by Johan Norman
Moneni Club. That is the name of the textile produce made by some 15 Zambian widows in Garden Compound in Lusaka. Lillian Dover, teacher at the Swedish school, started Moneni Club in 2004 which know sells textile produce in the Swedish school and Dutch Market in Lusaka and even in faraway Furuviksparken Zoo in Gävle, Sweden.
The welcome song from the widows when we arrive at their sewing room is powerful and creates a magic atmosphere. Me and another Swedish spouse has joined Lillian to Garden Compound to visit Moneni Club, the association of around fifteen widows that make their own brand of textile produce. Two times a week the widows gather in the living room of one of the members to sew. Lillian hands out the fabric she bought in Kamwala in the morning. The women start sewing while chatting. Meanwhile Lillian goes through the accounts.
Lillian started the association in 2004. She was helping out as a textile teacher in a Zambian Red Cross project for street kids when a woman approached Lillian and asked her if she could teach some of her friends how to sew too. In the beginning Lillian had to borrow money to Moneni Club but know they make a small profit. 40-50 % of the income goes to purchase and the rest goes to the women. Every item has got the name of the person who made it and she gets the profit.
"This encourages the women to show up and to become better all the time", says Lillian.
Lillian is a textile teacher in a school in Nynäshamn in Sweden and says that she keeps a strict regime when it comes to the quality of the things that Moneni Club produces.
"In the beginning the women thought they knew have to sew better than they actually did and they are very stubborn. You must keep an eye on what they do all the time but their skills have really improved a lot during the years", says Lillian. "Baby blankets, balls for babies and bottle bags are very popular but also quilts and bread baskets sell well"
Since April Moneni Club also runs a chicken farm with about 100 chickens. The project was started by a group of volunteers from Sweden called Jazz. The chickens are sold in the compound and the chicken farm is now starting to make a profit.
Moneni Club has got a stand at the Dutch Market in Lusaka and also sells their produce at the Swedish School on Wednesdays and Thursdays between 11.00 and 16.00. But Moneni Club textiles are also sold in faraway Furuvik Zoo in Gävle in Sweden by the Jane Goodall Institute Sweden within the framework of Roots & Shoots, a global development project.
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