Case Study: Lillian and Sally
Lillian and Sally are neighbours. Both of them were brewing illegally. Lillian even had a small mud hut at the bottom of her shamba which served as a pub. Both ladies were unhappy with their occupation, however, and lived in constant fear of being discovered by the police. This would have meant immediate imprisonment as neither of them could have afforded the huge fine that would have been imposed on them. When we asked Sally if she had any ideas of what she would like to do as an alternative, she told us she would like to keep chickens so that she could build up an egg selling business. She was very eager to stop brewing so we provided her with money to build a hen house and later bought her chickens. Sally is a changed lady. Gone is the brusque, stern, careworn lady we first met. She looks younger, happier and greets us with open friendliness rather than defensive wariness.
Lillian was less sure about changing her trade when we asked her but having seen her neighbour Sally’s life change, Lillian decided to join her in the egg selling business. Now she also has a hen house and chickens and when we last visited these ladies all evidence of their past occupations had disappeared from their houses.
