Heliarivelo Mampianina – Madagascar

“Gender Links helped me to be more confident”

Mampianina lives in a small village called Soavinandriana, within the urban council of Manjakandriana. Located 50 kilometres from the capital of Madagascar, the council of Manjakandriana has been part of the COE process since 2010.

Mampianina came to know Gender Links (GL) during the entrepreneurship project. The village of Soavinandriana showed the highest rate of gender based violence (GBV) prevalence in the council, which is why most of entrepreneurship participants were selected from there. Mampianina was very happy to be part of the training.

Mampianina’s business focuses on the transformation of milk into yoghurt. In her village, agriculture and livestock husbandry are the most common activities practiced. After the training, Mampianina saved money with her friends and managed to buy a cow. The cow produces 14 litres of milk per day and they use this milk to make yoghurt. They have created a small network with her friends to make this business work.

Mampianina affirms that the training on entrepreneurship helped her to better manage her income. Before attending the workshops, she did not know that in a business every detail is important. For example, the markets study, marketing strategy, the calculation of benefits and expenses, etc. “I realised that separating the expenses in my household and in my business is very important. Previously, everything was mixed up and any benefit was spent immediately. Now I can save money to be used in unexpected situations or to be invested”. She feels that being her own boss has helped her to be more confident and restored harmony in her family.

Presently, Mampianina delivers yoghurt to five groceries in her village and is learning how to make cheese. She is planning to search for clients in the town. In her village, Mampianina and her friends have become models for other women as they have managed to run their own business and be independent financially. In her spare time, Mampianina organizes meetings with her friends and shares the knowledge that she learned in the training sessions. “The most common issue in my village is that women have too many children. Even if they help men with agriculture and the livestock, they do not have a serious business plan”. Mampianina is helping her friends to draft a business plan that is achievable for women in her village.

In the future, she would like to improve her business and become a famous entrepreneur. She also wants to create a network of women entrepreneurs in her village as well as participate in fairs organised in town.