Economic empowerment helps Maggie fight stigma

Maggie Mapanga, is 45 years old, she is living with HIV. She ushers us into her bare but pristine workspace, a bedroom converted into a saloon, a far cry from the dusty, littered streets outside her home. “I could not afford to rent commercial space so I decided to run my business from home”, she explains as she hands us stools to sit. Maggie shares her journey from the point she felt her life was worthless to where she is now, a confident woman running a small enterprise.

Scarred by stigma

“I tested positive in 1999, I was not ready for what would follow after that”, said Maggie with the pain of her experience written all over her face. Life was hard as I had no work or income and my neighbours quickly turned against me. “The greetings became cold, others would cross the road when they saw me coming and refuse to shake my hand or enter my home…the most painful part is that even my children were not spared from the discrimination”. Maggie recounted how she struggled to put food on the table, get access to treatment and put her child in school.

Skills for Youth Employment and Rural Development Programme

In 2012, the ILO in partnership with the Government of Zimbabwe, Workers and Employers issued a call in Mutare District for young people from vulnerable backgrounds to enrol and gain skills for employment. ‘’When I heard about the programme, I knew it was my only chance to turn my life around, challenge is, I was not a young person and my health was failing me at the time”, explained Maggie with a smile on her face. When Maggie approached the local officials to enrol in the programme, she was advised she was too old for the programme but she would not take ‘no’ for an answer. She continued, “…on the day the training was scheduled to start, I went to Mutare Polytechnic College determined to learn. The trainer told me my name was on the list and refused to let me into the class. I sat outside the class for three straight days…”

On the third day, the trainer called members of the District Implementation Committee (DIC), a body made up of officials from government departments responsible for the delivery of a programme, to seek guidance on the “student that would not go away”. When the DIC heard Maggie’s story, they agreed to make an exception and allow her to join the class.

Maggie’s struggle was not over, ‘’I had a hard time keeping up with the other students, they constantly said I would die before I finished my studies and my nickname was Gogo (grandmother)”. However, over time Maggie noted a change in the attitude from her class mates and she found an area she excelled in, freestyle braiding. On their graduation, Maggie was selected to deliver a speech on behalf of the class, “I was honoured to speak on behalf of my peers in front of the Minister, who was officiating at our graduation”.

As part of her training Maggie was attached to a vibrant salon, where she learnt about the business and got hands on experience. At graduation, she was provided with the equipment and supplies to start her own business. In 2013, she opened her own salon. “When I came back from school, I got a mixed reaction from the community, others were curious to see if I could do the work but others would insist they would not have their nails done by a ‘sick person’ nor would they allow me to cut the hair of their husbands and children”, she continued, “…over time people began to accept that my work was good and those who had given me business were not infected, and the business picked up, some women in the community even approached me for tips on starting their own business”.

In 2015, the ILO launched the enterPRIZE Job Creation Challenge, a business competition that set out to complement skills development by offering enterprising individuals a chance to develop business proposals and stand a chance to gain access finance and business development services.


“The enterPRIZE Competition is a chapter of my life I will never forget, it was my first time to go to Harare and to sleep in a hotel”, she recounted, “little did I know the best was yet to come”.

Maggie, together with other contestants from 32 districts prepared business plans and presented them in front of a panel of judges. Her proposal, ‘New Image Hair Saloon’ won third prize in the Services Category’. She won cash to recapitalise her business and was placed in a business mentorship programme. Today Maggie employs two other young people and occasionally mentors young women.

“I have never been ashamed of my status, I have managed to live a healthy life and I am grateful. Through the skills training I received, I have managed to start my own business and I am no longer an outcast in my community.

People with HIV or AIDS continue to face many forms of discrimination and stigma that people with life-threatening or chronic conditions do not face. Despite the significant progress made in the fight against HIV and AIDS, stigma and discrimination remain significant factors that influence the lives of individuals living with and who are affected by HIV. Stigma is said to be the most limiting factor that negatively influences primary and secondary HIV/AIDS prevention and care.
The ILO is working to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS through improved livelihood strategies targeting affected and infected people. Addressing the drivers of the epidemic such as economic disempowerment has made it possible to address some of the underlying factors, which are at the core of the spread of HIV. Through improved access to finance, vocational education and training, and entrepreneurial skills development, beneficiaries have been empowered to make lifestyle changes and negative perception in communities have been challenged.