15/07/2025
Thoko’s Story: Two Talents, One Dream
21-year-old Thoko Ziyada lived with obstetric fistula for a year before receiving life-changing treatment at our Fistula Care Centre in Malawi.
After her recovery, Thoko joined our income generation programme, which provides former patients with a sewing machine, materials, and ongoing support to start their own tailoring businesses.
We caught up with Thoko in June 2025, as part of our regular monitoring visit to see how she was doing post-surgery and how her business was progressing and she had plenty to show us.
Since starting her tailoring business, Thoko has earned MK 250,000, which she has used to:
• Pay MK 64,000 in school fees for her child
• Buy MK 50,000 worth of food for her son to take to school
• Purchase salon equipment to pursue her second business dream
Although her husband moved to South Africa when she was just one month pregnant and hasn’t returned, Thoko has found strength through her supportive parents, who have welcomed her home and helped her rebuild.
In addition to tailoring clothes, bags, and reusable pads, Thoko has also opened a basic home salon, and with her father’s help - who sells her items at the local market - she’s already earned MK 30,000 from the salon business.
All her earnings have gone toward buying salon equipment, including:
• Hair dryer
• Two hair straighteners
• Mirror
• Towels
• Shampoo
• Three chairs
• Five curtains
• Extension cable
• Hair products
• Two water buckets
On a good day, Thoko earns MK 14,000, and on slower days, about MK 6,000, depending on the season.
Thoko’s long-term dream is to rent a shop at the local market where she can run both her salon and tailoring business under one roof. She also hopes to buy land and build her own home, moving out of her parents’ house and creating a space that’s truly hers.
With talent, drive, and two growing businesses, Thoko is crafting a future filled with independence, confidence, and hope.
UNFPA Malawi
Embassy of Iceland in Lilongwe
