MORE and more women continue to penetrate sectors that were previously dominated by men and one of them is Ms Vivian Mpofu who is a brick moulder from Gwanda District.
Ms Mpofu (38) from Fumugwe Village in Ward 17 learnt the skill when she was 10 years old from her father who was a builder.
She moulds bricks and sells them to community members. Ms Mpofu said she built her homestead using bricks she moulded herself. She said she usually moulds bricks outside the farming season. Ms Mpofu sells 1 000 bricks for R1 500.
“I learnt how to mould bricks at the age of 10. I grew up in the Mtshabezi area and my father was a builder. He taught us how to mould bricks as he wanted us to have a skill that could help us to realise income and fend for our families. He always said being a brick moulder would always remain relevant as people will always be in need of bricks to build. He said brick moulders were needed in both rural and urban areas.
“I last moulded bricks in October as I had to shift my focus towards my farming activities. I moulded 3 000 bricks and I have sold about 2 000. Building my homestead using my own bricks helped me cut costs. The money I get after selling the bricks helps me meet my family’s needs,” she said.
Ms Mpofu said manual brick moulding is labour intensive.
She said people often wonder how she manages to do it as a woman.
When she started selling bricks in 2021, she said, people at first doubted the quality of her work assuming that she could not mould quality bricks because she is a woman.
Ms Mpofu said some villagers were not forthcoming and did not buy her bricks because she is a woman.
She said her fellow villagers have however since warmed up to her work.
Ms Mpofu said she has received compliments from many villagers who marvel at the quality of her bricks.
“Brick moulding in the rural areas requires a lot of labour but it also needs patience and diligence in order to produce quality bricks. I look for the best quality soil for my bricks and I usually use soil that I get from an anthill. I then look for lots of firewood as I have to thoroughly burn the bricks. Unlike in the urban areas, our bricks are made using soil and water, we don’t add cement. Most of the rural folk can’t afford to buy bricks made with cement,” she said.
Ms Mpofu said a lot of time and effort had to be put into burning the bricks to ensure that they are durable.
She said some people often take short cuts and burn the bricks for a short while or use limited firewood which compromises the quality of the bricks.
She said when she wants to mould a large batch of bricks, she hires someone who assists her with collecting the firewood and sand. Ms Mpofu said for smaller batches, she does the work herself.
She said she has passed on the skill to her children so that they can also have a source of livelihood in the future.
“Just as my father taught me to mould bricks, I have also passed on the skill to my children. They normally help me with the light work but they have grasped the skill. I want them to have a source of livelihood in the future as life is unpredictable. As I was growing up my father taught me that hard work pays and in order to be successful in life you have to work. Be it in the fields or anywhere else,” she said.
Fumugwe village head Mr Ndabezihle Ndlovu said it started off as a shocking development to see Ms Mpofu moulding bricks.
He said she is the first woman in their village to mould bricks as the work was previously done by men.
Mr Ndlovu said at first, he thought Ms Mpofu would not manage to sustain the project as it was a male dominated area which required a lot of labour.
He said it was a delight to see women empowering themselves and working hard for their families. Such women, he said, had to be supported by their communities as they were good role models to other women and young girls.
“If young girls understand that even after failing in school one can use their hands to make a living, I’m sure that cases of teenage pregnancies would drop. Having women become economically empowered can also help fight gender based violence,” he said. – The Chronicle
