CIDA and Women's Economic Empowerment: Tatu from Tusife Moyo

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Transcript

CIDA, Aga Khan Foundation Canada and the NGO Resource Centre in Tanzania have helped a women's cooperative in Zanzibar gain access to the tools they need to not just succeed in business but also to expand.

The members of the Tusife Moyo cooperative learned more about networking, market surveys, leadership, evaluation, book-keeping, planning and resource mobilization.

"My name is Tatu Juma. I am the chair person for our group called "Tusife moyo". (We should not lose heart.)"

"We make perfumed soaps and weave baskets and mats."

The women produce and sell more than 700 bars of spice soap each month to local hotels and tourists.

"We each earn about 100,000 to 200,000 Tanzanian shillings per year (about $75 to $175)."

"We use this money to send our kids to school and hospital, and for daily home necessities. Some of the other women have used this money to finish building their homes. We are now the owners of this building where we work."

The women of Tusife Moyo say their economic success has given them the confidence to raise other issues within their community and take action — they have built two child care centres and a building where they raise chickens and sell eggs. They have not lost heart.

CIDA is investing in women, helping women entrepreneurs compete and building economic foundations that support and include women.