2019

Michelle Charamaba, 19, arrived with her daughter Mukudzei for the WAP soap training in Epworth. Michelle was worried because her child was ill and she could not afford medicine. Her story began when she went to the home of her boyfriend and slept with him. She was afraid that her parents would reject her so she stayed at his house until she learned she was pregnant, at which her threw her out. Luckily her parents were forgiving. She left school in 2017 when she about to take the exam for Form 4 – an important credential. She loves the soap project and has sold six bottles when we met. (IG)

Rejoice, 17, with her mother Mary Capuzrua 36, and young brother Timok (10 months). Rejoice dropped out of school at 13 because the family could not pay her school fees.  Uniforms and food are extra. Her father is a mechanic and earns 60 bond a week. They eat 2 meals a day, relying heavily on the toasted maize (maputi) School cost 85 bond a month. Of the 4 children, two attend school. Rejoice likes being with the other girls, while her mother says: “It helps us a lot as parents. We hope to share the sales.” Mary understands the pressure on girls to get married “if their parents get divorced and because of poverty.” Rejoice had just sold 3 bottles of soap @ 20 bond which is what the family earns in a week and was feeling proud. “I liked it, I was happy.” (IG)

Tanatswa Sachiti has to walk 3 kms to school and back every day and was suffering from bad shoes when we met her in December 2019. Her sister, Evelyn (left) is the ambassador in Chitungwiza. The two sisters star in the 2019 video “The Soap Makers of Chitungwiza.

At 14, Shylin was the youngest trainee to attend the Chitungwiza soap training. She was forced to leave school in 2018 after her father was paralyzed in an accident. When we met her, Shylin was spending 8 hours a day selling charcoal in the Chitungwiza market. (IG)