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BUKAYA YOUNG WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP <
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Small Business
Clinic: Taking the Lead in Business
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Racheal
Wannyana
Project Coordinator
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Irene
Nakasiita
Assistant Coordinator
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What
This project was submitted as a proposal to National Youth
to Youth Fund. The project is designed to empower the
young rural/urban women of Bukay in Buikwe District, Uganda.
We have been working in this district for the past year
developing the community to become a thriving self sustaining
community. This project will enhance our efforts in this
development. Our goal is to enhance the potential of young
women towards enterprise and self-employment. We are proposing
a small business clinic, intended to empower over 300
women within a period of 18 months to;
-
create business ideas
- develop
business skills
- manage
small businesses
- and
to strengthen them towards self- employment and enterprises
How
The project will provide relevant business training, management
and group support for existing and new businesses. This
training is hands on and relevant to cultural setting, and
done at the business premises within Bukaya. Progress is
monitored weekly. When new business ideas are introduced,
the recipients will first master the original ideas before
moving forward in their business development, i.e. if record
keeping and production are introduced first, marketing and
buying will wait till the first two are mastered and applied.
This project is not just class room based, and does not
interfere with the day to day operations of a business.
The trainings are flexible and tailored to the needs of
the young women, in their local dialect and monitored weekly.
Why
This community was once an industrialized centre, with
several industries in the area. These failed and left specialized
people unemployed, and not easily employable. This has led
to social ills, poverty and child neglect, all these affecting
young women. Training on the market are not affordable,
and not flexible, all they need is a little push.
Results
- Over
300 women will have to show good and sustainable businesses
at the end of the 18 months.
- The
young women will be trained on how to start, run and
sustain a business.
- They
will receive additional training to develop skills in
trade and services delivery.
- Business
plans that are feasible to start new or improve upon
businesses
- Finally,
will increase in employment and financial bases to meet
personal and family needs. Improve emotional well being,
empower young women and bring stability in families
and the community.
Problem
Analysis
The young women that we would like to target are rural/urban
women of Bukaya community
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Young women mainly under the age of 35
- 60%
have primary education
- 40%
single, 10% married
- 77%
unemployed, 10% self employed, 11% casual work
- 80%
have 3-6 children
- Business
opportunities was sighted as one of the top three needs
in the community
The issues, challenges and needs this target group faces
in the area of employment or entrepreneurship are for the
following reasons. Many of the young women previously worked
or had a relationship to the failed (Nyanza textile industries
limited) formally located in this area. These young women
have expressed interest in creating self-employment, yet
all are very diverse in areas of skill and ability. However
a primary need is predominant; that is training to start
and or improve on their businesses, and the relevant funding
to support and sustain new and current businesses.
There
is great need for training and vocational skills development,
yet these women have no resources to access business training,
community support or skills development. High percentage
of young women are unemployed. The majority of them have
little education with families to support. They have restricted
time or opportunity due to family responsibilities to access
training, skills development and finances to become self
employed or entrepreneurs. Primary desire of these women
are to earn an income to support themselves and their families.
This can best be gained by working together in groups receiving
training within their community and through organizations
that are specialized to operate in this area. Like BUCOMP
our major partner.
The
reason N4H Foundation has proposed to target this group
and their constraints in particular are for the following:
- Poverty
and desperation is a threat to prosperity every where.
Conflict and terror arise when people have nothing to
loose.
- With
the collapse of the industrial city of Jinja, many parents
could not afford to educate their children with the
little earnings, so choices had to be made on who in
the family to educate, and in most cases the girls were
asked to stay home inorder for the boys to go to school.
This became a choice based on sexual identity and necessity,
which has perpetuated the cycle of women being undereducated
and underskilled.
- Without
financial support, children will suffer from interruptions
of schooling.
- These
young women are also disadvantaged when it comes to
getting jobs, due to discrimination since better paying
jobs are given to men.
- Young
women will experience increased poverty, poor medical
and mental health issues. Higher rate of gender abuse,
spouse abandonment, drug and alcohol dependency, leading
to a degradation of the local community. Constraints
are minimal resources, family responsibilities as single
parent, and community support.
- The
support needed is crucial, and these injustices can
be addressed within our life time. The grant proposal
will create a multiplier effect, which will boost the
local economy and transform a community.
These issues and needs were identified through a community
survey of 463 participants, conducted in 2010
Project Strategy (What the key ideas and solutions
are)
The
desire change is to increase knowledge and vocational skills
in business towards self-employment among young women of
Bukaya by providing:
- 300
young women the education, resources and life skills
to run both group and individual businesses.
- Onsite
technical business training and support
- The
means to evaluate the feasibility of new businesses
before committing to businesses. This will reduce the
rate of failed new businesses,
- Training
for financial business management,
- Accountability
and monitoring through group and local network of community
support through BUCOMP
- Child
care and incentive program to increase compliance and
accountability
- Ancillary
services as needed through BUCOMP to address barriers
to receive training, support and eventually self-employment
- Low
interest micro financing to support current businesses
and new entrepreneurships will become available at the
end of their training through BUCOMP partnership
- The
necessary data to evaluate successful outcomes (How
it will address the problem)
Problem
areas in becoming self-employed have been: insufficient
capital to sustain a business, no business plan, inappropriate
business idea, low compliance and accountability with recipients,
lack of experience, knowledge and support, or personal problems
being emotional or physical leading to high rate of failed
businesses.
Our strategies, stated above address these issues to provide
sufficient training and support for self-employment.
The
strategy to teach, mentor, fund and monitor, will provide
the necessary financial, technical, incentive and community
support for young women to have the greatest chance of succeeding
in self-employment and enterprise.
They
will be able to improve and expand existing businesses to
increase resources and profits. Other women will have opportunities,
life skills and competence to start viable businesses within
the community; being poultry, piggery, vegetable/ fruit
stand, clothing store, salon, small markets, restaurants
etc.
Implementation Plan
Key Activities:
- Mobilization
of trainers and provide necessary training for the trainers
to implement the project.
- Establish
and set up the infrastructure of office, program agenda,
materials, handouts etc.
- Mobilization
of the young women of the community. Determine qualifications
and need for additional services and support within
BUCOMP network.
- Training
of the women in business enterprise and vocational skills
- Reviewing
new businesses for ideas and feasibility
- Evaluation
of the project and its effectiveness
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