“A girl aged 16 years got married. She found it had to carry out home chores and would always wish she was in school whenever she saw her friends going to school in uniforms” narrates a Mr. Mtonga of Chinkhamu Area Association in Lundazi.

Fortunately for her, when Women for Change came into the area, the girl attended the first gender sensitisation session held by staff and friends who had accepted the message of Women for Change and immediately made up her mind to divorce.

She had only stayed in marriage for three months. She divorced and went back to her parents where she joined a youth group under the area association and was able to participate in activities to empower youths.

The girl narrates, “Now Women for Change has brought my humanity back to life. I was lost but now I have been found.”

Youths of marriage age in the area have also opted to join youth groups instead of rushing into marriages as they say  this will help develop their personal lives as they have realised that living in groups enables them to share knowledge concerning bettering their lives.

The youths also expressed happiness to carry out exchange visits between area associations which had enabled them to learn new things and exchange new ideas on their personal lives as well as be able to work together to develop their respective areas.

And a Mr. Mtonga noted that since the coming of Women for Change in the area, people have exhibited a lot of cooperation in doing self help projects

“It is clearly seen that here in our area, there was no cooperation in doing some projects together surrounding the community school. There had been quarrels for so long, segregations among the communities. Survival was for the strongest. But now with Women for Change, most people have learnt to work together in the area associations in which they have been organised.” He noted.

As a result of the entrance by Women for Change in the area, early marriages are reducing and many youths are going back to school after realising the importance of education through sensitisation workshops.

Before WfC came in, it was mostly through piece works that people were making their livelihoods in almost half of Chief Magodi’s area while others spent much of their time begging for handouts.

It is apparently clear that government handouts in form of relief food were making the people in the area lazy and unable to fend for their selves. But after WfC held a number of community sensitisation workshops in the area for community members since April 2008, community members have learnt to preserve food, they have bought livestock such as pigs, goats and other commodities for their income generating activities.

The change in the short time that women for Change has been in the area is evident that participatory development pays off as it empowers the people not just with the material benefit but also improves their capacities to be self reliant in their whole lives.