World Connect

Mother group tailoring and baking vending shelter

Year: 2019

Country: Malawi

Project Status: Funded

Impact Sector: Economic Opportunity

Project Investment: $1,558.95

Project Launch: 10-3-19

Chipoka Mother Group, a community-based organization in Malawi, plans to build a business to sell sanitary pads and other goods. They plan to build a structure with three rooms: a kitchen, a sewing room, and a storefront. The kitchen will be used as a space for the women to bake pastries and cakes to be sold at the storefront. In the sewing room, the women will conduct their ongoing reusable sanitary pad production business. Profits from the bakery will be used to purchase materials for the reusable pads business. These income-generating activities will allow the women in the Mother's Group to buy uniforms and stationery, keeping their daughters in school.

Project Update: 7-31-20

Construction of the tailoring and vending shelter by the Chipoka 2 Mother Group is progressing well and is now up to the roofing level. The project met several challenges especially from school’s senior management who interfered in the management of the project reducing the community participation which affected local contributions. However, a World Connect visit earlier in the year showed that the women are determined to complete the structure for them to effectively start baking and tailoring of materials to support girl education at the school. Despite various issues, members from the Chipoka community provided bricks, sand, labor and cash as contribution, thereby showing determination and ownership of the project. Emily Katema, a 42 years old woman is pleased with the World Connect grant which in her words, “has been helpful in that it has enabled them to walk through challenges, learn from them and progress showing resilience and leadership.”