Gender Empowerment: A different way of doing development

Gender

Maputo, September 2011 – The project supporting the Chibuto Millennium Village has increased its efforts to improve access to credit in order to encourage new entrepreneurial ventures. The latest months have been marked by the consolidation of the referred microcredit system at the Chibuto Millennium Village, which has seen an increase in the amounts given to beneficiaries.

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It is natural that a woman is more conservative than men when it comes to start a business

Clara Tesinde was one of the beneficiaries. This woman is, for many members of the Chibuto Millennium Village communities, the prototype of a woman entrepreneur. At the age of 45 years, widow, and mother of 5 children, she overcame all types of typical barriers in a traditionally male dominated society. Similarly to nearly all beneficiaries, she started with little or almost nothing, building a small market stall in the Samora Machel neighbourhood at Chibuto Millennium Village, which expanded with time. Two years ago, she benefited from her first PNVM credit. After its use, she fully reimbursed the credit, which contributed to her credibility and eligibility for a second loan.

The simple and until recently typical stall for the sale of horticulture was transformed into a cosy tea room, where its users have a balcony with a billiard table.

The stalls main products are snacks and soft drinks. Although the clientele is diversified, Clara acknowledges that men are the majority. Many do not even see with good eyes her work, and others even state in an egoistic manner that they would never let their wives build a similar type of business.

We wanted to hear from Clara Tesinde what the secret of her success was in a land which is traditionally dominated by men: “Women are generally different from men in various aspects, and when it comes to entrepreneurship, it is not different. Female features stand out in our life and provide us with a particular entrepreneurship profile”.

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The project supporting the Chibuto Millennium Village has increased its efforts to improve access to credit in order to encourage new entrepreneurial ventures.

She defined an entrepreneur as someone who, by nature, makes things happen; someone who has enthusiasm and passion for what she do, someone with a high degree of self-confidence, respect and dedication; someone who sees weaknesses as learning opportunities and never gives up. And, these features, in her opinion, stand greatly out in women, mainly those of her ethnic group, the Changana, in Gaza Province. “We find it easy to compose teams, we are more persistent, more aware of details, and we value cooperation, and risk with caution, know, how to listen to people, and are more open ” – she added.

To have ones’ business is not only a means to earn money; it is a life strategy. According to Clara Tesinde, “women already have the role of mothers, housewives, spouses and friends, with so many responsibilities on their hands, and it is natural that a woman is more conservative than men when it comes to start a business ”, she added.

In her opinion, the situation is only going to change when the roles start to be better divided at home, a change which should not occur so quickly or at least in Gaza province where she born, always lived and worked.

Her dream is to be able to mount and manage a chain of small bakeries specialized in the sale of food of the “fast-food ” type one day, along the districts of Gaza Province, her homeland and where she better knows the behaviour of people. She equally believes that the historic link of inhabitants in this province with the neighbouring South Africa may help to a large extent in the development of the long awaited business.

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It is important to recall that, the Millennium Village project aims at providing effective means of poverty alleviation in five Mozambican communities through specific, science-based interventions, relatively small and concrete investments, and with local ownership. The overall objective of this program supported by UNDP is to plan and implement an integrated community development project, which will transform subsistence livelihood into small-scale commercial entrepreneurships. The idea is also to provide robust guidelines for how local communities can achieve the MDGs within the timeframe we have set.

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