Mrs Mwiinga has eight children. The last three were born as triplets, Alpha, Omega and Mirriam. Initially it was thought that Alpha and Omega were born disabled but fortunately the disabilities didn’t manifest themselves and development in all three babies now appear to be normal. However, Mrs Mwiinga was struggling to feed all three babies while Mr Mwiinga relies on intermittent work transporting items with his wheelbarrow for anyone who needs this service and is willing to pay for it. Income is low and not sufficient to feed the family at this crucial time while the triplets are developing. HHI has been able to give monthly funding to enable the family to buy milk powder for the babies, but this was only a short-term solution. When Mrs Mwiinga visited the Monze office to thank HHZ for their support it was proposed by the HHZ staff that she might like to try a small home-based income generation project. With a monetary start-up gift from our ‘Community’ Alternative Catalogue Mrs Mwiinga could set up a small business from a stall outside her makeshift home. She could purchase larger quantities of soya pieces, salt, mealie meal, charcoal, cooking oil and plastic bags. Then she would repackage the commodities into smaller bags in equal quantities and sell them from a stall on her doorstep. The profits made would be used to supplement the family’s income. This type of ‘shop’ is often seen in the Monze compounds which is where most of the low-income families live.
Brenda (HHZ administrator) visiting Mrs Mwiinga with her stall outside her home.
Mrs Mwiinga agreed to the plan and with encouragement and support from HHZ staff she has managed to increase the family’s income while still being able to look after her many children.
Brenda reports ‘There is great change in their livelihood and as a result the family is now able to have three meals a day unlike in the past when they could only afford one’.