Mozambique – Gilda Matusse

“I started my breeding with 200 chickens and sold them all. So I bought another 200. With the profits from sales, I decided to increase my capoeira to be two”

My name is Gilda Matusse, I live in Xai-Xai city, Gaza province. I am a chicken farmer, but I also explain to children from 2nd to 5th grade.

When my sister died, I felt I could not stop, because she was the one who supported me. Bread is not asked for nowadays, and I cannot exclude myself for being deficient. Begging has countless days. You ask for it today, but tomorrow when you ask people again, they will not give you away, not because they do not want to, but because they do not. I realized that I had to do something for my own sustenance. I did the middle level, to complete the level, Xai-Xai’s council woman offered me a wheelchair for my locomotion.

When I went to the county, they offered me a motorcycle, for the better locomotion, because the wheelchair needed someone to help me push, and who did it was my nephew, only he admitted to university. Besides, they did a capoeira for me, and they lent me 50,000 meticais to start my creation. They brought chickens, rations, drinking fountains, they did everything in the first phase. I started with 200 chickens and sold them all. So, I bought another 200. With the sales profits, I decided to increase my capoeira to be two.

You have to be strong and have the courage and patience, because raising chicken is not so easy. It is a job that must be done with love and care. For example, at night they need to be double checked. At 8:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m., but I have to make this effort to survive. I have to see if there is still water, food, if there is energy, because the chickens are sensitive, they do not like to stay in the dark, they are always eating. Women should know that they must be strong. Studying does not mean you have to work for someone else. You can create your own job.

My parents when they raised me did not hide me, so I’m not ashamed of my condition. According to my parents, I was like this after an illness I had when I was five years old. The important thing is not to link to the discrimination of others. When my parents pestered me, I knew it was to learn, so I ignored the joys I passed.

I thank God for all that I have and pray that my business will continue to prosper. Despite the difficulties, I managed to get my nephew into college and he is in the 4th year of the Electronic Engineering course. For women with visible disabilities, they should be strong and not listen to what people talk about them, because whoever laughs at a person who does work for them, that person has a mental deficiency. Let women look forward and do not be discouraged by the judgment of others.