18 Dec 2013

Challenges of life should not let us down but instead let every situation create an opportunity, we should therefore think hard of becoming victorious than lamenting for when there is no pain there is no gain, this was said by 46 year old Queen Mojombe.


The Kisa born uses creativity and tree planting to triumph over challenges of life. Mojombe makes vases, bowls and pots to hit the hard ways of life and for commercial use thus earning a living.
 Initially she did embroidery and knitting to beat lonely and stressful moments then the desire for doing more and various artifacts evoked.

However it was not easy to come up with an idea of what she could do. She said with the endless thinking of challenges of life, the pain of the degradation of her goat farming project strongly hit her heart and realised that weeping will not help her, she saw it vital to come up with strategies of overcoming the pain of her poor performing goat farming project.

Ms Mojombe said she then realised that she can use the droppings of her lambs to decorate vases and sell them to buy supplementary feeds that will in return sustain her goats in this drought spell. She revealed that she tried to make paper mash and mould it which successfully worked and she made bowls and vases of various sizes and decorated them with varnished stones and lamb droppings.

She made numerous of these products as trials and decorated her home and her visitors demanded and advertised them, they sold out like fat cakes. The multiplication of sales and high demand motivated her to continue the project with passion and devotion.

She explained that during the production process her products most of her stress gets off loaded as she gains new ideas and great inspiration.
 Ms Mojombe’s products are accompanied by the nursery that she got through the help of the department of forestry.

According to Mojombe the trees that she sell are drought proof , she further stated that she engaged in selling trees as they play a pivotal role as they are a source of life for both animals and human beings, provide shade, and are also a source of medicine.

She enjoys a good market share in Kisa and neighbouring villages. She also takes her products along with her when she goes to other villages such as Tsabong and always gets back home empty handed but with a loaded purse.

Ms Mojombe further revealed that the department of Social and Community Development(S&CD) and department of Forestry also help her with marketing her products by taking her to various events and shows to exhibit her products.


She said through the help of S&CD, she attended poverty eradication and home economics workshops that has helped with Book keeping, business management and ethics.

She boasted that the eye catching products are given great aesthetic appreciation by customers, thus provoking cash sales.‘ ’The beauty of my products attracts a large number of customers and convinces them that my products are worthy and does not deserve to be bought on credit, as a result my project is not challenged by credit sales, said Mojombe.


Ms Mojombe stated that her competitor is Mrs Ntau who is also situated in Kisa, but they are not really competing but are more like business partners as they cooperate and can refer clients to one another; they also help one another with material and ideas.


Ms Mojombe said her siblings support her with this project as they stretch out a helping hand in gathering materials, moulding, varnishing the vases and watering the plants, through this it creates a platform for her kids to gain knowledge on creativity, a great lesson on fighting stress and self-reliance.

Ms Mojombe said her project is challenged by lack of transport, citing that she cannot take enough of her products when going to other places and the demand is always higher than her supply, denying her profits.

She also decried using her profit to make ends meet which disadvantages her as it can deposit shortage of funds to buy necessary material such as glue and varnish thus bringing the production process to a halt.

She also lamented water shortage which hinders the plants. Hardwork, dedication and loyalty to her customers are what keeps Mojombe going. Reasonable pricing which ranges from P35 to P75 per vase and P5 to P25 for trees, also favors Mojombe’s project.


The Kisa born said she is does not make huge profits but regardless of her business being small with the faith she has she looks forward and believes that in future she will have a big garden that everyone will desire to host their events at.

She also looks forward to have a shop specialising in arts and creativity products. 
 Ms Mojombe urged Batswana to remain courageous in times of hardships therefore when the going gets tough they should not fall on their knees weakened by their problems but should stand strong in great faith.

She further said lamenting a lot about their problems will create room for stress in their lives which is not good for their health.

Ms Mojombe advised people to come up with constructive strategies of overcoming their problems and should practise mind distraction activities such as singing, creating and even dancing as this can help them unearth their talent and skill that can help them even make a living like her. ENDS