ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to start by thanking my supervisor and mentor Comrade WZ Sadomba (PhD MSc) for patiently and tirelessly taking me through the paces of coming up with this piece of work. The time we worked together instilled in me an ethic of hard work and commitment which saw me through to the completion of this thesis. The references, contacts and other forms of assistance could not have come at a better time. Thanks to you I now really feel like a budding scholar. I also wish to thank all the informal entrepreneurs operating at Makoni especially those who sacrificed their production time to tell me the stories of their lives. Your narratives were as touching as they were inspirational and I hope I explained them as you would wish them to be understood by the world. I am equally indebted to the municipal authorities at Chitungwiza’s Seke North Administration offices for having taken time off their busy itineraries just to accommodate me and my unending inquiries. Lest I forget the assistance I got from Mdhara Sibanda, VaMlambo, Mai Two, Mr Nyandoro and other Makoni Home Industries Committee members as well as the ordinary members led by Mr Muchokwinjo who attended and participated in the monthly committee meetings….Rambai Makashinga Zvichanaka! The Chairperson and the entire Sociology Department assisted me in innumerable ways which made learning so much easier. The department now feels like a second home to me….I salute you. Mrs Mariri, Prim, Shingi- Women’s Law Library you were helpful and patient while I rummaged all over for literature even when I flouted library regulations…Please do it to everyone else!