Josephine's Story

Josephine grew up with her mother. Her parents were divorced. She went to school up to grade 4. She stayed at home but did farm work as a child to help her Mother. She had a son at the age of 14. He is now 19. She met her husband at the age of 16. Her husband was from Zimbabwe but stayed in Zambia for his work. They married when she was still 16. She married young due to her parents’ divorce (it was difficult for her mother to care for her so she got married). Josephine and her husband divorced and he doesn’t come to see them. Since he left, she has been laboring in various farmers’ fields to get money to support her children. Her husband does not support them in any way. Josephine is a farmer and her main crop is peanuts. She harvests ground nuts (peanuts) and sells them. She uses what she has sold to help rent land again to grow another crop. Her goal is to expand to 3 acres to harvest maize (corn), ground nuts and sweet potatoes. Then she sells from this harvest and also supplies food for her family. She does this work with her little sons. She is a very hard working woman! She is currently raising two orphans – these children came from an uncle of hers who passed away (they are her cousins). Josephine is currently in the sewing class of God Is Grace in Zambia. She is also making bricks out of mud and has built all the buildings on this property herself. A hut takes about 9 - 10 days to build. Josephine will use her abilities as a farmer, a brick maker and hopefully, a seamstress, to support her family.