Ask 32-year-old Ethel Kaumba of Mwansabombwe District when she´s happiest, her smile widens as he remembers her favourite time of the day.

“Every morning, my husband and I leave the house together to go to our stand at the market. Seeing him next to me gives joy,” she said.

Her husband Julius Mapalo aged ,38, feels the same way too and describes the joy of going to the market with his wife for the wellbeing of their family as unexplainable.

“I´m happiest when my wife and I take on a bike ride to the market to go and work for our children. It gives me joy knowing we are a team and on the same page,” he said.

Ethel and Julius have been married for 9 years and have four children together.

Few years ago, the young couple was living in object poverty and could not provide for their children, as they both had no source of income.

However, in 2022 Ethel was identified as a beneficiary of the Supporting Women´s Livelihood (SWL) Programme where she received a productivity grant of K3, 790 and training in life and business skills and since then, her life and that of her family´s has never been the same.

With the help of her husband, Ethel managed to establish a trading stand at the market and the couple runs a trading business together