Once again WMI is participating in the Combined Federal Giving Campaign, which is now in full swing until the end of the year.  This annual employee giving campaign at federal agencies has been a wonderfully reliable source of annual contributions for our organization. 

 

For the fourth year in a row, WMI will headline an agency-wide event at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). FERC attorney Linda Gilbert, a long-time WMI supporter, introduced WMI to the agency's CFC co-coordinator, Ed Gingold, who has reached out to WMI and invited us back each year. WMI appreciates the chance to introduce its mission and goals to more and more FERC staff each year!

 

If you are a federal employee, please consider contributing to WMI through the CFC. 

The promotion a few months ago of WMI Resource Fellow, Melissa LaRue, to Finance Director for East Africa, and her commitment to reside in Buyobo for another year, has made it possible for WMI to expand its internship program to include fall and spring interns in addition to our usual program for summer interns. The recently added 4-6 month long-term internships in our East Africa headquarters are open to college students, graduate students or recent graduates. Applications for the Spring 2015 internship are being accepted. The exact timing of the internship is flexible between January - June 2015. Further information is available on the web site.   Spring 2015 Internship

 

Interns are a huge asset to the WMI loan program.  They bring an enthusiasm for our mission and help us expand our local infrastructure through development of our village-level human resources. 

 

The fall internship has been filled by Nicole Bolliger. A Swiss resident, Nicole (far left in photo) recently graduated from the University of Geneva with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations. She has been providing systems operations support and training to the ladies in Buyobo and travelling to the outlying loan hubs with Melissa, Olive and the WMI team to help with loan issuance.  She is enjoying working with the ladies and learning about village life - including the challenging custom of transporting gourds on one's head.

WMI has developed a program to train local women in all of the loan hubs to take on the responsibility of providing the business and skills training for new and follow up borrowers in their loan hubs. This means they will be able to train in their local languages, eliminating the need for a translator and the loss of meaning that inevitably happens with translations. It will also streamline operations and save costs to have local trainers resident in each loan hub.

 

WMI has organized week long workshops in its headquarters in Buyobo, Uganda to provide the training instruction to the local loan hub staff. The ladies from the Kenya loan hubs traveled to Buyobo in May for their training. It was quite an adventure and challenge to arrange the logistics for these ladies to arrive in Buyobo since many of them had never traveled outside of their village area, let alone their country; but, they all arrived eventually and completed the workshop. This training program is now bearing fruit. 
 

In October, the ladies in the Chanuka CBO provided business and skills training to borrowers in their Shikokho, Kenya loan hub. Melissa reported that the new trainers were confident, kept the borrowers engaged, and touched on all aspects of the subjects taught. They had the borrowers on their feet involved in skits to illustrate important points. WMI is very encouraged that the local ladies are so enthusiastic, competent and involved in training their peers in the loan program.

 

 

 

Jane Erickson          ericksonjn@verizon.net
Terry Ciccotelli        terryciccotelli@gmail.com