Malambo Women's Group News Update 2008

Over the past five years we have matured and now we are expanding in many ways:

As demand increases, women take on more work and subcontract out to other women in the community. In this way, the Malambo Group women become entrepreneurs: training, organizing and supervising others.
As well, the women participate in workshops hosted at the center. The discussions that result from these workshops are then broadcast, by radio, to the wider region. They discuss current issues of concern, such as AIDS, gender imbalances, problems with inheritance customs, initiation, etc. The Malambo women then sew banners which illustrate the issue. These are sold at the local market. The local radio station, Chikuki Mission, then interviews the women. These discussions are broadcast around Southern Province.
A new group of women has been launched. They hand sew felt toys. Their pilot project was a series of teddy bears.

Pilot Project of the New Group, Who Makes All Hand-sewn Work

We try to assist other village craftspeople in the area by transporting their goods to the Lusaka market. Transportation is a problem for rural craftspeople.

A Wood-Turner in his Workshop in Muzoka

The women also have a small loans scheme to promote their own small businesses.

About Us

The Malambo women meet on a farm in the Monze District of Zambia, Africa. They are mostly Tonga women--wives, widows, single mothers--living on the farm and in the nearby village of Mujiga. They are virtually at the centre of one of the areas worst hit by a series of recent droughts, possibly a trend brought on by global warming.

In 1992, confronted with total crop failure which affected the incomes of their husbands as well as their own food resources, their produce for sale and their incomes, the women watched their small crops wither and die. Family members from other areas, even worse off than they, joined them as they sought refuge from the worst effects of the drought in their villages.

With the help of Canadians Marylee and Jocelyn Banyard the women turned to sewing - a skill which had been a hobby on the farm since the 1940's when Irene Savory (mother to Marylee and grandmother to Jocelyn) had introduced them to the craft. By selling their work, the Malambo women were able to buy a sewing machine and provide themselves with a small income that helped to tide them through the drought years. Now, thanks to the generosity of donors, they have two industrial sewing machines.

Updated 11/09/2008