Marie Jeanette – Madagascar

“Challenges have become my source of strength and courage”

Nicknamed Zeanette by her family, Marie Jeannette is a 40 year old woman who is raising her four children alone. For years, Zeannette underwent physical, verbal and moral violence inflicted on her by her former husband who is now deceased. She decided to rebuild her life after the death of her husband.

She attended the entrepreneurship training offered by Gender Links (GL). She was absent during the second phase of the training during which she gave birth to her last child. Jeannette was already a very dynamic woman but after the training she decided to expand her business involving the sale of medicines. Success was almost immediate; the geographic location of her town of residence bordering three towns has facilitated the development of her business. She was almost immediately able to hire a person, knowing that the husband of her employee helps them.

Jeannette always uses the guide book distributed by GL which provides guidance on entrepreneurship. Jeannette is confident and proud of herself, especially in what she has achieved. “The entrepreneurship training helped me to have courage and achieve amazing progress in my life” she says. Before, Jeannette was not even able to meet the basic needs of her children. As her income has improved, she is able to send all her children to school, pay for health care and dress them properly.

She now encourages and mentors women in her village to create businesses of their own. According to her, the financial dependence of women is the most common reason encouraging violence in the household. Today, she still plans to expand her business, to recruit other people and have sufficient resources to pay salaries to help run the local economy. She does not hesitate to share her experience and give advice to others.

Violence is currently far removed from Jeannette. She knows she must always fight alone but that is not enough to stop her. Facing challenges has become her source of strength and courage.