Malambo Women's Group News Update 2009

The women continue to expand through sub-contracting their work to friends in the surrounding community. Three groups radiate out now from the original Malambo Women's Group. A smaller group, the Lusumpuko Women, work mainly in felt, and Sunford of Sunford's Group is exploring papier mache.

Community work, current issues, workshops and radio interviews continue to supplement the income generating projects in a learning environment for the whole community.

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.

?The Malambo Women's Group

Updated 11/01/2010