Siku Nkhoma

Sikhu Nkhoma is the founder and board chairperson of the Centre for Community Organisation and Development (Ccode), an NGO that has benefited a lot of communities and women across the country through decent housing. She is founder and chairperson of Professional Women Network that mentors young women professionals. She is also the chairperson of all the subsidiary companies of EDH. Rachel Kachali spoke with her.

Tell me about yourself.

I am Sikhulile Nkhoma, a 37-year-old entrepreneur who believes that enterprising is the bedrock of a nation’s development. I am married to Dr. Joseph Nkhoma, a veterinary surgeon and we have three children— Mphatso, Langelihle and Lalamo Ekari.  I come from Traditional Authority (T/A) Chekucheku in Neno, but originally from Zimbabwe in a small district called Kwekwe. I am currently working as managing director for Enterprise Development Holding (EDH), a holding company which was formed specifically to ensure that Malawi gets a chance to development through developing successful enterprises.

Tell me about your upbringing

I am your typical rural girl. I literally lived in a village with siblings and parents who were both school teachers. I am the first born in a family of seven children. My parents are still around, which I am very grateful for. Because they [the parents] were teachers, education was very core for me and my siblings. They made us work hard in school. I went to a mission primary school and then to a Catholic boarding school for my Forms one to four. I attended another boarding school for my A levels and was successful to study rural and urban planning at the University of Zimbabwe from 1997 to 2001. I met my husband while at the university. He was a foreign student from Malawi. We got married in 2002. Because I come from a patrilineal background, I followed my husband here in the same year.

How has been your career progression?

From 2003, I started going to Chinsapo, Mtandile and some of the informal settlements in Lilongwe to mobilise women into saving groupings to empower them.  One saving group formed another group and before we knew it, we had a network of such groups across the city and other parts of Lilongwe. I also used to travel to other districts to mobilise women. This was way before the introduction of village savings and loans (VSL) groups, but served the same purpose. Visitors from other districts would come to appreciate the groupings and ended up starting their own in other districts until it became a nationwide network. Now, it is called the federation of the rural and urban poor. Besides savings, the federation also works in livelihood, skills development, slum prevention and upgrading. On skills development, the federation trains women contractors. We have sent some women to India to study engineering and they have formed their own network of rural engineers. When the federation was growing, I realised the need for a support NGO. Thus, in the same year, Ccode was formed to aid the growing network of poor people. I was privileged to be the founding executive director and ran the organisation for 10 years.

In 2013, I saw that although we were doing well at Ccode, there was still more to do. We found ourselves building houses, dealing with water and sanitation and many other issues. We realised that we needed another institution to create wealth across all income groups. That is how EDH was formed. EDH has about 10 companies which include the housing company, landmark, ecobricks and green energy.

Why focus on women?

They are the ones who stay and tend to homes, communities and the informal settlement while their husbands go to work. I realised that if you are trying to find a way out of poverty, it has be with the people who are affected the most, which in this case are the women. Thus, even when men joined the groupings, the women leadership grew, such that it became a women led organisation. I also agree with the belief that if you change a woman, you have a chance of changing the family, community and the whole nation. Even when we were advised to work with contractors at the EDH, I just knew that I had to work with women contractors.

How many communities and women have you reached?

I have no clue for there are thousands and thousands of people who have benefited. What I am happy about is the fact that even after my leadership, Ccode has grown in leaps and bounds and continues to grow. It is now an institution that can survive on its own and support the communities in federation across the country.

Tell me about the professional women network

I am very proud of this network. It is a new organisation which started in January this year. Among other activities, we are involved in leadership training and career development. We are hoping that this network will provide a platform for women at all levels to forge ahead. That is how the organisation was created.  We already have a proper institution with a secretariat which is running on its own. We believe that it will be a success.

What role has your family played in your life?

My husband has been a key to my success. It was very tough during the formation of the savings groups and Ccode.  I travelled a lot to understand the plight of women and make good plans. My husband supported me and took care of the family while I was away. There were also other people who have helped. We would not be here if I had not gotten any support.  And all of my children came at different stages of my life. I found that it is a blessing to have the responsibility to mode them into better citizens of the nation. My aspiration for them keeps me going.

How do you balance family and work?

In the founding years of Cccode and working with the federation, there was not much to balance. It was mostly about work. But now, it is now an institution with a lot of people running it. I no longer travel as much as I used. I now have a normal job where I start in the morning and knock off like everyone else. I rarely spend time away from the family.

What do you do on your free time?

I like spending time with my family. I enjoy cooking especially on Sundays when I have more time to prepare meals and try new dishes together with my children. Currently, my colleagues have given me two books, The dragon which profiles entrepreneurs and Lean in by Sheryl Sandberg who is the chief operating officer of Facebook which gives me the scope.

How do you encourage women and girls?

Women can be what they want if they know themselves and know what they want in life. If you do things in half measure, people who might help you realise your non-commitment. Think of what you are doing as a responsibility from God.