Global Roundup: Zimbabwe Women Find Power on Tricycles, Trans Rohingya Woman Beautician, U.S. Women's Sports Bars, Women Clowns, Sri Lanka Women-Operated Tourism Resort

Women sit on their three wheeler tri-cycles waiting for clients at a market place in Hwedza, Zimbabwe, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)

Anna Bhobho, 31, was a stay-at-home mother of three. She is now also a driver of change in her village in Zimbabwe, thanks to an electric tricycle she now owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from financial and family decision-making in deeply patriarchal societies.

However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance.

Bhobho delivers crops for farmers to a market in Wedza district, about 150 kilometers (nearly 100 miles) from Harare.

My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses, including buying furniture and other assets…I used to depend on my husband for everything, even money for bread -Anna Bhobho

Called “Hamba,” meaning “go” in Ndebele, the tricycles are powered by solar-charged lithium-ion batteries. Mobility for Africa, a local startup, piloted the project in 2019 by leasing the vehicles to groups of women for $15 a month. Today, individual women like Bhobho can own them through a lease-to-purchase program.

Bhobho now owns land, has opened a small grocery store, is paying off a car and has moved her children from an underfunded rural public school to a better-equipped private institution. She earns up to $300 a month, comparable to government workers like schoolteachers.

Beyond material gains, she has gained self-esteem.

Even my husband and in-laws have more respect for me now. No one used to listen to me, but now I have a seat when important decisions are being made. -Anna Bhobho

According to Carlin Thandi Ngandu, the community engagement coordinator for Mobility for Africa, 300 women across Zimbabwe are part of the program, with a goal of ensuring that 70% of the beneficiaries are women.

In Wedza, only women own and operate the tricycles. They receive training in safe driving skills, and swapping a lithium battery for a fully recharged one after about 100 kilometers (about 70 miles) costs $1.

However, women face challenges such as rough terrain and resistance from men who struggle with seeing women lead in traditionally male-dominated spaces.

Some men don’t like seeing women in charge, but we are proving that we can contribute just as much, if not more, to our families and communities. -Anna Bhobho

Beyond business, the tricycles are revolutionizing health care access, particularly for women and children. Josephine Nyevhe, a volunteer community health worker, uses her tricycle to bring medical services closer to rural families.

On a recent afternoon, a group of mothers with children waited at a roadside. Nyevhe arrived on her tricycle, hung a weighing scale on a tree branch and began measuring the children’s growth. She recorded details in her notebook, offered nutrition advice and referred severe cases to the local clinic.

Many times, her tricycle has served as a village ambulance.

I am on 24-hour standby. I get calls during odd hours and have to rush people to the hospital. Sometimes it’s a pregnant woman who would have otherwise given birth at home in unsafe conditions. -Josephine Nyevhe