A NEW ZIENZELE WOMEN’S COOPERATIVE IN CHIROGWE!
We thought you might be interested to learn HOW we find new Zienzele groups!
Mai Chirigo is a Zienzele regional coordinator, and she attended the funeral for longtime Zienzele representative, Mai Masara. At that event, she was introduced to a woman, Mai Chikati, from the village of Chirogwe, and they got to talking about Zienzele- Mai Chikati was eager to start a group in her own village. Mai Chirigo explained the process of starting a group, and between that funeral (in late 2020) and our visit in September, the women of Chirogwe had written up a Zienzele Constitution for their project, elected officers and a representative, and started making baskets! Nancy and Prisca arrived in September expecting to have a basic ‘how to get started’ chat- and instead we found a fully formed cooperative with baskets ready to sell! We identified the top weavers in the group and the women decided to have those women serve as teachers for the others. We start paying school fees in January for ten students!
MAI TAPERA, THE NEW REPRESENTATIVE AT MAKUMURE
Mai Masara was a hardworking representative for our Makumure women’s cooperative, and her death in 2020 affected her whole community. She was a quiet caring leader, a top-notch basket weaver, and she transformed the Makumure group into a cohesive group. We will all miss her!
The group selected Mai Tapera as their new representative, and we are excited to see a younger generation of caregivers stepping into leadership roles!