The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
WHENEVER the gospel of entrepreneurship is preached, people always start worrying about where to get the start-up capital but wait until you have heard the story of a group of rural women who are now into a serious brick moulding project which they started with nothing more than an idea.
What started off as a community project for the construction of a hall at school in Stanmore in Matabeleland South Province gave the three women the impetus to start a commercial venture where they do bricks for sell in the community.
The story of Ms Duduzile Mlotshwa, Sikhuphukile Sibanda and Samukelisiwe Ncube of Piece Line is that of dedication, courage and zeal. They have so far moulded about 10 000 bricks with a handmade tool that they got made by a fellow villager.
“We were told each area needed to contribute 2 000 bricks for building a hall at the school and we did just that for our section. We provided the bricks and the Zimbabwe National Army assisted in the construction project. We often do that as a community in the construction of classroom blocks or clinics and at times the local leadership asks community builders to volunteer and build for no charge while they will be assisted with water and other things by the community,” said Ms Mlotshwa.
She said it was from there that the idea of moulding bricks for sale was born. Asked on how they learnt to mould bricks, the women said it was purely from observing men doing it although they admitted that it requires a lot of strength.
“We saw others do it and we observed and learnt from there, we are currently the only women in this whole community who do brick moulding. After this we saw that we were able to do this on our own and we decided to mould our own after we completed the 2 000 bricks that were needed for the school project,” said Ms Ncube.
They have so far moulded 7 000 bricks that they burn using a homemade brick oven.
“We mould the bricks using pit sand and water. We then leave them in the sun to dry then we lay them into a pile and plaster them with the same pit sand then we burn the bricks with fire for a week and they will be ready for sale,” said Ms Ncube.
The bricks are sold to locals at a cost of 1 rand and the women are expecting to get R7 000 from the bricks that have been moulded so far. They also wish to sell their bricks beyond their local communities. Ms Sibanda said they have faced some challenges particularly of water.
“Our area is dry so we rely on rain water so we would like to have a reliable water source that will be readily available so that we can draw water throughout the year. We are forced to walk long distances to fetch water which is a challenge because we will be limited in how much we can carry on our heads,” she said.
She said their vision is to also have a garden where they can grow vegetables for resale in the community.
“We have a garden that is located where there is an open source of water. So that area has been fenced off and we hope to get seedlings to grow and sell to the community, we are also next to a major road so we can sell to people traveling along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge highway. We have started to mobilise resources for a fowl run so that we can start our chicken project which will enable us to fend for our families,” added Ms Sibanda.
The women however, said women should not wait to be empowered but must empower themselves by starting business ventures that require no or little money.
“Women must not wait to get cash injections in order to start any project, let us use the low hanging fruits that are at our disposal. We started with no money at all but we have pulled resources that are around us and started our projects of moulding bricks, others can do the same so that they become economically independent and send their children to school,” said Ms Sibanda.
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