Family Empowerment At Home
Children of Uganda is focused on reviving our Family Empowerment Program (FEP) and adapting Income Generating Activities (IGAs) to benefit both students and their guardians while confined at home during the pandemic.
The vast majority of our families have been financially affected by the shutdown. Only those who have agriculture-based IGAs are managing to progress. Crops are thriving because of the adequate rainfall and the fact that the government has not restricted agriculture activities. Guardians who grow coffee beans, bananas and seasonal crops are telling us that they are doing well.
For other small businesses that rely on daily incomes such as market vendors, produce stalls, hair salons, etc. – they are truly suffering due to the COVID-19 lockdown and quarantine measures.
Many have used up their capital simply to cater for welfare needs.
In the immediate, our staff has identified 3 small-scale IGA projects that will be manageable to conduct as restrictions are lifted. We initially want to start with tailoring, which can be worked on at home with the purchase of a sewing machine and fabrics. The other projects are Vaseline and liquid soap making, as you can see in the proposed budget below:
Family Empowerment At Home
IGA Training Lock-down Pilot Project
Some of the materials above may not be accessible until all shops are reopened, but we want to be fully funded and ready to go so that we can equip families with the resources and training they need to get started as soon as is safely possible.
Another project we are looking into is making black composition notebooks. These are used by all the schools, so not only will our students be able to use them, but their guardians can also sell the finished books to our partner schools. We will keep you posted!
Our existing plan to conduct group IGA and business management trainings may only be possible towards the end of the year or early next year after overcoming the pandemic – since large gatherings are not allowed and would put our families at grave risk.
During this period, we shall educate the beneficiaries to the best of our abilities via phone calls about the different selected IGAs. We are aiming at long-term projects that will carry on well beyond Children of Uganda sponsorship. We also want to engage our already skilled guardians to train their fellow guardians and students, in addition to hiring expert trainers and utilizing COU staff members to offer support as restrictions ease up.
Once the quarantine is lifted, we will then be conducting physical visits to the guardians to assess the performance of their projects and/or small businesses. We also want to provide a stimulus to those who need help getting back on their feet – so we hope we can count on your continued support to revive the entrepreneurial dreams of these deserving women.
