Women traders operating from Bulawayo’s bustling Sixth Avenue market are transforming their lives through self-help initiatives ranging from food processing and soap-making to a community burial society and a soup kitchen that feeds children accompanying their mothers to work.
The initiatives are being spearheaded by the City Centre District Women’s League, whose chairperson, Dominica Mringi, said the programmes were designed to help women earn an income while easing some of the social and economic burdens they face.
For many women at the Sixth Avenue market, vending is more than a livelihood. Many leave home before sunrise to secure trading space, often carrying young children on their backs because they have no one to leave them with. Most rely entirely on daily sales to feed their families, making every dollar earned critical.
Mringi said the organisation had introduced free skills development programmes to help women add value to their produce instead of watching it go to waste. “We have quite a number of empowerment activities,” Mringi said.
“We train women in food processing because we noticed that a lot of food at the market was getting rotten. We teach them how to dry vegetables, make peanut butter, prepare drinks, jams and other products that they can sell.”
She said the group received a peanut butter-making machine from Finance minister Mthuli Ncube’s Foundation in 2019, enabling women to establish a small-scale production project.
“Since receiving the machine, we have never stopped producing peanut butter. Women are making it and selling it outside the market,” Mringi said.
Beyond peanut butter production, the women manufacture detergents including pine gel and dishwashing liquid, as well as perfumes and petroleum jelly—products that have become popular among market traders.
“Our petroleum jelly is one of the most popular products because many mothers who come to the market with their children need it for their babies,” she said.
Mringi said the organisation had so far trained hundreds of women free of charge and encouraged women from Bulawayo’s Ward One to join the programmes.
“Our trainings are free. We don’t charge anyone because we want every woman to have an opportunity to improve her livelihood,” she said.
Recognising that many women spend long hours at the market with their children, the organisation also established a soup kitchen that now feeds more than 80 children every Friday.
“We have a register of more than 80 children,” she said. “These children come with their mothers who are selling at the market because some are too young to be left at home and others have no one to look after them”.
She said partners, including Bakers Inn, donate about 40 loaves of bread every week to support the programme.
The Zanu PF women’s league has also established a burial society that has attracted more than 120 members, providing support to families during bereavement.
“We are still developing the constitution for the burial society, but whenever a member loses an immediate family member, everyone contributes to assist. It is helping women support one another during difficult times,” she said.
The burial society recently won first prize from the Finance Minister during his interface with the Zanu-PF women’s league held at Stanley Square recently. The gesture was aimed at strengthening community welfare initiatives.
Ncube also donated towards community burial societies, saying such grassroots structures play a critical role in promoting social solidarity and supporting vulnerable families during difficult times. Mringi said the biggest obstacle facing women remained poverty.
“Women carry many responsibilities,” she noted. “One day she is looking after a sick child, another day she has travelled to the rural home because of a family problem. Our motto is ‘A dollar a day makes a difference’. We want every woman to earn at least a dollar before going home because that dollar can buy bread or relish for the family”.
City Centre Women’s League member, Mercy Murandu, said the soup kitchen had grown significantly after mothers began appreciating its importance.
“When we started, only about 10 children attended,” Murandu told Southern Eye on Sunday. “Today we have more than 80 children because mothers now understand the programme and appreciate what it is doing for them”.
Murandu said more women were joining both the empowerment initiatives and the burial society.
“A lot of mothers are joining because they have seen the benefits. At first, some feared they might lose their money, but now they are happy and continue to support the programme,” she said.
“What we are doing has a bright future. With continued support, more women will be empowered to improve their livelihoods.”