Colleta Shonhiwa is a gifted 64-year-old potter.

Born and bred in Dziva village, Ward 5 in Chikomba district, she joined Tashinga Self-Help group in December 2020 and attests how the interventions from the Hand in Hand Zimbabwe (HiH) have been of great importance in her life.

She learnt how to do pottery when she was still a tender age, taking it from her late grandmother, thus asserting the fact that in Zimbabwe, techniques used for pottery making are imparted generally by mothers from generation to generation.

However, with all the knowledge and talent she possesses, Shonhiwa was reluctant to start her own enterprise due to fear of failing.

But the modular training she received from HiH helped her realise that there is a need to use her talent as a way of earning a living.

She relates with special mention to Module 3 training on opportunity identification and enterprise planning which helped her map way forward in reviving her pottery business.

Colleta narrates: “The day I learnt on how to identify an opportunity in entrepreneurship, it took me down memory lane on how much I failed to put my talent into good use and make a living out of it”.

Her clay pots are used mainly in rural areas for cooking, carrying and storing water and food such as milk, mahewu, and are used in serving and drinking home brewed beer.

Colleta, being a hard worker, managed to start a poultry enterprise, starting with 50 chicks from the money she saved from her clay pot sales. On average, she makes 50 pots ranging from US$1 to US$1.50, depending on size. She cautiously records her sales and saves the proceeds as a way of expanding her business.

Colleta hopes to save money so that she builds a standard fowl run.

However, she is facing a limited market in her clay pot production business.

Currently, she aims to expand her market and increase sales.