Nyange women show off their roofing tile business operation

Presently, women are manufacturing about 2000 tiles per month with back breaking labor. They dig and mix clay from pits deep in the valley, carry it up a steep narrow path to the spot where they shape the tiles by hand and bake them in a kiln they rent. To date they have been able to produce enough tiles to roof houses they built themselves for the three poorest women in the village and to sell the rest to produce enough income to pay the rent for the kiln they use.

Generous individual donors have provided the funds needed to build this business operation and create the path for these women to escape numbing poverty. We are also grateful to Santa Clara University Engineers without Borders who have provided design expertise to build a clay mixer and tile press. We look forward to entrepreneurship training this summer by the Santa Clara University Miller Center so the women can develop a full blown business and marketing plan.

However, the real story is the women themselves.