Lydia Muvindi – Zambia

I work with the Katete District as an officer, and there is one project in particular which I think shows the spirit of my work. It’s called passing on the gift. The idea of passing on the gift is that you choose one family to invest in, and this is usually in the form of chicken projects. For example, there was one family who we helped in 2011, and once they were seeing the benefits of the project, they have in turn helped another family, and the chain has increased now to six families. What I have learned from experience is that if the family works together, then there is a higher chance of success. It is therefore a pre-requisite that the whole family be part and parcel of the business, challenging the traditional idea that the man takes over the finances while the family works. I try and challenge families to put each other to the test. I have found some families are putting the wives in charge of the finances now, and the whole family is working together. When I see things like that happening, I know that I am going to watch the programme grow from success to success.

I have applied this to my own family, in which duties throughout the family are split according to ability. I am therefore the one in the family who deals with the management of the business, but my brother is in charge of family finances. My husband searches for opportunities. We all have different responsibilities according to our abilities.

I have not undergone any formal Gender Links training or workshops, but I have taken the opportunity when I have been at conferences to fully engage and enlighten myself in each way I can. Everyone who is here deserves to be here; I have been so happy to showcase my project at the Gender Links summit. Gender Links has given me the opportunity to interact with people. I have met so many people. One of the most important things in this kind of gathering is the information sharing between people from all walks of life.

Since interacting with Gender Links, I have started a microloan system which I hope will make a difference in the community. I have applied the ideals we teach other families in my own family, and it has yielded good results. This gives me confidence to spread the idea. I hope that as we all showcase our ideas and projects at the summit, we will learn from each other. Networking is something I took for granted before, but I won’t any more. I’m happy to continue talking to people, because it is so valuable to get ideas, and see how things have worked elsewhere. This means when we bring new ideas into our work, we already start with a good basis; we begin ahead, instead of starting with nothing.

I spent a lot of time on my presentation because I wanted to get it right. I didn’t have a lap top when I was coming here, so my boss gave me his so that I can come and do a good job. It has helped me develop presentation skills, which I know I will use when I go home. It helps that my family is so supportive; we are open and talk about a lot of things, so I know they will also want to take in everything I have learned here. In the future, I want to learn everything! I want to be able to go back from these experiences, and say I am an expert.