Florence’s Story: Hardworking Widow in Demand & Changing Her Life Sewing Shweshwe Products
In one week Florence Mudzivo’s life has changed radically for the better… thanks to knocking on the right door (and to hard work, perseverance and the kindness of South Africans!). The 53-year-old Zimbabwean widow sadly lost her husband in 2011 and was left alone to single-handedly provide for her four children and one grandchild. With […]
In one week Florence Mudzivo’s life has changed radically for the better… thanks to knocking on the right door (and to hard work, perseverance and the kindness of South Africans!).
The 53-year-old Zimbabwean widow sadly lost her husband in 2011 and was left alone to single-handedly provide for her four children and one grandchild.
With no previous business or trade experience, she decided to teach herself to sew…
“Florence knocked on my door on Women’s Day 2017 to sell her lovely Shweshwe style waterproof picnic blankets with handles, placemats, oven gloves and other goods,” says small business owner, Amanda Stergianos.
Amanda was so impressed with the quality and style of her products, as well as her ‘can do’ attitude, that she decided to help Florence find an online route to market that would take her off the pavements and hopefully change Florence’s family’s life by providing a steady stream of orders and income… so that Florence can do what she does well – sew!
Florence is assisted by her 24-year-old daughter Ruthi, who helps sew at home.
Amanda posted photos of Florence and her Shweshwe goods on her Facebook page, and told friends her plan to help Florence get a break and kick start a better life.
Within 24 hours, the post had over 300 shares and Florence had received more than 60 orders… growing hourly!!
Amanda has now dedicated a page of her online home-ware store to Florence, so the seamstress can trade using Amanda’s existing infrastructure and staff… until she’s ready to set up on her own.
Amanda says: “I am helping her fulfil the orders from my home in Cape Town, and we will post them nationwide for her. Proceeds go to Florence & Co.”
Florence never went to school, so it’s her dream to educate her family.
“We are going to try and get her into Cape Town markets and grow her little business so that her family can be comfortable and she can finish educating her children,” says Amanda.
“Due to literacy, she’s currently not able to manage her own Facebook page or E-commerce site (yet) but we hope to get there. Thus, we’ve set up a managed trading page for her as a first step. We will monitor every order to ensure they reach her – and her product reaches customers. We need to show her kindness and patience, she is not a corporate businessperson.”
Amanda says: “Thank you to all the lovely people on Facebook for your encouraging messages, sharing her post and orders, I do read them to her. Florence is truly overwhelmed with gratitude. We can all do our bit to change her and her family’s lives, one order at a time.
“If you would like to support Florence, please tell others about her products. It’s lovely stuff and it’s a life changer for these women.”
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