WMI SUMMER 2022 UPDATE
- Agricultural Loan Pilot Program Succeeds
- Tanzania Loan Hub Commemorates Youth Day
- New Loan Hub Launch in Eldoret, Kenya
- New Dormitory Expands Educational Opportunities for Girls
- Women's Participation in Labor Force Propels Growth
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Country Updates:
Throughout Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, the rapidly rising cost of goods - especially food and fuel - is causing widespread hardship, particularly for rural families. In Uganda, the president has urged citizens to restrict travel and only use private cars or buses and taxis for essential outings. At our headquarters in Buyobo, we have curtailed use of our mini-van to comply with the guidelines - our local executive team is using public transport whenever possible if they need to travel.
The high price of fuel is affecting the cost of all products. Prices are constantly changing – rural women involved in retail sales must increase their prices accordingly, causing customers to complain they are being cheated. Tempers are short - anxiety about the future direction of the economy is resulting in a significant increase in daily stress.
WMI's Local Director, Olive Wolimbwa, has cautioned women in eastern Uganda not to sell all of their harvests to traders. She predicts that, “The scarcity of food and the high prices of food are going to worsen because the maize harvest is not fully dry yet and beans are not ready yet, but trucks from Kenya have started coming already to our villages looking for maize and other food to buy. This means that people are going to be excited about getting money now – they will sell all their beans and maize to the traders and end up starving.”
In its July 29 Food Security Update, the World Bank noted, “Record high food prices have triggered a global crisis that will drive millions more into extreme poverty, magnifying hunger and malnutrition, while threatening to erase hard-won gains in development. Rising food prices have a greater impact on people in low- and middle-income countries, since they spend a larger share of their income on food than people in high-income countries.”
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WMI’s Summer College Internship continues to operate on a remote basis. WMI’s local leadership team at our Buyobo, Uganda headquarters is becoming more experienced and skilled at collecting data and organizing it into spreadsheets. Our summer interns are using a variety of technology platforms to obtain the information and then analyze it and prepare program impact reports. They will create the annual WMI FactBook documenting the women's achievements during the past year. In honor of WMI's 15th anniversary, they have nearly finished creating commemorative videos which we will release over the next months!
WMI is fortunate to have such talented young people on board and we appreciate their enormous contributions to WMI's operations.
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Cindy Matsiko, our 2022 Internship Projects Manager, is a rising senior at University of Maryland Baltimore County and is returning for her third summer internship with WMI. Having traveled to WMI's headquarters in Buyobo several times, Cindy is also the liaison with WMI's field staff for gathering statistical data. Starting last summer Cindy took over creating the content for WMI's media platforms. She also works at the UMBC Residential Halls. She is majoring in Psychology and with a minor in Africana Studies and Social Welfare. |
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Samhi Boppana is a rising sophomore at Johns Hopkins University, double majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Political Science. On campus, she is involved with initiatives aimed at improving voter registration on campus, advocacy for reproductive and sexual health issues, and the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega. Through this internship, she looks forward to learning more about microfinance's impact on international development and empowering women. |
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Celia Eitzel, is a junior at Lehigh University majoring in International Relations and Economics with a Supply Chain Management Minor. She loves traveling and learning about new cultures, spending time volunteering, and has played soccer her entire life. Looking toward the future she is interested in a career focused on emerging markets and believes the work WMI does plays into that well. |
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Jamie York is graduating from the Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Economics. In her free time, she volunteers for Take Stock in Children and mentors high-school-aged girls as they navigate the college admissions process. She hopes to support the WMI team’s mission and is excited to learn more about the impact of micro finance on the lives of women in East Africa. She currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. |
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Miranda Gentin is a recent graduate of the Edmund Burke School in Washington DC. In the Fall, she will be attending Emory University as a freshman, where she plans to major in business/entrepreneurship. She also currently serves as an intern at Bold Story Press, a publishing company focused on female authors. She is looking forward to contributing to the mission of WMI and learning more about microfinance. Miranda volunteered with WMI for a special research project this summer.
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Agricultural Loan Pilot Program Succeeds
Last year, WMI and the Buseesa Community Development Association, our local partner in our loan hub in Southwestern Uganda, launched a trial to pilot a women’s agricultural loan program. The women were trained in standard maize growing, spacing of plants, post-harvest crop preservation, value addition, and marketing. The loan term and spacing of payments were linked to the growing season. Women were able to add value to their raw maize by grinding it into flour at the nearby mill BCDC had constructed, thereby commanding a higher price for their product.
It was the first time many of them had sold maize flour and the results were impressive. Women were able to repay their loans, pay school fees for their children, improve their households, and put away some savings. All have asked for a second agricultural loan, which we will issue this August to coincide with the next growing season.
One of the loan beneficiaries was Juliet Nakacwa, a 40-year old mother of four who married in 1997. She and her husband co-operate in business and raising their family. She joined the WMI loan program four years ago, using her loan to start a farming business; she also opened a small shop to sell drinks.
With the profits from her maize crop, she paid school fees for all four children and also started construction of a brick house, spending nearly $1,300 to reach the wall plate level. She intends to take another agricultural loan this August and with the profits from her next harvest believes she will be able to finish her dream house.
In the picture, Nakacwa is standing on the threshold of her house with her husband, who is thanking her for all her hard work! Without access to the WMI loan, they would not have been able to achieve their dream of building a home for their family.
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Youth Day Celebration in Tanzania
On June 16, the WMI loan hub headquartered in Karatu, Tanzania participated in Youth Day to commemorate the Soweto Uprising of 1976, when the 10,000 school children marching in protest of the apartheid regime were ambushed by government forces. Hundreds of students were killed and more died during the following two weeks of violence.
Every year on June 16 governments, NGOs, international organizations, and other supporters convene events to discuss safeguarding the rights of children in Africa.
Our local team chose to visit this facility because they have seen that the staff is very caring but the children have limited activities and scarcely any visitors. The facility does not receive any government or outside support and depends solely on parents’ fees to cover expenses. Recently, the cost of living has increased sharply in Tanzania – but the facility’s owner is reluctant to increase fees because she knows parents will take their children out and bring them back home where they will not receive any specialized help or therapy or have access to wheelchairs and other specialized equipment.
Laden with food, clothing, supplies, and treats, the ladies in the loan program spent the day with the children and the several parents who had come to visit on Youth Day. They provided a welcome day of activities for the children, acknowledgement for the staff, support for the parents, and a meal everyone enjoyed. This outreach is one of the ripple effects of the WMI loan program, extending our reach beyond the businesswomen we serve.
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New Loan Hub Launch in Eldoret, Kenya
With their irrepressible zest to help other village women establish loan hubs and launch new businesses, the dynamic leadership team from our headquarters in Buyobo, Uganda boarded public buses and lurched their way to Eldoret, Kenya to provide three days of intensive training to a new women’s non-profit that we have approved to join the loan program after 6-months of due diligence review. This report from Olive Wolimbwa, our Local Director, gives you a glimpse into the effort and care that goes into launching a new loan hub, the training, opportunities for networking, as well as just a hint of the chaotic logistics of travel in East Africa.
REPORT FROM ELDORET TRAINING
On Wednesday 20th July, 2022, WMI team of 4 travelled to Eldoret, Kenya to train forty ladies in Business skills and WMI administrative and leadership skills. The new local community group partner is Northern Rift Peculiar Women CBO and the chair is Everlyne Koech. Their constitution and CBO certification are in order.
The team comprised of the Director, Jackie, Irene and Milly. The team left Buyobo at noon and arrived in Eldoret at 9:45pm. It took like an hour to get cleared at Customs and then there was a delay because they were asking for COVID cards, Yellow fever cards, and passports - those without Yellow fever cards had to pay money after making them to sit for a long time. It was another two hours waiting for the Eldoret taxi to get full before we could set off; we left Malaba border crossing at 5:30pm.
However, on arrival in Eldoret, we found our co-host’s (Edina) husband waiting for us at the taxi park. He drove us up to the hotel where we stayed and trained from. At the hotel, there are several facilities like training hall for hire; lodging and they also serve meals.
Training started on Thursday 21st July, 2022 at 10:00 am and ended at 3:30pm. Training ended on Saturday and we made our journey back home the same evening.
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DAY ONE
1. Prayer
2. Welcome remarks
3. Introductions
a) Norms and expectations
b) Objectives
4. Training
a) WMI loan structure
b) Savings
c) Why small businesses fail
d) Solidarity group meetings
e) Destroyers of money (allowing customer credit, relatives asking to borrow funds, not making a budget, bad record-keeping
DAY TWO
1. Prayer
2. Review previous day’s work
3. Training
a) Marketing
b) Record keeping
c) Managing money
d) Business plan
4. Form filling
a) Copies and distribution
b) Review of each form
c) Assisting borrowers with writing/ translation
DAY THREE
1. Form filling continued
2. Administration
3. Closing remarks
a) Host leader
b) WMI team leaders
Training on second and third day, training in business skills, went on concurrently with Administration. Under Administration, a lot was covered:
1. WMI documents
a) Loan application
b) WMI financial reports
c) Guidelines for coordinator and head administrator
2. Giving out materials
a) Loan registers
b) Calculators
c) Administration books
d) Borrower training manuals and many other materials as a beginning CBO
Generally, the training went well, participants showed interest by singing with us and asking questions.
Ladies wrote many notes in their books to review later when they have their loans and their businesses are operating.
During the training, trainees were served with break tea and lunch plus a bottle of water. On day one, they took tea two times before and after lunch and on day two it was only break tea and lunch and none on day three.
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OBSERVATIONS
I observed that the 40 borrowers whom we trained came from urban area and others from neighboring villages around town. When I asked the new loan hub host, she said she planned it like that. She wanted each borrower after knowing the good of WMI, how it operates and how it empowers a rural woman to go to their home area where they are born to mobilize ladies in their localities, that the 40 borrowers are the ambassadors.
This seems like a sound strategy. The ladies understand their obligations and responsibilities and are broken into 5-member sub-groups who live near one another and can provide support and follow up on any defaults.
The environment in Eldoret is too cold but it is full of businesses. Everlyne drove us to town where we saw her shop and we also saw other good businesses and we even bought some things like shoes, utensils, sweaters, Masai shukas and seeds. It was a very good experience.
Among the borrowers, there was a lady called Pastor Joyce, a teacher by profession, she told us that she studied from Uganda in Kapchorwa teachers’ college. She has many skills like making tablecloths, door mats, bags, flowers, mushroom growing and many others. She gave us her contact and as we plan to start a skills school, I think we shall invite her to teach our students.
Another lady runs a shop which makes tea leaves in Kitale. She does mushroom growing even makes mushroom flour for porridge. Among the borrowers whom we trained two of them came from Kitale. Maybe as the program takes off in Eldoret, next time we shall train in Kitale, we shall see what Everlyne plans.
APPRECIATION
The BWA team thanks WMI for:
1. Entrusting us to train ladies in Eldoret
2. Facilitating us and the training in Kenya
3. Giving us opportunity to move out of our country to meet new people and to share ideas and learn from each other. We are so grateful for the opportunity.
Thank you so much WMI and LONG LIVE WMI!
Lastly, we thank the leaders of Eldoret for taking good care of us and mobilizing ladies for the training.
We were warmly welcomed and felt at home. Our special thanks to Edina’s husband who waited for us in Eldoret town and took us to the hotel. Special thanks to Everlyne for taking care of us and driving us up to the taxi park where we boarded to Malaba crossing. We felt the warmth of a family and thank WMI for the great work you are doing with rural women. We pledge to lift the flag up in our lifetime.
RECOMMENDATIONS
I recommend this group to be funded for the WMI loan program. I wish them the best as they join the WMI family which has touched the lives of many rural women
LONG LIVE WMI to assist women in East Africa and beyond.
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Women’s Participation in Labor Force Essential to Sustainable Growth and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
Working on special projects for WMI this summer, intern Miranda Gentin, a recent high school graduate, researched the impact on GDP when women enter the workforce.
In the countries where WMI operates (UG, KY, TZ), women entering the labor force as entrepreneurs is essential to future growth of the economy. When comparing the female labor force participation rate and the GDP per capita, the graph is found to be U-shaped. In an economy with a small percentage of women in the labor force, the GDP falls; whereas, when women represent an increased percentage of the workforce, GDP per capita rises. With few formal jobs available to village women, their only on ramp to employment is through individual entrepreneurship. WMI is able to provide the essential resources and skills for rural women to start their own businesses.
The positive correlation between GDP and women’s participation in the labor force benefits not only the women working, but their children and the country overall. When women in the village work, they become more self-sustainable, access higher quality nutrition and healthcare, life expectancy increases, and the overall quality of life improves. Trade skills such as making clothing or jewelry allow women to create their own jobs and have control over their work life. These unique trade skills heighten the flow of money, increasing the GDP of the country. When women join the workforce in small villages, household income increases resulting in more children being sent to school. With increased educational opportunities, the next generation has the promise of being better situated to address ongoing issues of gender inequality.
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New Dormitory Expands Girls' Educational Opportunities
Phyllis Wanyenze is the Director of Wamboga Memorial Primary School in Budadiri village (30 minutes down the road from WMI’s Buyobo headquarters). Trained as a teacher, she became the school’s Director in 2017 following the death of her husband, who founded the school in 2004. The combination of her school administration skills, financial assistance from WMI’s Jumbo Loan Program, and emotional support provided by the women of WMI has allowed the school to not only survive but thrive in the wake of her husband’s passing.
Phyllis took her first loan in 2014, while working as a teacher and assistant director of the school. After graduating from our initial loan program, she now receives a jumbo loan every 10 months.
Wamboga Memorial enrolls 440 students, teaching kids from nursery (3+ year-olds) all the way to P7 (13 and 14-year-olds). The students walk to school each day from the 7 surrounding villages. It employs 19 teachers, 3 security staff, 2 cooks, and 1 matron, who looks after a few boarders.
Walking long distance to school is a challenge for all students but for young women it poses additional, significant risks. They are subject to harassment from older men, bribed with trinkets and money to become their girlfriends, verbally abused, and physically attacked. When staying late to study for mandatory national exams they are particularly vulnerable to violence on their long walks home. One of Phyllis’ dreams has been to build a full-sized girl’s dormitory so that female students can live on campus, which will help ensure their safety, relieve the considerable stress of their daily ambulatory commute, and give them more time to study and engage in sports and other group activities.
With a new Jumbo Loan, this summer Phyllis broke ground on the long-planned girls’ dorm. Roofing girders are in place and the brick walls are climbing. Shortly, 50 village girls will have a sparkling new dorm to call their school home for the academic year. Phyllis’ achievement with her business has vastly improved her families’ living standards while simultaneously adding a very valuable educational resource to the community.
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WMI is extremely grateful to our donors - you make WMI's work possible. Thank you for your thoughtfulness in supporting WMI's program to empower rural women and families in East Africa. The pandemic had already created new challenges for rural businesswomen and now the war in Ukraine is driving the cost of food and fuel sky high, which disproportionately impacts lower-income families. Despite these challenges, WMI continues to provide loans, training and resources during this growing global crisis. Your support is truly a lifeline - you are making a difference in reducing global poverty and improving outcomes for thousands of rural households in East Africa.
Gratefully,
The WMI Board of Directors
Robyn Nietert Betsy Gordon Deborah Smith Jane Erickson
Terry Ciccotelli Trix Vandervossen June Kyakobye
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