Zambia: Catherine Daka

The most important thing that I learnt that I am always going to be grateful with Gender links (GL) is being taught how to keep financial records. How to do a debtor and credit so as to manage my business properly. I started doing this training in August 2014. I have done all the three phases of the training. This training has taught me how to manage my small business effectively manage and control finances. Thankfully there are no challenges that I seriously faced that I can talk of it was all a very good experience for me.

Before this training I was not able to manage my business well. I could not control my finances and expenditure due to this it was very difficult for me to expand. As a result I was stagnant and only managed to keep buying the same 20 bags of charcoal I was buying from the time I started my business. Thanks to the business skills we got from the training I am now able to buy 35 bags. The council has not done anything but give promises that I feel they will not honour. The only other person who has helped me apart from GL is my sister who helped me start my charcoal business she gave me K 250.00 to add to the money I had.

I used to experience gender based violence and I think this was as a result of not being able to find my own resources so my husband felt he could mistreat me in anyway and I would not leave him. They were times when he would beat me up for no proper reason. After the being enlightened my husband behaviour seemed to change he was more approachable than before. Currently I am not facing any GBV I sometimes feel that the reason for his change is that he now knows I know my rights and especially because he knows am cable of taking care of myself and even him. If a woman is economically empowered this results in peace at home. This is because the woman does not have to beg for money from the husband time and again that may irritate and even anger the partner hence causing conflicts in the home.

This new approach has made my husband and I, start putting money together and buy things for our house and our children unlike in the past where money is was just for him. We never used to plan for our money but now I ensure that before I do anything I let him know and involve him in my ideas. Which has also helped lessen our arguments and actually it has even made us become friends.

I have learnt that I can start and even grow my own business even if I have not gone to school. Furthermore I have learnt that when a woman is empowered economically she does not have to put up with GBV because she can stand on her own two feet. I will apply these lessons to grow my business, help provide at home with my husband and report GBV cases to the relevant authorities. My future plans are to grow my business and build my own house so that I can stop renting a house but own one. By 2030 I want to have a big business and own properties. I also want to ensure that my children are able to go to college.