05 Nov 2014

Two women from Tutume have seen it fit to enroll in the poverty eradication programme under the catering projects to help put the pangs of hunger at bay for themselves and their families.

One of the women and a mother of five children, Ms Simisani John is running a promising catering business. In an interview recently, Ms John said she started doing odd jobs for people around Tutume to put bread on the table. She even worked in a kitchen at a certain shop but earned very little to provide for her kids. 

In June 2012, she decided to seek assistance from the Social and Community Development (S&CD) office. The project was approved in July and she attended a one week workshop on running a successful business.

Ms John said she also learnt about food handling, cooking, how to properly serve the clients and different ways to avoid food poisoning.  She said they went on a benchmarking exercise at the University of Botswana where they had a chance to interact with the Food and Nutrition students doing practical work. 

They visited food outlets in Gaborone main mall. They were also taught business management, bookkeeping and how to write business reports, she added.  With the acquired knowledge, she embarked on a catering business by cooking meals and selling in the village while waiting to be provided with equipment by the S&CD. 

It was in September 2014, when she got the equipment and won a tender at Livestock and Advisory Centre (LAC) to cater lunch for 21 people per week.  She said she used the knowledge from the workshop on writing a business proposal, which included food quotation and menu, and it paid off in the end as she landed the tender. 

Ms John said it was hard for her to cater for the event as she did not have enough money to buy all the required ingredients for her meals and had to borrow money from a friend.  She got lucky again when she was given a tender by the Department of Forestry and Range Resources (DFRR) to cater for 14 people three meals for a four days’ workshop. 

Ms John said she joined hands with one of the poverty eradication beneficiaries under the bakery projects. She started marketing her business by producing pamphlets and placing them in different offices around the village.

She thanked the social workers for the support and advice they give her.  Furthermore, Ms John is in the process of finding a place of operation and employing an assistant. The hardworking lady has managed to save some of the money from the tenders to buy school uniforms for her children. 

She urged other women in the village to take this opportunity to benefit from poverty eradication projects and better their lives and that of their families. Another beneficiary, Ms Loni Masalila also runs a MmaSalon food catering business after attending two workshops organised by the S&CD office. 

She said her first tender was in March 2014 at Jamataka where she provided breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack.  Ms Masalila said S&CD office also gave her equipment, which include a four burner stove, cylinder, four chairs, two tables, dinner plates, spoons, chafing dishes, fridge and serving bowls. 

Ms Masalila has managed to employ two people who assist her to prepare food and also hired a vehicle to transport her. She also sells fat cakes in the village.  She said with her earnings, she would be able to complete her two roomed house, pay for garbage collection and electricity connection. 

Social workers, she said visit her to monitor progress and advise accordingly.  Her employees, she said have undergone medical examinations as they handle food and provide catering services to the public.

Ms Masalila said she also shared business information with her neighbors to encourage them to seek assistance to better their lives.  ENDS