From 30 to 100: The $2,500 grant that scaled Martha’s dream
In Nsanje, Malawi, a $2,500 grant transformed 20-year-old Martha Forty's manual printing hustle into a thriving local enterprise. With new machinery and formal business training from the Business Acceleration for Youth Project, she tripled her production, now supports her family's education, and is inspiring a generation of young women entrepreneurs proving strategic investment can build both a business and community resilience.
From 30 to 100: The $2,500 grant that scaled Martha’s dream
In Nsanje, Malawi, a $2,500 grant transformed 20-year-old Martha Forty's manual printing hustle into a thriving local enterprise. With new machinery and formal business training from the Business Acceleration for Youth Project, she tripled her production, now supports her family's education, and is inspiring a generation of young women entrepreneurs proving strategic investment can build both a business and community resilience.
When 20-year-old Martha Forty looks at the steady hum of her cutting plotter, she remembers the days of hand-cramping labor. On a good day, she could complete 30 designs. On most days, it was fewer.
"It was so hectic," Martha recalls. "I had the passion, but I did not have the tools."
Growing up in Nsanje with five siblings, raised by a single father after losing their mother at a young age, Martha learned early that opportunity does not knock, you have to build the door yourself. When she noticed that Nsanje had no printing business, forcing residents to travel all the way to Blantyre for custom T-shirts and printed materials, she saw that door.
She started her screen-printing business with basic knowledge and formidable will. But will alone does not cut vinyl or pay for plain T-shirts, ink, or the raw materials needed to run a real printing operation.