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Walking back from the market
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My basketball team has been wanting to get experience in selling food for a long time. They realize that I only have less than five months here in Mozambique and they want to learn how to generate income when I'm not here to help organize ways for them to buy new basketballs.
June 25th was Mozambique's Independence Day and we sold egg sandwiches in the town's plaza. We organized a committee to go grocery shopping with me, another to help prepare the sandwiches and another to sell them in the city.
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| Teamwork, ladies! |
We were able to sell 45 sandwiches and people kept saying how delicious they were. One person bought five of them for himself! At first, the girls talked to the customers with little confidence, as they looked down and covered their mouths with their hands. By the time we were almost finished selling the food, they were speaking louder, making eye contact, and smiling with the customers.
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| Our little set-up in the backyard on a mat |
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| Frying eggs requires skills |
After the event, we discussed what we liked about the fundraiser and what we would do differently next time.
What we would change:
- We made too many sandwiches. Although we were able to sell them, we were out later than what we expected because we were trying to sell all of them.
- The girls were supposed to be at my house at 7 am, but didn't arrive until 7:30 am because they had to finish their house chores. Next time I'll ask them to come at 6 am, so that maybe they'll arrive at 6:30 am.
- We originally sold our egg sandwiches for 20 meticais, which is about 65 cents in USD. Many people in my community can't afford that price on just one egg sandwich, so we dropped it to 15 meticais, or 50 cents. In other words, it's essential to make sure there's a market for what you're selling and that it's affordable for community members.
What we would do again:
- The girls know how to cook some egg sandwiches! We will most likely cooking them soon.
- We would definitely sell them in the city again during a special event when it's crowded.
- We will continue to be organized by setting up different committees and tallying how many sandwiches we are selling throughout the day.
- We will emphasize the importance of hygiene while cooking and looking presentable when selling food. We discussed washing hands with soap and water before, during, and after cooking. Also, wearing clean clothes while selling food is a must because people might not want to buy our sandwiches as they may assume that the environment in which the food was cooked was unsanitary.
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| The girls engaging with the famished customers |
The girls want to have fundraisers every weekend, but I had to tell them that I don't have enough time in my busy schedule to help generate income. However, I recommended that they find someone in the community to spearhead the project, or they can do it again by themselves. We'll at least do one more fundraiser together before I leave.
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| My basketball team and I in our town |
In sum, the egg sandwich fundraiser was a success. It was an awesome way for the team-mates to bond with each other and I got to know them on a personal level. They were in charge of selling the sandwiches and I just supervised the young women.
The team players appeared more confident as they communicated with people on the street more and more. They were practicing business, leadership and social skills. This might not seem like a big deal, but this is monumental. Why? Well, women's roles in many places in Mozambique, including my town, are traditional. A lot of women are not expected to be leaders and go to college. Generally, women are expected to cook, clean, and bear children. I want to challenge this perspective, although there is nothing wrong with a woman who assumes these roles. I would like to show these young women that there are other options in life, such as attending college, playing sports, becoming entrepreneurs, living abroad, and being leaders.
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| Some of my best friends in Mozambique |
