Umguza is a district in the southern part of Matabeleland North province in Zimbabwe – 60km from Bulawayo. The area falls within agricultural region 5 and food shortages are common in the area. The most suitable agricultural farming for the area is rearing animals. The 2019 Poverty Assessment Study Survey found between 62 and 96% of the population was living in poverty. We want to address some of the many needs of Umguza by empowering women and girls, helping to improve the health and education systems and promoting small and medium enterprises.
Community Empowerment
We believe that empowering communities has the effect of empowering the nation. Our goal is to provide employment opportunities for our beneficiaries and also to create employers who are active within and engage with their communities. We teach communities about their rights and how to respond whenever there is violation of those rights.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
Water, sanitation and hygiene are important aspects in our projects. We seek to improve the lives of the vulnerable by providing access to clean and safe water and hygienic disposal of human waste. Our goal is to have everyone in Umguzaadopting solid waste management strategies and implementing new hygiene behaviours.
In order to improve sanitation and health, we partnered with Mpilo Foundation to drill and install boreholes at Semukelani Primary School and at Ntutuko Village, Maraposa Ward 17. We also collaborated with Hope Church Newham to provide clean and safe drinking water to hundreds of pupils at Maraposa Primary School and Pelandaba Community in Bulawayo.
We are currently raising funds to install a borehole at Ngazini Primary School and to install a number of community boreholes for Umguza and Bulawayo that will increase access to safe and clean water for drinking.
Empowering Women Project – Umguza skills training
Women in the rural areas experience many difficulties especially when they have to juggle domestic duties and agricultural work. Our projects help women to achieve long-term financial stability through initiatives that alleviate poverty including animal husbandry and vocational skills training.
Since 2016, we have provided women and girls in Umguza with sewing machines and training in how to use them. Sewing classes give these women the opportunity to learn a new trade, boost their self-esteem and improve their livelihoods. We aspire towards a society where women take the skills they learn and use them to make money and help sustain their families.
Gender equality
In areas like Umguza, gender inequality remains a major barrier to the eradication of poverty. Where resources and services are allocated centrally women do not have the same opportunities as men. We believe gender equality is key to a society’s development and there has been a positive impact in those communities which recognise this, leading to improvements in health, education and livelihoods.
Our aim is to create a society where there is gender equality, fewer gender-based violence cases and where women are fully involved in the decision making process.
To achieve this we need to engage and educate men on the importance of this concept.It is important to engage communities and create safe spaces where couples and single sex groups can discuss issues of sexuality and equality. We need to educate men through training and consultation so they understand and appreciate the benefits of gender equality. We believe engaging men is a sustainable solution for the empowerment of women, men and children.
Farming and Animal Husbandry
Our beneficiaries in Umguza practise farming and animal husbandry for survival. We help these farmers by teaching them skills they can adopt to grow and sell more.
We teach farmers to know the value of their land and encourage them to keep livestock, plant different crops and manage fisheries. Our experts teach them how to grow the most profitable crops, how to improve soil quality, conserve water, access high quality inputs, manage their resources and how to protect their land and keep it fertile.
Animal products sell easily and provide money quickly so we teach farmers how to access the limited market, buy feed for their animals and get them vaccinated so they get quality products. We also empower Umguza’s rural entrepreneurs to do more and achieve more by providing access to loans and legal advice. We have empowered women and girls to support their families by providing them with chickens, ducks, pigs, goats, turkey, guinea fowl and rabbits.
Join hands with us as we turn more farmers into successful business people
Inspire Women Men and Children welcomes you to the Pass the Goat Scheme
£100 could help provide a woman or girl in ZIMBABWE with a goat and training in how to raise it.
Sports for All
Inspire Women, Men and Children uses sport to engage and empower young people to play a greater part in their community. We have provided footballs, netball balls and sports kits to schools in Umguza. We partnered with Kit Aid, Basildon Boys and Girls Club, Kits4Causes for football kits and with World Netball for Netball kits. We also collaborated with Tag Rugby Zimbabwe to establish an Umguza Tag Rugby league.