Report from BHW Uganda Partnership Facilitators Following Visit

Key person: Anna Ocen 

Recent Events

General

We visited with Anna and Simon in Mbale on 18/19 August and had a really good opportunity to discuss what is going on in the loan programme. 

The programme is continuing on quite well despite a number of setbacks. The most difficult setback this year has been that the first rains did not come. This has led to food shortages, higher food prices and also, for those with other types of businesses, their clients do not have spare funds to buy non-essentials.

Here are some observations:
- There is a wait list of 30-35 women wanting to join the programme.
- Anna provides training in Christian values and business and screens potential loan beneficiaries carefully before including them in the programme.
- Anna continues to encourage and train by regularly meeting each member at their work place as well as when they meet together as a group.
- She is currently keeping records of names, loan amounts and repayments within her own book, however is waiting for smaller books to be printed for each of the loan members.
- The women spoke of how Anna had counselled them and how being a part of the group of women provides encouragement and support for one another.
- The beneficiaries still meet as a large group every second Sunday afternoon and we were present at one of these meetings. They are really encouraging. There are a lot of new beneficiaries to the programme. About 1/4  are Muslim women.

Beneficiaries

Sarah Muzaki is continuing to be extremely reliable. She does the loan repayment collection in the villages on the eastern side of Mbale and brings all the money to Anna. When a beneficiary has repaid their loan then Anna meets with that beneficiary to confirm that repayment has been made in full and to sort any matters out, so there is a check and balance in the system. 

There are a few in the current group who have not been paying. Because of the current troubles about half are behind but paying what they can afford. 

Marriam, whom we have reported on previously, is now unable to walk and is very sick but she has repaid her loan. 

Alongside the small businesses, many of which are very vulnerable to market changes, Anna has been discussing diversification or variety. We are finding that many beneficiaries are now starting to have small livestock or similar as an adjunct to what they are already doing. It is inspiring to see. Similarly three of the village group beneficiaries are expanding to keep cows.

Foundations for Farming

There are also some stories of people continuing with Foundations for Farming. We did not see Sarah’s fields but apparently she is doing very well and continuing to practice what she learnt at the Jinja training in 2015. Simon, Anna’s husband, also uses the techniques on the land where the mill is situated in Lira and produces some ground nuts and beans for consumption at Hope Restoration Centre (UGA03a).

Personal Stories

Despite real seasonal and economic hardship in this country many of the beneficiaries are doing very well and we are inspired to hear their stories. They are clear that they could not have achieved what they have without Bright Hope’s assistance and input.

Katisi Sarah Nambuya  

Sarah is a single mother supporting three children. Her eldest is 19 years old and is in university and her younger children are in senior 3 and primary 3. Previously Sarah ran a restaurant in the market however when this market caught fire her business was destroyed. Then when she tried to establish her business in the market again she was unable to secure a space to work from due to the high costs of bribes to secure a space. Life after the fire was very difficult and she did all she could to support her children, including working for others, however this was not enough to begin her business again.

She spoke with Anna and was given a first loan of 300,000 UGX (US$80) 18 months ago. With this money she was able to secure another place to rent and began her restaurant at a very basic level. She was able to repay her loan after six months and then took another loan of 1,000,000 UGX (US$270) in February 2019 which she used to expand and develop her business further (particularly with furniture and cooking implements etc). She has been able to maintain repayments and now has 550,000 UGX (US$150) left to pay.

She pays 500,000 UGX (US$135) per month to rent in a side street. Rents on the street frontage are much higher. She employs five people in cooking, delivering and serving and trains them in their work. She provides breakfast and lunch at the venue and also meets orders from local businesses in town, such as banks, by delivery. The combined number of lunches is around 55 though this number fluctuates.

Some of the challenges Sarah spoke about in relation to her business were the impact of significant price increases of food and the difficulty getting charcoal to cook with. Customers expect prices to stay the same and she is aware that as much as possible maintaining these prices is a way to keep her customers. Balancing these issues is difficult. She continues to need untensils for her business and she pays back the loan as she can even if this is not on time.

Sarah is keen to expand further. She thinks that getting a fridge would enable to her to provide drinks and small snacks within her business.

Sarah is very pleased about the changes and her ability to build up her business again. She is happy to have had the chance to get the loan, is pleased she has many customers and is able to look positively towards the future.

Sarah 

Sarah is a single mother with three biological children and as all her brothers and sisters have died she cares for seven other children. Their ages range from 8 to 25 years and all are at school. Her eldest is doing electrical training at a technical institution and another is at university doing environmental studies. She has no other source of income other than her business of selling clothing.

Previously she worked from a verandah on one of the main streets in Mbale but she has now moved to a shop in one of the side streets doing the same business and shares this place with another lady (Teddy) who does training in tailoring and can do some sewing for income. The rent is 400,000 UGX (US$110) per month.  

Sarah has been in the loan programme since 2017 and in April 2019 she took her fourth loan of 1,200,000 UGX (US$325). She used this to get stock for her business and to pay education fees. She reports that this season has been very difficult. Because of drought and crop failure many  locals do not have money to spend on clothing. Previously she was able to add new stock weekly however now it is only monthly. Additionally rental, education and food prices have escalated and her daughter’s university fees were due. She has been finding these pressures very difficult. She has managed to pay university fees in the first three months of the loan and is now able to begin making repayments to the loan. She also has some savings still in the loan programme.

Clearly Sarah is struggling with the impact of running her business within a community that has been significantly effected by drought and loss of crops. She spoke of the support she receives from Anna saying that at times she does not know how she can continue and goes to Anna and cries. Anna gives her love, care and advice on how to proceed and she is able to continue to move on. She is hopeful that this growing season will be better than the last so that her customers can afford to purchase clothes from her. 

Nabusita Beatrice 

Beatrice is a widow and a relatively new member of the programme. Her husband died 15 years ago and she has five children. Her 18 year old and one grandchild live with her.

Before becoming a member of the programme she lost everything in the market fire. She was hoping to start her business again however she had nothing to begin with. She considered going to Pride Microfinance to borrow money to support her family however the interest required on this was too high and she was afraid that she would be arrested if she couldn’t make the repayments.

Her first loan was for 300,000 UGX which she managed to pay back. Her second was also for 300,000 UGX. However when she was travelling in a vehicle to get produce to bring back to Mbale to sell someone stole the money. She did not let Anna know but somehow managed to pay this loan back also.  

Recently she got another loan of 400,000 UGX and used this to boost her stock. She reports that now the family are eating well and she is able to pay school fees for her 18 year old and grandchild. She is able to make a profit. She also explained that three of her children live in a village a long way from Mbale with two other grandchildren. They hire a small piece of land for 50,000 UGX and are able to grow produce which they use to eat and also to sell some of what they grow. 

Nabukwasi Esther 

Esther is a single mother with four children aged 18 months to 10 years. She has been separated from her husband for three years and does not get any financial support from him or other family members.

Esther had similar problems with the market fire and fear of getting a loan to restart her business through Pride due to the risks associated with the high interest rate. She came to know about the loan programme through Sarah Muzaki, was trained by Anna and began her first loan of 300,000 UGX in February 2019. She buys produce and sells it inside the market. Despite the impacts of drought in her community she has been managing to keep her business going, provide for her children and make small repayments. She has paid 120,000 UGX off her loan. 

Violet 

Violet is a single mother with four children aged 25, 20, 13 and 8. She has built a good business selling fruit with lots of good quality stock and has many customers. She has many Christian women as customers. She has had to struggle as a single mother. Her first loan was 400,000 UGX in March 2019. She is making a profit and able to make repayments. She has recently completed repaying this first loan.  

Fatima Muyama 

Fatima is a single mother with five children and two other dependents. She started in the loan programme some time ago and is from a very poor background. We have attached a photo of her below (she is on the right), with her mother and some children, when she was living in the village with literally nothing. Her husband abandoned her. At one stage she was so desperate that she wanted to get rid of one of her children. But she is now a beautician having previously obtained a degree in development studies but was unable to find a job. She then trained as a beautician and is the only qualified cosmetologist in Mbale. She spends a lot of her time caring for and counselling women who have no hope.

Her business is doing well and her current loan is 1.5m UGX (US$405). There are problems with the tenancies in the building she operates from and 2019 has not been as good a year but she is still doing OK. In her words she is a ‘fighter’. We found her very engaging and passionate about her work and also helping others (she is on the left in the righthand photo). 

Partnership's Influence within the Community

The fact that there are so many people waiting to join is good testimony to the success and stability of this programme. Anna maintains very close contact with all beneficiaries. She aims to visit all of them personally about once a month. 

Prayer and Praise Points

Uganda is currently experiencing a time of real economic and financial stress, such that they are now importing food whereas before they exported it. Combined with inflation this means many poor people are getting poorer. This has significantly impacted those in the loan programme however despite their struggles they continue to pay back their loans as they are able, even if the repayments are smaller and over a longer period of time. Most of the women within the programme are struggling to maintain their businesses while caring for the basic needs of their children, including paying their education costs. 

Comments

We feel that some additional financial support in 2020, and possibly the following year, could be worthwhile but in the first instance have asked Anna to send us a complete list of loan beneficiaries, their loans, repayments and time frames. Once this comes we can reflect on whether there should be a boost this year because of the waiting list. We certainly would like to see more people being supported and starting to do well in their lives and a boost would assist this. We do like what we see with this programme. In particular we meet really inspiring people here and the cohesiveness of this group is remarkable, particularly when about ¼ to 1/3 are Muslim women.