Micro Enterprises Galore

The first time I visited Zambia I was struck by the people with disabilities that I saw with their own “shops.” A way of life in Zambia is to sell goods in your neighborhood or along the side of the road. You see these selling stands nearly everywhere. I have seen several people with disabilities selling their own goods.
There is a pervasive lack of transition planning and programs in Zambia. We spent a great deal of time talking with policy makers about this need. Yet at the same time families and neighbors understand that if people with disabilities can be taught to make and sell something or to sell fruits and vegetables they can make a living. Mikala was sharing how they had at one time tried to teach a few children how to make sunflower oil by pressing seeds (sunflower oil is their stable cooking oil). While this effort in the end failed because it took so long for the children to hand press oil, it is such an indication of the creative thought yet simple idea to promote self-reliability and sustainability for people with disabilities as they grow older.