Zimbabwe: Chipo Sirani


Date: September 20, 2018
  • SHARE:

“I earned myself a nickname ‘self esteem’ and I am proud to be called with that name. I am Self Esteem.”

Chipo Sirani experienced GBV violence since the day she was born as she grew up under the custody of her uncle, after the man who impregnated her mother denied responsibility and ran away. Her uncle kept her under strict conditions and he never gave her the chance to know her father. Freedom of movement was a right that she never enjoyed as she was always monitored and all her actions were strictly censored.

At a later stage, her uncle’s brutality forced her into early marriage with the intention to escape from him. She was convinced that marriage was the only way to escape from her uncle’s humiliating practices. What she thought to be a solution turned out to be wrong because she got married to an abusive husband. The husband used to insult and assault her with knives, axes and catapults. He was always drunk and his mental faculties were at all times restricted. The husband’s elder sister was behind his actions because she was accusing Sirani of failing to give birth to a male child. She never enjoyed being in a marriage and giving birth to female children was her offence.

The day she met GL in 2013 marked the genesis of a violence free life. She was trained to become a successful business woman and be able to compete in a world dominated by man. The skills she attained helped her to stop relying on her husband for survival.

Before she met GL she was a victim of a hand to mouth scenario as she lacked the basic knowledge on savings and budgeting. Lack of basic knowledge on how to manage income and expenditure forced her to live like a slave as she was forced to beg from her husband on daily basis. Whenever she begged him for money he took it as an opportunity to insult or assault her. Her partner was viewing her as a useless mother of female children who were not supposed to be taken care of.

Sirani found the lesson on “self esteem” so useful because she felt that it was directly addressing her situation.

“I felt as if the facilitator was addressing my personal life and by the end of the lesson I was equipped with solutions to my problems,” – Sirani.

Sirani was equipped with entrepreneurial skills during the training and she became self sufficient. She stopped begging anyone for money and she was now able to come up with a detailed budget so as to properly manage her income and expenditure.

Before she met GL she was a victim of a hand to mouth scenario as she lacked the basic knowledge on savings and budgeting. Lack of basic knowledge on how to manage income and expenditure forced her to live like a slave as she was forced to beg from her husband on daily basis. Whenever she begged him for money he took it as an opportunity to insult or assault her. Her partner was viewing her as a useless mother of female children who were not supposed to be taken care of.

Sirani found the lesson on “self esteem” so useful because she felt that it was directly addressing her situation.

“I felt as if the facilitator was addressing my personal life and by the end of the lesson I was equipped with solutions to my problems,” – Sirani.

Sirani was equipped with entrepreneurial skills during the training and she became self sufficient. She stopped begging anyone for money and she was now able to come up with a detailed budget so as to properly manage her income and expenditure.

“After GL helped me to come up with a business proposal I borrowed US $ 100 from my children. I converted it into South African rand and I bought baby track suits at R 60 each. To realise profit I sold them through barter trade. One track suit was equivalent to 100 kilograms of maize grain with a market price of US $ 15. I opened an Ecocash account to ensure that my money was safe and secure,” – Sirani.

Angeline Sirani the last daughter of Sirani expressed her happiness on the changes that took place in her mother’s life. She said that there was no peace in their house as the parents were always fighting but the situation has changed for the better.

“My mom is now an independent, successful business woman. I recalled how she managed to leave behind her past life which was marred by GBV and started a new life. It has been always her dream to have a candle making business and through the skills she attained from GL she managed to have one. She also has plans to resume her now defunct poultry production business which collapsed after she failed to manage it due to inadequate business knowledge coupled with domestic problems,” Angeline Sirani, Sirani’s daughter.

“Sirani’s experience of living in a patriarchal society showed her that for one to be accepted, one must have economic muscles. Now that she is economically empowered society treats her with respect and she is now independent from all forces of abuse. GL helped her to be abreast with times. She is now empowered economically and other women are directly benefiting from her. She formed a candle making corporative consisting of five gender based violence survivors,” Hilda Mudzonga, candle making corporative member.

Sirani added that she is a survivor of gender based violence who is now a community beacon and many people are looking up to her for inspiration.

“Mine is a tale of a victim of gender based violence who took up entrepreneurship as a weapon to fight back and become a victor,” she said.