In Livingstone, Zambia, Ines, a mother of nine, has turned a simple baking recipe into a lifeline. She sells 400 buns a day, and this activity has significantly improved her family’s life over the past two years.
Ines’s day starts at five in the morning, mixing large quantities of flour, sugar, water, and yeast. As her dough rises outside their modest house, so does her family’s hope. After preparing her dough, she walks down to the local market. There, she bakes trays of buns in her stall’s charcoal ovens. On good days, she earns 600 Zambian Kwacha, nearly £28, a significant sum for her family.
Previously, Ines’s children had to assist her at the market, as there were no funds for their schooling, and Ines had to buy baking supplies on credit – forcing the family into debt each time. The income from selling buns was barely enough to cover their basic needs, especially as, in addition to her own nine children, Ines also cares for her grandchildren and a child who had lost his parents.
'The situation was very difficult, and I felt the pain inside me. I worked as hard as I could so that my children could have a better life. Always looking for opportunities to earn money, so that the children would not have to beg from the neighbours,'
It didn’t help that the little her husband earned from odd jobs rarely benefited the family.
However, their lives took a turn for the better on July 21, 2016, when they became part of the SOS Children’s Villages Family Strengthening programme in Zambia. This programme helps ensure children who are at risk don’t lose parental care, supporting 374 families and almost 2000 children in Livingstone alone.
This programme significantly improved Ines’s family situation through three critical interventions:
- The children’s school expenses were covered by SOS Children’s Villages for two terms.
- Ines joined one of SOS Children’s Villages’ savings and loan groups.
- Ines received four 50-kilo bags of flour.
With these changes, Ines no longer had to buy flour on credit. She was able to save some money, and her children started eating three meals a day. Her husband also began to assist more at the market stall, and their children returned to school one by one.
Her daughter Betty*, aged 12, recounts how their lives have changed: “Before, we only ate one meal a day; now, we eat three. I have also started school, which I really enjoy.”
The change has allowed Ines to begin dreaming again. ‘I am able to save a little money, so that maybe I can buy an electric oven, and who knows, we might even be able to afford a larger house,’ she says optimistically.
At present, the older children sleep at a neighbour’s house due to limited space. The younger ones share a room, sleeping on blankets, and Ines and her husband occupy the other. SOS Children’s Villages continues to provide the family with financial advice to expand their business and perhaps even start a bakery. The goal is that the family will soon be able to leave the programme and become self-sufficient with the guidance and business support that they’ve received.
For Betty, these changes mean she has parents who no longer need to worry constantly about their survival. She also finds joy in helping with the baking on Saturdays. “With the education I’m getting now, I know I’ll be able to take care of myself when I grow up. My dream is to become a teacher one day,” she says.
Thank you to our partner Mars Ireland for their support of the Family Strengthening programme in Zambia. Through the funds raised by their Chew for Change campaign, run each year in Ireland, we can support more families like Ines’, helping them build a better future and ensuring at risk children are happy, safe and secure with their parents.
