“My ex-husband used to beat me up almost every day. At some point, he got into a secret affair with another woman, and when I confronted him, he turned abusive. One day, I collapsed and fell unconscious due to excessive beating. Thus, I divorced him,” Ndapilira narrated her ordeal.
Ndapilira*, a 31-year-old single mother with five children, three male and two female, comes from Kajawo Village under GVH Ntenje in the area of Traditional Authority Machinjiri in Blantyre District. What started as a promising married life turned into a nightmare as her marriage turned out so abusive. Just like other 38 women in every 100 in rural areas in Malawi, Ndapilira was subjected to acts of GBV that included physical beating, neglect and demeaning words from her ex-husband, whom she divorced afterwards.
As per the matrilineal cultural system, Ndapilira remained with her five children when she divorced her abusive husband. This made her life challenging economically. She used to do piecework to survive with her children. “At times, we could go on an empty stomach for a day or two. As a mother, it was always heart-breaking to see my children hungry yet in a position unable to feed them,” Ndapilira said regarding her ordeal.
In November 2023, Ndapilira was among women and girls who received vocational skills training in various trades, including laundry soap-making training in various trades, including laundry soap-making, under the Commonwealth of Learning’s Empowering Women and Girls Project that CYO is implementing. Following the training, Ndapilira and seven other women formed a group and started a soap-making business. After laundry soap sales, the group shares the dividends on a weekly basis, and Ndapilira uses her share to take care of her household.
“I finalised payment for a piece of land and bought iron sheets for the house I intend to build on that plot. As you can see, I live in a house with solar-powered electricity, a solar system that I bought with profits from soap sales,” Ndapilira proudly explained her accomplishments in the laundry soap-making business.
Despite being a single mother, her soap-making skills and support with basic production equipment have provided her with the long-awaited financial freedom. Aside from the purchases she has made, Ndapilira provides for her children’s needs, like food, clothes, and school amenities, a responsibility that was never easy to carry before she started the soap-making business.
Ndapilira’s story is one of many stories of women and girls that the Empowering Women and Girls project is targeting. CYO is implementing this three-year project in Blantyre and Neno districts with support from Global Affairs Canada through the Commonwealth of Learning.
