Moshi, TZ – Employment and hard work help a mother build her business – 26 Feb 2016

Mama Elias in her new shop.

Hard work is paying off for Mama Elias and her six children. In two years she has gone from selling small items out of a stick and mud hut to running a proper local grocery store in a concrete block room. She was also awarded a bicycle as an outstanding employee of Tupendane. The bicycle means she no longer has to walk 16 kilometers round trip each day for her work at Mwangaria Primary School.

Mama Elias was hired by Tupendane to run Mwangaria Primary School’s organic gardening program. As the program leader she harvested over 30 kilograms of vegetables per week at the school garden and helped 22 families start gardens at their homes. Between commuting to the school each day and making home visits to the 22 families, Mama Elias was logging a lot of kilometers walking! Given this, she was very appreciative of being awarded a new bicycle.

Mama Elias showing how she used to sell goods in her old shop.

In addition to being appreciative, she was also very careful with budgeting her monthly salary from Tupendane. Budgeting allowed her to save money so she could eventually replace her small stick and mud store with a concrete block store that was well-stocked with household necessities. Having a good inventory means Mama Elias makes more money off her business and it means her neighbors have to walk less to get basic goods like cooking oil, salt, flour, and vegetables.

The family is now saving money to start a chicken project. They will be able to sell the eggs out of their shop for 500 TZS (US $0.25) each.