00:00Funeral insurance is nothing new in Zimbabwe, but the country's long-standing burial societies
00:07are evolving to also take care of the living. Many offer saving plans. Some now serve as small
00:14business incubators. The burial society helped me last year in December when I received $100
00:23as a payout from my savings. I bought two gas storage tanks in a scale and started selling
00:32gas to neighbours. My small business has grown and I can now afford to buy my groceries every
00:38month and also look after and maintain myself. The Kuchamana group has 40 members who pay $3
00:46a month. The name means mourning each other, but members receive groceries, cooking help
00:52and a cash payout when a loved one dies. We started the idea of burying our families
01:00and friends because we found out that most of us did not come from privileged backgrounds
01:05and our funerals were not dignified and decent. You would find out that there was not enough
01:12food for mourners, no fire, nothing. That's how the idea was born, but we've since moved
01:21on from focusing on just mourning and burying each other and we've since developed a saving
01:26initiative as well as grocery contributions.
01:35That can be a lifeline for people facing rising costs, limited access to bank loans and unstable
01:42incomes in a country where two-thirds of people are informally employed.
01:49Members can now borrow money from the savings for health care to pay for school fees.
01:57Kuchamana is just a name we came up with when we were still just a club to bury each other,
02:02but we're now focusing on other things that empower us and help us live longer.
02:10In Zimbabwe, funeral insurance is more common than health insurance, which many people can't afford.
02:17Burial societies like Kuchamana are helping to bridge the gap and help those left behind.
02:25Burial societies like Kuchamana are having all the advantages of life, but the
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