WMI Summer Interns in Buyobo, Uganda

Delighting everyone they met, Kurukmi Kishino and Sakura Yamanaka completed summer internships with WMI in Buyobo during June and July. Hailing from Japan, Kurumi, a junior at Toyo university in Tokyo, is WMI’s first college intern from the Land of the Rising Sun. In a total coincidence, Sakura, her summer compatriot who is a sophomore studying at Notre Dame University here in the US, turned out to be a native Japanese speaker as well. This gave the ladies in Buyobo their first opportunity to hear conversational Japanese spoken in their community!

Throughout high school, Sakura's passion has been studying gender equality and social justice, while Kurumi has been drawn to refugee issues and community development.

The interns compiled thousands of borrowers surveys, analyzed the data, and then created the annual Fact Book which details the loan program’s impact. They also conducted borrower interviews and prepared business write-ups, created videos for the WMI web site, accompanied the village health team on visits to families living in the bush, and taught math and history at Buyobo Primary School.

WMI is grateful for all the time, effort and attention these hard working young women put into their summer projects. They were also excellent goodwill ambassadors, engaging in community events, joining the students in sports, and spreading their optimistic approach to life throughout Sironko District!

2024 Fact Book Documents Improvements in Household Living Conditions 

Larger incomes, increased savings, improved meals, and affordable access to medical care were all highlights of the findings in WMI’s 2024 Fact Book. Reporting the results of thousands of surveys and interviews, the 2024 Fact Book documents how the loan program continues to result in improvements to household living conditions for borrowers and their families, while also building borrowers’ skills and self-confidence.

Despite the challenges presented by continued inflation and global conflicts that have disrupted supply chains, WMI businesswomen were able to continue to operate their enterprises successfully and generate income to benefit their families. Check out the results that have been made possible by your generous donations and on-going support. Fact Book

Borrowers Adopt Digital Payment System in Kenya

WMI partners with Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya to offer a comprehensive microfinance loan and training program to nearly 2,000 rural women living in the villages surrounding the conservancy. Over the past 12 months, the program has taken a giant leap forward in the form of migrating from cash loan issuances and payments to an entirely digital system. It has been a painstaking process but entirely worth it as the digital platform provides numerous benefits to the borrowers.

The convenience of accessing funds and making payments from their homes was an instant hit with the ladies. Women no longer need to carry cash for loan repayments, which enhances their safety. During monthly group meetings, members can submit repayment confirmations to their group leaders directly from their mobiles, which has streamlined record-keeping. Borrowers have real-time access to their loan accounts, which increases program transparency. The ladies can check their balances, payment history, and transaction details at the press of a few buttons. Increasing transparency fosters trust and accountability between the women and the loan program, enhancing the integrity of the lending process.

Initial hesitation to adopting the system gave way to the gradual realization that mastering digital payments was increasing each woman’s capacity to utilize convenient mobile money transactions in all aspects of her business operations and household management. The loan repayment system is fully integrated with M-PESA, the largest mobile money provider in Kenya. Women have gained confidence in utilizing digital financial services for all of their transactions. This empowerment promotes financial inclusion and economic growth.

From an institutional standpoint, the system provides real-time data and regular reports, which are supporting programmatic decision-making. The convenience of the system is improving overall operating efficiency – everyone appreciates the elimination of multiple time-consuming trips to the bank to deposit and withdraw cash.

The real stamp of approval, however, is in the voices of the women who discussed the digital payment system and in their faces as they put their mobiles into action.

Women Turn to Specialty Crops to Fill Market Niche

Traveling to various trading centers with the interns, WMI’s staff recorded a few of the interviews with ladies in the loan program who talked about their rural businesses.

“Alice Mukone is a Jumbo loan member. She does a rare business. She grows cocoa, vanilla and passion fruits. She makes nursery beds for cocoa plants that she sells to people in the community and those from far. She sells one seedling at 1,000 Uganda shillings (35 cents). In a week she can sell 500—800 seedlings at 1,000 shillings each. When it’s a rainy season she makes more money than when it’s a dry season. When it's harvest season she travels to sell cocoa seeds to businesspeople in Kampala or at times they come and buy from her home. She said she can sell ten bags or more."

“This business has had a very big impact on her life. Her husband helps with the businesses and out of the income they have managed to educate their children, two of them have graduated from University and the remaining four are in high school. They have constructed a permanent house. They have bought more pieces of land. They use WMI loans to buy pesticides to spray on the crops or to pay for labor, or for transporting their business products to Kampala. They appreciate the WMI loan program so much for the savings they can make to assist them in off season of their crops. As they sell their crops, they pay back the loan. She is a very good borrower.”

Marketplace Is Essential Hub for Business Women in Karatu, Tanzania

From June to October it’s high season in Karatu District, TZ where WMI operates a loan program serving over 1,000 borrowers. Businesswomen know this is the season to generate sales and accumulate savings to see them through leaner times.

On the 7th and 25th of every month, local vendors convene on Karatu town, creating a large central market where you can browse exquisitely hand-crafted goods or pick up simple household items like wash basins and flip-flops, all the while haggling over the price because the negotiating is sharp.

During these market days, most women in the loan program set up stalls early and stay late to sell various food products, clothing, and other goods at this busy, convenient location. The market days significantly boost the sales they make from their homes or village locations. Consumers from all over the Karatu region crowd the market looking for bargains.

Getting ready for the market is a family affair - children assist their moms in preparing products and on weekends attend the market with them.

Lap Tops Transform Loan Hubs

Developing a WMI loan hub is a long-term process. Each hub starts out with loan issuances and payments recorded by hand in leather bound ledger books maintained by the elected group officials. As the loan hub grows, the ledger books multiply and eventually the manual accounting system becomes unwieldy and inefficient.

This is exactly the tipping point WMI sub-hubs in Kyegegwa and Kasese villages in western Uganda have reached. After much discussion, these locations are now shifting to tracking their finances on laptops that were newly purchased by WMI. Angella Tuhaise for the Kyegegwa sub-hub and Beatrice Muhindo for the Kasese sub-hub traveled to our western loan hub headquarters in Buseesa for 6 days of training by Juliet Kisakye, the microfinance accountant there. The Executive Director of our western hub NGO partner, Tusabe Tadeo, then traveled to the villages to deliver the brand new HP laptops, which were gratefully received by the loan group officers.

Buyobo Primary Welcomes Guest Teachers

As a guest in the countries where we work, WMI strives to become a part of the communities we serve. One of our long-standing avenues of community engagement is offering our summer interns the opportunity to teach at Buyobo Primary School. This tradition has been going on for well over 15 years. It is a fun and rewarding exchange for the interns, students and teachers alike. Kurumi captures the essence of the experience in the 3-minute video she created. Video

Thank You!

The WMI Board of Directors is extremely grateful to our donors - you make WMI's work possible. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, commitment and support for WMI's program to empower rural women and families in East Africa. You are providing a lifeline that is truly making a difference in reducing global poverty.