Page 29 - YMS Africa Magazine 3rd Quarter 2017 Online-1

Junior Rudo Mazhandu tion increasing significantly. Her net income has grown from
$800/month to between $1500- $2000/month. She employs up
to seven casual workers regularly to fill orders.
Zimbabwe
Rudo’s story is the JA story. It is not terribly different from that
of many young people today all over the African continent. It is
Achievement a story of difficulty and of hope, of challenge and perseverance,
of dreams and of achievement. It is a story that shows that it
is possible when young people set their minds to make their
dreams possible, and what happens when they get the support
they need.

Africa Hilary

Augustino

Prepares Africa's Youth When she graduated from university with a BSc in Chemical Msacky
Engineering, 31-year-old Rudo Mazhandu faced the reality
of unemployment in Zimbabwe’s challenging job market. She
To Succeed In A Global tried to get work in the public sector as a secondary school Tanzania
teacher; but the pay was low and her skills were being un-
derutilized. She left the job in less than a year. In December
Hilary founded Uhuru Bricks in 2015. It is a service providing
Economy 2014, Rudo decided to start her own soap making business. business based on improving the environment through garden-
Rudo registered her company which trades as Home and Beau-
ing, proper usage of sustainable energy and pavement blocks
ty Solutions. “All of 2014 I didn’t have a record of what I was
doing,” Rudo says. “For me, I was doing business but in reality, making. The company’s vision is to be among the leading
I wasn’t.” companies in making quality paving blocks, landscape, gar-
Junior Achievement (JA) Africa unlocks the economic potential of Receiving training in entrepreneurship from Junior Achieve- den designing and experts and suppliers of outdoor solar light-
ing and garden drip irrigation at affordable rates and acceptable
African youth by educating them in entrepreneurial skills, work ment Zimbabwe (JAZ) in March 2016 was a turning point in standards. Their mission is to serve and assist clients in paving
Rudo’s business. She was trained in customer care, marketing,
readiness and financial literacy. It gives young people the knowl- record keeping and adherence to operating regulations, which blocks needed for driveways, walkways, parking lots, and to
create peaceful environmental surroundings with landscape
edge and skills to start and manage their own businesses and to transformed the way she conducted her business. and garden designing at fair and market competitive prices.
“I was operating in a very small room, the training opened ave-
apply entrepreneurial thinking to solve everyday problems. nues of operating with growth in mind. I moved from the small Starting this venture has helped Hilary maintain a definite
source of income which has improved her life and the lives of
JA Africa’s entrepreneurship programs reach students in and out of room and I am currently renting a much bigger warehouse for those around her.
my business,” Rudo says. She has also mechanized her oper-
the classroom, giving them the opportunities to start and run ation through procurement of an electric mixing bowler, an She has had the privilege to go out and share the knowledge
she received through the training from Junior Achievement, by
businesses and to become familiar with the realities of being improvement from a previously manual drum mixing method. helping others start their very own businesses, manage them
“Zimbabweans use six million bars of soap each year,” Rudo
business owners. explains. “Only one million bars are made locally. So, there is a and improve their standards of living. Her personal experience
has been part of the reference case studies she uses when she
With more than 100-member countries, the JA Worldwide network is powered by five million bar deficit, which is filled by imports.” trains different people, most of whom are eager to know the
Within this market, Rudo found her niche. She focuses on
over 470,000 volunteers and mentors, who serve more than 10 million young people making soaps that lather in hard water, targeting primarily the ups and downs of any venture. Her ability to share a personal
around the world each year. JA has operations in 14 African nations reaching more very poor who use hard water. “Most of the soaps in the market experience has a profound impact on them.
than 200,000 youth annually. don’t lather in hard water, the people like my soap because it Hilary was a member of the national winning company that
represented JA Tanzania at the 2015 Africa Company of the
Rudo Mazhandu, Sonia Apollo Ruhizi and Hilary Augustino Msacky are some of the lathers,” Rudo explains. Year competition. The team won the Barclays innovation award
young leaders whose entrepreneurial spark was ignited by JA Africa. They are now Rudo’s business is growing. Receiving big orders at a time, cou- and placed 2nd in the competition overall.
pled with improved marketing resulted in volumes of produc-
running successful businesses in different parts of the continent.

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