The Peanut Butter Project empowers women in Zimbabwe

Every morning, Mary, a resident of Murewa in Zimbabwe, would wake up before dawn and toil making peanut butter with stone. The tiresome process would take hours, giving just enough butter to survive. Low on funds, she hardly had enough money to send her kids to school.

Life changed for the better when she attended the Breath-Water-Sound workshop conducted by The Art of Living. At least 800 women from her village participated in this community empowerment workshop. The workshop instilled new confidence in the participants. Post the workshop, The Art of Living soon donated a peanut butter machine to 80 of these women and trained them in using the machine.

The new routine

Today, the women wake up to a dazzling sunrise. No longer does the dawn mean an intensely tiring day that reaps little benefits. Rather, the day soars with hope and energy as the women do breathing exercises taught in the Breath-Water-Sound workshop. They soon started to make peanut butter with the new machine. The efficiency of the machine leaves them sufficient produce of peanut butter and enough money to send their kids to school. Inspired by their success, their husbands have started supporting them by giving them land to grow peanuts.

 
Founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,The Art of Living is an educational and humanitarian movement engaged in stress-management and service initiatives.Read More