Theresa walked into the bank to withdraw the funds for April’s giant, monthly grocery shop, in which the community hires trucks to go around Ndola and return to the Living Compassion property heaped with dozens of sacks of mealie meal, soya chunks, cartons of eggs, cooking oil, salt, rice, and peanuts, Veggies and other side items come from Kantolomba. “Who did your hair?” asked the woman counting out piles of Kwacha. “It’s lovely!”
Within the week, the bank teller had an appointment to come out to Kantolomba to have her hair done. Kantolomba is a long way from town, and it’s a big deal to go that distance when dozens of hair-plaiting options can be found much closer to home.
As Theresa related this encounter on a weekly call, she said the woman doing the hair-plaiting “wasn’t all that good at first.”
“She started to come around the Living Compassion property about ten years ago and she had very good prices for plaiting,” Theresa said. “As she continued her business, she has become the best in the area. We all use her for our hair now. She has taught her daughters the trade and they now make a livable wage with their family plaiting business. They do a very good job every single time.”
It's so fun when the process of Practice shows up in a particular content. The process: Start small. Stay with it. Don’t quit. Pay attention to detail. Build mastery. And since the process is the outcome, the “result” is success, and that success ripples out. Theresa was inspired and told us the story, and that sparked a whole new level of conversation about the entrepreneurial possibilities for our young women. These young women will begin their own journey of mastery that will, no doubt, encourage the younger girls in the community.
We shall keep you posted as it all unfolds!