Reaping from Self-Help Groups

Bettie at her business

Meet Bettie Mhango, she is 32 years old and belongs to the Chimwemwe Self Help Group in Nkombezi area.  

Bettie lives with her 4 Children as she separated from her husband. She dropped out of school in Standard (grade) 7 and had her first child at a tender age. After separating with her husband, life became unbearable as the husband stopped supporting her and the children and she struggled to make ends meet let alone take care of her children. 

She joined the self-help group over a year ago, and started with a loan as low as MK 2,000 (Euro 2.12) and invested in a small business selling Tomato. She has been able to grow her borrowing to MK55,000.00 (Euro 58.22) and her business has also grown and diversified to fish and cooking oil at the local market.

Bettie serving a customer

“My borrowing power in my savings group has grown and so is my business. I started with selling Tomatoes only but I have now diversified to include fish and cooking oil. Thanks also to the training I have acquired from Centre for Youth and Development, am now able to manage my business, get profits and support my children”.  

said Bettie Mhango

Bettie and 368 other women in Traditional Authority Mwankhunikira are part of 28 Self Help Groups that have been setup by Centre for Youth and Development as part of the “Building a sustainable and empowered people’s institution through self-help group approach” project implemented with support from Kindernothilfe. 

The project aims to improve the house holds income and political participation of women using the Self-Help Group Approach.