RURAL WOMEN GIVEN A VOICE TO STAND ON THEIR OWN FEET
Women in rural areas have been given a voice with the establishment of the first self-help federation in South Africa.
The Zimele "Intuthuko yo Mama" Federation was founded on the 29 August 2014 in Swayimane, near Wartburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The Federation comprises 1200 Swayimane women, who have been working with Zimele Developing Community Self-reliance, an NGO working to empower women in rural areas, economically and socially. Zimele is an active member of the KwaZulu-Natal Financial Literacy Association, under the auspices of KZN Finance MEC Belinda Scott.
The Federation will represent the collective opportunities and challenges of 1200 members to bring social and economic development for themselves, their households and the community at large.
"We are so happy. We feel like a woman who has been blessed with a baby," said Mrs Albertina Zuma-Ndlovu, one of the federation members.
She thanked Zimele for all the training, mentorship and support, singling out "independence, saving and entrepreneurial skills. We are now independent and have a voice."
The women emphasised the importance of self-reliance and said they do not want to depend on government for everything. While they need government's help with certain matters, they also want to be part of those who make a difference in the country and the economy.
The Zimele team invites women to establish self help groups, consisting of 10-20 women of all ages. Participants are encouraged to save a small portion of their monthly income, which is usually some form of social (government) grant. With the assistance of Community Facilitators, Zimele personnel teach basic business skills that cover: savings; loans; credit; interest; accounting and investments. In addition to its core training programs which focus on the administrative and business elements of a project, Zimele develops the capacity of the women to:understand the need of orphaned children; build their capacity in early childhood development; learn nursing skills; set up play-with-your-child workshops and workshops in bereavement counselling.
Ms Zuma-Ndlovu said they do not want any children not going to school because they do not have funds. "We also don't want orphans to feel they are treated unfairly because they don't have parents."
To this end the women have given huts and houses to be used for the benefit of the community. To date 11 crèches, a computer school and a toy library have been established.
The NGO's long-term goal is to build the capacity of women to implement and manage projects independently has largely been achieved with the establishment of the federation.
"We are so proud of the women. Through the federation they now have a collective voice and bargaining power. There are 10 departments in the federation that will now deal directly with the relevant government departments and other stakeholders," Zimele founder, Rosetta Stander said.
Zimele has spent seven years in Swayimane to build and strengthen the foundation of the federation, i.e. the self-help groups, followed by the second phase: the cluster level associations.