Pasture Valley Farm & Children's Home

Bambanani in the Siswati language means “ Holding hands together" or "Working together”.

The Bambanani project, which aims to provide HIV-affected women with business and skills training and a forum for the discussion of issues relevant to those living in poverty, is a project of Caring for Shiselweni, an NGO based in the Shiselweni region of eSwatini. The project, which began in March 2010 is an income-generating and skills training project, which provides approximately 100 women and a small number of men from 5 different communities in the Shiselweni region of Eswatini with the empowerment, education, and practical skills required to support themselves and their families.

The induction of a new group begins with a 2-day workshop focusing on the basics of entrepreneurship, product development, marketing, quality control, and business management, in addition to team-building, followed by weekly meetings where group members will learn to create unique handcrafted items. It is the goal of this project that each of the 100 women and men participating in these initial workshops gain the skills to either participate in a small business or start their own business.

Bambanani, in SiSwati, means “holding hands” or “supporting one another.” It is an appropriate name for this project for two reasons: (1) the crafts created by each participant will be made by hand using locally sourced materials, and (2) the groups formed by the project will provide a social and emotional support network for the women involved.

The goal of the Bambanani project is to empower 100 HIV-affected women in the Shiselweni region by providing them with business and handicraft skills training, education on health and sexual rights, and a forum for the discussion of relevant poverty-related issues over a period of 24 months. More specifically, the Bambanani project’s objectives are:

1. To provide training on entrepreneurship and small business management to at least 100 women affected by HIV in the Shiselweni region;

2. To provide at least 100 women with skills training in both traditional and non-traditional handicrafts; 

3. To create a network of 5 Bambanani groups to provide emotional, spiritual and psychosocial support for HIV-positive women or those affected by HIV/AIDS;

4. To make the artisans aware of local resources that can provide additional support; and

Though the focus of the Bambanani project is to benefit disadvantaged women, Caring for Shiselweni, Pasture Valley and Shiselweni Reformed Church Home Based Care also recognize the importance of including particularly disadvantaged men in the project.

The locations of the various groups and the products made by each group are: 

Dwaleni:

• paper bead necklaces, 

• earrings

• bracelets

Mbangweni: 

• Embroidered clothe bags 

• pencil cases,

• e-reader bags, 

• iPad bags

• colourful sisal earrings

Maseyesini: 

• Pressed flower greeting cards

• Animal sewn cards

• Hair bands

Makhonza: 

• Crochet clothe bags

• Recycled plastic bags

• Crochet shoes

• Children’s dresses

Siteki: 

• Embroidery bags 

• Clutch bags and pencil cases

Caring for Shiselweni, a non-governmental organization (NGO), was first registered in Swaziland in 2005.

The organization’s objectives are:

1. To make a social and economic impact on the poverty-stricken Shiselweni region by combining the resources of local people and various organizations.

2. To care for and uplift orphans and children that have been abused.