24 Jul 2013

Ms Delliwe Bimbo, 27, is not the kind of youngster who will sit down and let unemployment challenges take charge of her life.

The Maralaleng-born took advantage of her youthfulness and channeled her energy towards a sustainable business that can put bread on her table, courtesy of Youth Development Fund initiative. Hers is a wrestle against the monstrous unemploymenet as she decided to set up her business enterprise more than 130 km away from her native home.

Realising that the population of Botswana consists of mostly the youth who are facing the impacts of unemployment more than any other category, Ms Bimbo charted into business to stay afloat of the vulnerabilities of engaging in bad habits such as alcohol and drug abuse.

She established Delliwe’s Hair Salon which started its operations in 2007 in Middlepits, 100 km southwest of Tsabong. She opted for Middlepits as there was no hair salon in that village and its neighbouring villages and thus making her enterprise marketable.

She said she chose hair dressing as it is a career that she encountered with while she was still very young. “In my early childhood I used to plait dolls and do various hair styles on their heads. As I matured so did my passion for hair dressing,” she said.

Though her Junior Certificate results were not good enough to guarantee her a place at a senior secondary school, Ms Bimbo turned to the trade of hairdressing since it was the only one which could help her realise her potential while at the same time earning some income.

She started with some backyard operations until in 2007 when she applied for YDF after realising that the backyard operation limited her from soaring into what she envisaged.

Though she is a sole salon operator, she is still facing challenges, not of competition though. Middlepits cluster is faced with water scarcity and therefore hampering salon operations.

Consequently, Ms Bimbo was compelled to relocate her salon to Tsabong where, in comparison to Middlepits, water supply is better. Notwithstanding, the reliable water supply in Tsabong, Ms Bimbo is now exposed to competition though she admits she has managed to survive the latter’s wrath.

She prides her salon with hair dressers she calls ‘assets’ as they work diligently to please her clients while she provides an environment conducive for their exposition. She further states that she does not make huge profit, but through hard work, perseverance and patience she is certain that the business will definitely grow.

Ms Bimbo said she would like to expand her business into a beauty parlour and boutique which will be a glamorous one stop centre for beauty and fashion. These can be achieved through enthusiasm, team work, sophistication and using a wide range of hair products, according to Delliwe.

She lauds government with praise for availing youth empowerment schemes that could see young people graduating from poverty if fully utilised. ENDS