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Sarah and the Sea: A Story from Bagamoyo

Tanzania
Initial vocational education and training, Labour market insertion
11.12.2025
The sea in Bagamoyo never sleeps. It hums, sighs, and sometimes roars, tossing small silver fish to the shore like forgotten coins. Somewhere along that coast, in a place where the sand clings to your feet and the air smells of salt and smoke, lives Sarah Kahamba - a 30-year-old mother of one, and a woman who refused to be swept away by the tide.

Not too long ago, Sarah’s world was much smaller. Her “business” was a wooden tray of fish balanced outside her door -  two, maybe three kilos of processed sardines that she sold to neighbours passing by. Most days, she barely made TZS 90,000 (CHF 29) a month. The math never worked out, but she kept showing up.
Sara is buying sardines from a local vendor at the Indian Ocean in Bagamoyo, a fish and sardines’ market, preparing to process the sardines through frying and sun drying.
"I just knew there had to be a better way,” she says. “I didn’t know how, but I knew."

When Change Came Calling

That “how” arrived with the EmpowerHER through Skills (EHS) project - an initiative by Swisscontact, working with Community Volunteers for the World (CVM).

They didn’t hand Sarah a miracle. They gave her something better - skills. Real, practical skills in fish processing, handling, marketing, and saving through a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA). It was like teaching someone not just how to swim, but how to read the current.

"The training changed everything,” Sarah says. “I’m no longer dependent on anyone. Now, I process the fish myself and keep the profits that used to go to others."

The Business That Grew with the Tide

Every week now, Sarah buys six buckets of raw sardines (Dagaa) - thirty kilos in total - at TZS 210,000 (CHF 66.76). She fries and sun-dries them herself, turning them golden under the Bagamoyo sun. By the end of the week, she sells them for TZS 300,000, pulling in a monthly income of TZS 1.2 million (CHF 382) and a neat TZS 360,000 (CHF 114.45) in profit.

Her customers come from Miono, Kiwangwa, and nearby towns. 

"I even do wholesale to small vendors in the markets,"
she says, a hint of pride curling her lips.

And when you see her - standing in the bustle of the Indian Ocean fish market, inspecting her sardines with the focus of a jeweller examining diamonds - you understand why people trust her.

Sarah, a beneficiary of the EmpowerHer through Skills (EHS) project in Bagamoyo district, applying sun-drying technique for preserving sardines as one of the processing skills gained during the training.

A Future Measured in Hope

Sarah’s journey hasn’t just changed her bank balance. It has changed her confidence, her place in the world. Through the VSLA, she saves, borrows, reinvests, and dreams bigger.

"I’m confident about the future,” she says. “One day, I’ll employ other young mothers - women like me - and teach them what I’ve learned."

For now, Sarah still wakes up before dawn, her child still asleep, and heads to the market. The sea is still there -  humming, sighing, tossing its coins to shore - but this time, Sarah knows exactly what to do with them.

About the EmpowerHER through Skills (EHS) Project

The EHS project, implemented by Swisscontact in collaboration with communities, public and private sector actors, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), equips young mothers with soft skills and market-driven vocational training to improve their employment opportunities and income.

The project is financed by the Irene M. Staehelin (IMS) Foundation as part of the Swisscontact Development Programme, co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) under the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).

2023 - 2027
Tanzania
Initial vocational education and training, Labour market insertion
EmpowerHER through Skills
In close collaboration with the private sector and local communities, this project offers non-formal vocational skills to empower marginalized young mothers and connect them with entrepreneurial opportunities that help them access (self-) employment and generate income for themselves and their families.  
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