Meeting the Mummas

Day 5!

Amy got home last night, which was so fantastic! Whilst it hasn't been that long since we've seen each other, it felt like decades of stories that we had to catch up on. It's good to have her here.

Yesterday was my first taste into my life with SEW. As communications manager, my role with SEW will be to grow their market within Arusha, their international markets, develop a marketing plan, negotiate propositions for partnerships and joint ventures, whilst making sure all the Mummas are happy and Herman, the project manager, is doing a great job.

Herman is a Tanzanian man and is the first male to ever take on the role of a project manager for SEW. As all the Mummas are of course female, SEW require a female representative to ensure that the women are comfortable and that the workshop is running efficiently. Herman is a lovely man; soft, attentive and motivated to make this social enterprise a success. He has a family of his own with 4 boys. He's promised to take me to his home one weekend so I can meet them. We have already developed a great relationship and he provided a great initiation for me yesterday, taking me on my first Dalla Dalla - the local bus here.

Whilst I haven't been able to spend that much time with the women as of yet, what I have learnt is that they are incredible; jovial, happy and grateful. I look forward to learning their individual stories as I go on with SEW and sharing their stories with you. A lot of the women are widows because they're husbands have abandoned them when they were diagnosed. A couple also have children. There are 10 Mummas in total and it is rare that you will have all 10 in the workshop at once. Mostly everyday one will be sick as they will have to attend the clinic/ hospital or are not feeling well. Generally by 2.30pm they start to get tired and lack a lot of energy. Their working hours are from 8.30am to 4.00pm and within that time they make approximately 2 bags.

People are shamed in society if they are HIV positive and many of the women are divorcees because of it. SEW pride themselves on their ability to pay a reasonable wage and therefore provide these women the opportunity to not only care for themselves but put their children through school. Asinta, one of the Mummas, is the primary bread winner in the family, a rarity for Tanzanian life.

It's an eye opening experience and I'm learning everyday.

I had my first board meeting with Australia today over Skype and I'm straight into it. First points on the agenda are meeting with two South African women who are interested in a joint venture aswell as Zanzibar Fashion Week on the 25th October. Other than that, Nicki has lined up a long list of people for me to meet with that want to be involved in SEW. It's all systems go!