Zimbabwe: Simbanegavi Chickens

When Simbanegavi was trained on how to operate a business she realised that she had learnt a lot of life-altering lessons. The entrepreneurship workshops were both entertaining and valuable. Gender Links (GL) taught her that gender applies to both males and females.  She now appreciates that a woman can perform any job if she puts her mind to it. The only difference between a man and a woman is biological. This information proved to be very useful to her because it made her realize that there is nothing to prevent her from joining any profession as long as she has the required qualifications.

She used to believe that men are the only ones who can do physically demanding jobs and women to be relegated to light work. However, this is not true. Women are able to work equally as hard as men. There are a lot of women who are now doing manual jobs such as digging trenches or sourcing firewood for sale. She also learnt that a woman can be an entrepreneur. Like a man, she can own a business and run it perfectly. Previously, when people talked about a business she used to think of a big organization with a lot of workers, vehicles and buildings. However, the trainers taught her that a business can be of any size. A person like me can own a business even if it does not have many employees. A lot of women fail to start businesses because they underestimate the resources that would be at their disposal.

An important lesson she received on business was on customer care. Customer care is about making sure that your customers are happy. As a business person, she has to make sure that she treats her customers well. They are the main reason why she is in business, so she values them. Some of the customers are rude and confrontational but she just maintains her cool. She learnt that she should avoid making trouble with her customers. Instead, she is always patient and listens to all their concerns. As a result of entrepreneurial training, she has improved the way she conducts her business. She has a poultry project which she started with 25 birds. She now keeps more of 100 birds at a time. She is aware that the poultry business has many competitors but her entrepreneurship skills are keeping her above the rest.

The GL training made Simbanegavi to thrive in her business. She has already acquired more skills and now she believes that she can lure a lot of customers. She has been able to buy gadgets such as more kitchen utensils because of the project’s success. She currently has a bank account and her business is growing. Simbanegavi believes that she is doing a lot to the community through sharing gender based violence information which she obtained from GL. She feels indebted to GL for fostering some entrepreneurial skills that she has used to economically empower herself with. Simbanegavi acknowledged that it was challenging to access funds to boost her business. However, she managed to get a soft loan which she had since repaid. She is using some space at her home to run her small business. She finds market from the community and she easily keeps her financial records. herself with. Simbanegavi acknowledged that it was challenging to access funds to boost her business. However, she managed to get a soft loan which she had since repaid. She is using some space at her home to run her small business. She finds market from the community and she easily keeps her financial records.