Traditionally in Zimbabwe, women had a very specific role. Men were trained for combat while women were conditioned from birth to acquiesce in male demands. To show the dominance of men in Zimbabwe a certain Reverand on a radio programme once said “A woman’s place is in the kitchen and should not make any decision without the express consent of the man”. This therefore placed the woman as a second-class citizen who should submit to men in all facets of her matrimonial life.
However, with the inception of ASAP’s program of Kufusa Mari in Nyanga District, things have changed drastically for women and their families. In polygamous families parents believe that whenever they run short of money to send their children to school they would rather ask the girl child to step-down then continue to educate the boy child because he is considered as the head of the family. However this scenario has been changed with the inception of Kufusa Mari. Women can now send the girl child to school through profits earned from their income generating activities (IGAs) with capital from loans borrowed from the Group Fund thereby improving the literacy rate of women in Nyanga and in Zimbabwe as a whole.
Kufusa Mari has also allowed women to buy cattle, considered a sign of wealth in our African culture. Most husbands now regard their wives as equal partners in matrimonial home and society. Kufusa Mari has broken the societal perception that women should be submissive to men by virtue of them being breadwinners. However, women can now supplement their husband’s salaries and in certain circumstances support the whole family through money realized after using the loan to set up businesses.
Kufusa Mari is also complementing government efforts to economically empower women by arming them with knowledge to set up their business, effectively manage them, not to be over dependant on their husband’s salary and donor funds.
To sum up Kufusa Mari has bridged the gap which existed between women and men. The women’s position in a family and society is now greatly appreciated and esteemed in Nyanga. Women can now set up their business and advance themselves through Kufusa Mari.
MORRIS MATSEKETSA
Bridge the Gap Data Capture Clerk
1 comment:
Purchasing memory is such a chore... You have to Google prices, filter through which ones are legit, visit a bunch of stores,compare prices, finally buy your memory, and then fervently pray that the price doesn't drop in the next two weeks or so.
I've been done in by some ridiculous price drops in the past... especially this one time when I bought a Micro SD card for my DS flashcard at what I mistakenly assumed was a steal, only to later see that it had dropped five bucks in a week.
(Submitted on N3T 2 for R4i Nintendo DS.)
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