Some stories are quirkier than others, and some projects have origins worth telling. The launch of the book Mulheres em Acção: Elas Empreendem e Transformam Moçambique is a good example. One morning, Patrícia Vasco sent Eliana Silva a voice message saying that she had dreamt about her and thought they were going to do something grand together; the next day, the latter replied with the solution: “I have an idea, and you are the perfect person to carry it out with me.” In practice, neither of them knew what they were getting into.
That was more or less how Eliana Silva presented Patrícia Vasco with what, a year later, would take shape as the book Mulheres em Acção: Elas Empreendem e Transformam Moçambique, a collection of 19 interviews with women entrepreneurs from the most diverse sectors and from several Mozambican provinces. In practice, the 11,990 km separating the two friends (both entrepreneurs) were no obstacle: months after first talking about the project, they had the content done and all the other entrepreneurs photographed and enthusiastic about the initiative. “It was a very organic process, and fun, too. Patrícia and I had already crossed paths in other, completely different contexts, and that message was the push I needed to put this idea into practice. In recent years, we have read and heard, in various places, that there is a lack of African narratives, especially about women and written by women. So why not get our hands dirty?”, says Eliana Silva, who took on the role of scribe in this project.
“I have been an entrepreneur for many years. I have done and created everything, and I know how lonely this whole process is: entrepreneurship is a leap of courage. An act of faith. Like a pregnancy, it is waiting, dreaming, expectation, future. And these last few months that is what we have been doing: gestating a dream”, says the producer, Patrícia Vasco.
From the outset, both of them wanted to create more than a cultural piece. In their enthusiastic words, you can see that they wanted to create a movement. The synergy between the two is plain to see: on one side, Patrícia's thoughtfulness and assurance, and on the other, Eliana's (almost boundless) boldness. “Entrepreneurship has always been part of both our realities. And we wanted to show all those moments: the laughter of joy at a new client, the anxiety of salaries to be paid and the nerves of a new pitch”, says Patrícia.
“I say, without beating about the bush, that I love money. Really. And if there is one thing I am very proud of, it is that my words can help these 19 entrepreneurs earn more money, generate more income for themselves and their employees and contribute to a stronger, richer Mozambique. Both Patrícia and I grew up with the concept of the warrior woman who gets things done and prospers, often without due recognition. This book, I hope, is only the beginning. We want to do 19 chapters again, but with other characters, so that, every 5 years, we are quoting Shaazia Adam instead of Coco Chanel, or Tamara Bhatt instead of Oscar Niemeyer”, writes Eliana.
This resourcefulness, mixed with vanity and a desire to create beautiful things with impact, led to a tireless effort to raise money to publish the book. After knocking on hundreds of doors, the project was sponsored by Nedbank Moçambique, Ipanema Moçambique and Pertence, and had the support of a number of businesses that joined in, including for a fundraising event held in April at Sukri Café in Maputo, where all the entrepreneurs made their contribution with their goods or services.
“We wanted to build something that wasn't for us: something that belonged to the world. May this book bring more beauty and more income to each of these women. It isn't ours, it belongs to the world”, say the promoters, almost in unison.
