At 83, Maria Ndou of Tshanswilikiti village, 20 kilometres north of Beitbridge, would ordinarily be relegated to bed or just a person depending on help from grandchildren to go about.
In most cases, women of her age resign to fate at this sunset of life, and spend time reminiscing about their past and sharing folklore stories with their grandchildren.
More often than not these elderly have several sachets of tablets, traditional herbs or bottles of "holy water" and prayer stones distributed by modern day prophets.
But for Maria, her life is blooming at that golden age.
She is able bodied and is now able to take good care of the love of her life who, with age, is now visually challenged.
"I never knew I would have extra cash in my life," Ndou said in an interview.
“I had days of misery but these are gone.
“I eat three meals and have fresh food.
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“I am able to look after my lovely husband who is blind.
“Frankly, I am a person who is happy.”
Her family is one of the 28 benefitting from the Tshanswilikiti Village Business Unit (VBU) which runs a thriving garden, one of the 55 such established across Beitbridge District.
Ndou's family and 27 others started their project on March 15 this year and dividends are already visible with rewards reflecting on their smiles.
When Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services deputy minister Ompile Marupi and several officials from his ministry toured Tshanswilikiti, a different aura hovered above the village that has over decades reeled from a series of droughts.
"We are establishing these countrywide,” Marupi told journalists after a tour of two business units, one at Zwivhuya.
“This is one of the ways we will arrest labour migration.
“This will empower villagers.
“It will create food security, the benefits are numerous.”
Beitbridge Rural District Council chairperson, Oscar Chiromo, said the solar powered boreholes and the gardens were a masterstroke in villages and increased social interaction among villagers.
"It becomes easy to communicate development issues and other subjects communities are concerned about,” he said.
“Besides nutrition has been improved and dependency on handouts slowly being eradicated.”
He added: “We are planning to have youths come on board these projects and as council we want to help find markets, even create contract farming so they get ready cash.
“These projects are going to change the outlook of the district which was known to depend on handouts.”
Village head, Tshamano Mudau, who is also part of the scheme, said the project had boosted food security and incomes for the families.
"As you know Beitbridge was a perennial food relief recipient but this has changed,” Mudau said.
“We do not look for handouts but we are now self-sufficient.
“It gives confidence to be self-reliant and stories have changed from where to get the next meal to what is our expansion plan.”
The government has deployed agricultural extension officers who help the villagers on crop management and running of the scheme.
"About 171 people feed from this enterprise,” Mudau said.
“We have just started and our strength is that we share a common vision of changing the mindset of our youths into farmers.”
At Tshanswilikiti, extension officer, Comfort Manjengwa, said villagers have expansion and diversification plans.
Manjengwa said villagers plan to grow fodder to see them through drought years since Beitbridge is primarily a livestock zone.
“Besides, the villagers also plan to have chicken, goat and sheep rearing projects that will make the business complete,” Manjengwa said.
"We need to open up space for fodder.
“The villagers are excited and now realise what they have been buying from other places can be grown at home.
“They are keen to expand. They are keen to try new crops and I am here to assist.”
Manjengwa added: “We are going to have space for fruit trees.
"We are also encouraging that these schemes have drip systems that are not labour intensive.
“At Tshanswilikiti villagers use buckets to water crops but we are happy the one at Zwivhuya has come with the drip system.”
The drip system would ensure increased hectorage and more work is directed at the tendering of crops than watering.
While over the years Beitbridge's cropping story has been gloomy, there seems to be light on the horizon.
