other non-members are willing to join this group and do the businesses but they cannot afford to buy the equipment to do the work. To overcome them the members, have to build a strong team and continue with the teamwork.

There is current tender of sewing the school uniform for Masentle High School. There were other women in the community that were unemployed but the project is successfully managed to recruit them, they are now members of the organization and they have little more money in their pockets by selling handmade products.

The training intuitions or other organization are needed for this organization, especially on business so that the project will replicate easily. By teaching the interested people to become self-employed from the community as to improve their lives.