We met Mary in 2018 in her village just outside Lilongwe. At the time, Mary was working hard trying to make ends meet. As the main bread winner in her family, the pressure was on her to provide for her two children. She did whatever work was available; washing clothes, working in the field and collecting water for builders who were constructing homes in her area. She worked hard and was willing to do whatever work came her way, but she was struggling to provide for her family’s needs. 

Mary joined our tailoring group and trained for six months. At first, she didn’t know how to use the peddle sewing machine, but quickly figured it out. Learning how to sew from scratch was difficult, but she persevered and kept at it! She also participated in weekly Business classes and Biblical Based Trauma Healing sessions. She learned how to make a business plan, save, and find a market for her items. 

After six months, Mary moved on to the practical part of her training. She began taking orders and learning what it was like to have good customer service and find clients. After a year of hard work, Mary graduated from the tailoring program and launched her own business. Our team continues to check on Mary and give her business advice and trouble shoot any issues that pop up. 

Mary’s business launched three months ago and she is encouraged by the success she is seeing. She has many customers in her community. She has been able to invest in multiple savings plans and continues to be focused and dedicated to her business. Through her tailoring business, she has been able to keep sending her children to school and provide for their needs at home. It has also helped her not have to rely on sporadic part time work, but has a better stable source of income and also gives her the choice of multiple sources of income. She is currently building a small shop for her tailoring business to have room to grow and flourish!

 

{Mary left, mother, daughter, and Ufulu Group’s Manager-Olipa}

Last year Ufulu Groups partnered with Grace Foundation to train several women in hair and makeup. We saw so much transformation in the ladies that stuck with the program to the end and of course progress on how those are doing will be coming your way soon! The month of March, however, has seen the birth of TWO new groups under this wonderful partnership with Grace Foundation. 

These two groups are running concurrently, taking business classes and participating in our group counseling sessions. When the trainings are complete, the women will have the tools necessary to create a business plan and the skills to pitch their plan in a group setting. Those that graduate, will be given supplies to grow their businesses and will be monitored and mentored as they practically implement the gift they have been given to boost their businesses for growth and profitability. 

The women in the two groups were asked to choose a name for their group. We could not agree more with these names because they embody all our sentiments here are Ufulu Groups. The first group chose the name Tiyamike which means “let’s be thankful”. Truly this group has left us thankful for their enthusiasm towards the learning process and their eagerness to improve their lives. 

 

 

The second group that began the last week of March chose the name Takondwa which means “We are happy/glad”. Again our levels of happiness when these women show up every Wednesday and Thursday to learn, is something that cannot be measured. We are truly glad to share our skills and lives with these women and are excited to see what will come forth from them through this program. 

 

 

On December 11^th, 2019,  ladies from the Grace Foundation/Ufulu Groups program in area 38 finished their last day of training in the art of Hair and Makeup. It’s been quite the journey, with the hardships of sickness going around, and a baby born halfway through the program; these ladies did not let anything stop them! 

Chatting with them about their time before Ufulu Groups program, they all shared of how they did various businesses that all seemed to fail. Having been through the Ufulu business class, the women shared how they now have insight on what went wrong in the past and are grateful that they have knowledge now on how to do business more effectively in the future. 

Speaking of the future, big plans were shared on the last day of class. One of the ladies, Philipina, has plans to start a salon in her home area. “There are no salon’s in my home area. The nearest salon is many kilometers away, therefore, me starting a salon would help the women in my area not to travel long distances just to get their hair or makeup done.” she shared. While Julietta and Salome, the other women in the group also shared their plans; which are not just to have a salon operating in their home areas, but to also boost the small businesses they currently have running with the skills they have gained from the business class. 

The future doesn’t seem as bleak anymore because, not only have they been able to dream and envision a better life for themselves and their families, the ladies mentioned how the counseling program has helped them see issues they had normalized when they actually needed to deal with them. They learnt things like grief, learning to take their pain to Jesus, sharing their burdens with trusted friends and best of all they have learnt to appreciate who they are and accept that they are valuable. 

The day was certainly filled with all kinds of gratitude, from the students to their teachers who tirelessly, three days a week for five months went in to teach hair, makeup, business and counselling. The instructors were grateful  to their students for persevering, willingness to learn, taking up the challenge of change and bettering themselves. Ufulu administration has been more than proud of these women and can’t wait to see what else God has in store for them as they continue learning by interning at various Salons close to them.