Church in Zimbabwe helps women start their own businesses

The United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe has collaborated with Homelink for a workshop aimed at teaching women entrepreneurship skills.

The goal of the five-day workshop, held at Harare Institute of Technology, is to empower female church members to start their own businesses. The women learned how to draft their own proposals and secure loans from financial institutions.

Women were encouraged to venture into male-dominated projects such as commercial fishing and mining. One project focused on supplying disposable and eco-friendly packaging for takeout food at an affordable price.

The hope is that the church would also benefit financially from the women’s new skills.

Joyce Maramba (left) and an unnamed women attend the workshop. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UMNS.

 

“The church coffers have dwindled to the extent that operations have been affected, hence the need to empower women with entrepreneurship skills with the hope that they would plough back to the church,” said Mutsa Mujaji, stewardship and temperance committee chair.

Although some women had the skills to start businesses, he said capital remained a challenge.

“We want to thank Homelink for coming up with the offer as some of our people had the skills but did not have the capital to start the businesses,” Mujaji said.

Homelink, an arm of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, provides financial and property services in Zimbabwe, including short-term loans.

Mujaji said upon satisfying the money-lending institution’s requirements, the beneficiaries would start receiving the loans per their proposals.

Grace Tsikai, one of the workshop’s participants, lauded the training.

“We have benefited a lot as the workshop has empowered the women toward starting their own businesses as opposed to looking for employment,” she said. “The economic situation we are faced with needs capital projects that continuously generate funds for a living,” she said.

The first workshop took place in late September and another session is planned in the first quarter of 2018.

The church modeled its program after a Zimbabwean government initiative, led by the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, that helps women start income-generating activities. Through Internal Savings and Lending training, women are able to form clusters, pull their financial resources together and start businesses.

Chingwe is communications coordinator for the Zimbabwe East Annual Conference.

News media contact: Vicki Brown at (615) 742-5470 or [email protected]. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free Daily or Weekly Digests. 


Like what you're reading? Support the ministry of UM News! Your support ensures the latest denominational news, dynamic stories and informative articles will continue to connect our global community. Make a tax-deductible donation at ResourceUMC.org/GiveUMCom.

Sign up for our newsletter!

Subscribe Now
Faith Stories
Susie and Ed Keefer pose with Miriam, age 4, in Kinshasa, Congo, in 2013. Shortly afterward, Miriam went home with the Keefers to the United States. The matching outfits were a gift from Dr. Rebecca Yohadi. Photo courtesy of Susie Keefer.

From mission volunteer to adoptive mom

When Susie Keefer traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2010, little did she know it would be the first of many mission journeys.
Mission and Ministry
The Rev. Jonathan Baker and Donna Baker are overwhelmed as water gushes forth from a well in Wembo Nyama, Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2016. The local people had been praying for water for decades. New Covenant United Methodist Church in The Villages, Fla., and its Lake Deaton United Methodist Church campus in Wildwood, Fla., raised the money for this first well in the Sankuru Province of Central Congo. Photo by the Rev. Jim Divine.

Calling led couple to ministry in Congo

The Rev. Jonathan Baker, former conference council on ministries director, and registered nurse Donna Baker shared their skills with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mission and Ministry
John Kodjo (standing), a member of Mapamboli United Methodist Church in Kinshasa, Congo, tries to salvage things from his flooded home. Torrential rains and flooding on April 5 damaged over 1,000 homes in the area and killed at least 33 people. Kodjo’s family fled on the roof of their home. Photo by the Rev. Fiston Okito, UM News.

Floods devastate United Methodists in Congo

Thousands have been displaced and two United Methodist churches have been damaged by flooding in Kinshasa, the country’s capital.

United Methodist Communications is an agency of The United Methodist Church

©2025 United Methodist Communications. All Rights Reserved