A Change of Heart
Youth member changes her income, opportunity, and her attitude
Participants of FIOVANA say their lives changed because of the project: more money, fewer diseases, better opportunities, and easier access to education, healthcare, market, and more. Thirty-year-old Jouelah agrees that her life has changed in those expected ways but admits FIOVANA did more than change her circumstances: it changed her heart.
“Like the word fiovana means, everything in my life changed,” she said.
“The biggest change was in my personality and character. People often said I was hot-tempered, but the project helped to change that character.”
Part of the change came because she was selected to lead the FIOVANA youth platform in her community, an opportunity for Jouelah to learn about human rights, women’s rights, leadership training, and income generating activities, with the purpose of sharing the knowledge among the members in her youth group. Another part of the change came as she embarked on a soap making activity and learned that a successful businesswoman must be personable and approachable.
“Before selling your product, you sell yourself,” she said. “You have to be friendly.”
The more Jouelah connected with clients and the peers in her youth group, the more she reflected on her past and envisioned a new future for herself and her daughter.
“I got pregnant at twenty-two,” she said. “I raised my daughter with my parents, and I was a burden on them. Now I can take charge of my own life, and I even help my parents. I learned so many lessons for my personal life about how to behave, how to manage myself, and how to take care of my money.”
As a soap maker, her opportunities for self-sufficiency have grown far beyond what she expected before FIOVANA, back when she was selling miscellaneous items at a small general store and trying to start a basketmaking business.
“Before the project, my mother took care of both me and my daughter,” she said. “What little income I got from my baskets went all toward my needs and the needs of my daughter. I had no savings left.”
When FIOVANA offered her the opportunity to learn soap making, complete with training and tools, she accepted immediately, even when some of her peers resisted an opportunity that seemed like a big investment.
“People are not really interested in participating in activities unless they see tangible results or changes,” she said. “The young people were not motivated to participate because we had to pay a 30 percent deposit for the tools, but once they saw my profit, they became interested in making the same decisions I made.”
Now Jouelah is a successful businesswoman and member of her local Savings and Loan Association (SLA). She produces, on average, 150 bars of soap per week, and thanks to connections she made during a FIOVANA-led youth fair, her sales are steady. She is currently expanding her general store and building her own house.
“I tell young people: take initiative, have the will to begin, and discover if it works or not,” she said. “If not, try something else until you find what works for you. Don’t just sit and wait.”
Jouelah is taking her own advice, and modeling it for her daughter.
“My objective has always been not to rely on my parents, because that is what I’ve always done,” she said. “I want to become an independent woman.”
