The issue of patriarchy and harmful cultural beliefs has seen most women being marginalized and suppressed. Helen has fallen a victim of such circumstances after the death of her husband. Her husband’s brother took her for widow cleansing, wife inheritance and child bearing. She was later thrown out to the dogs because she was not good enough and was left homeless. FACE Zim introduced the Rural Women Association which has helped to empower women in rural communities. Helen had the chance to join the R.W.A and with the experiences she had she was able to help mobilize other women and challenge some of the harmful cultural practices. Being able to stand on her own with the support of R.W.A she was able to finish building the round thatched kitchen that had been left by her husband hence dealing with issue of homelessness.  As a result of her action to mobilize women through the R.W.A there was an increase in women emancipation in her community hence they are no cases of gender-based violence which goes unreported. Just as she had become somebody in the society, her ex-inherited husband began to admire her after she had survived 20 years alone. Despite having more problems and threats to her life from patriarchal systems in her society due to the acts of emancipation she was carrying out, she remained consistent on her mission and became stronger. Even at the loss of her cattle and the destruction of her house she soldiered on and her beasts have now multiplied as well as building a new house.

With the help of other FACE Zim workshops such as the life skills training and the crop diversification and training inheritance laws and property, Helen has not rested to let poverty and hunger rule her home. Instead she has started gardening, crop production on her farm, livestock production at which she currently has 9 beasts and a poultry project which is doing quite well thus producing eggs.  She has learnt to stand her grounds as a woman, and applied her rights in her fingertips thus being able to fight for what is hers without the fear of what the society would say. FACE Zim’s work has built an unstoppable woman, a woman of valour and a woman who stops at nothing until she reaches to the top. Despite having been made homeless after being unjustly thrown out of the house, Helen began to build her own house. As if it was not enough, her ex-inherited husband broke the windows to her new house but she kept on going. As they say evil does not pay for another evil, as a virtuous woman she has turned to be, she did not see such hindrances worth taking her back but kept on moving. Such works of an empowered woman!