Report from BHW Uganda Partnership Facilitator Following Visit

We met with Peter and Violet Erima on 19th September, initially at our hotel in Tororo, Uganda. We then visited their main church in Tororo, where we met with about 24 people from their community, 16 of whom were part of the loan group.

Recent Events

Microloan Programmes

Faith Harvest Church of Fresh Hope (FHCOFH) has a network of 20 churches across southeastern Uganda, mainly centred in Tororo. They are endeavouring to address many of the needs presented by the local communities and, as part of this, have inaugurated a number of microloan programmes with the support of Bright Hope World. There are presently five microloan programmes operating in various areas around Tororo: one urban programme in Tororo itself, and others in the rural areas of Buhimi, Bumeru, Itana, and Busetima. Buhimi is very close to Busia. Each group has a reasonable number of people, and we had the chance to meet with large numbers from both the Tororo and Buhimi groups.

We were very impressed by the people we met and the calibre of the loans. In particular, we were surprised by the amount of progress made by those who have received loans, in relatively short spaces of time. This will be readily apparent from reading their stories. 

Despite the challenges that many of these women face, they seem resilient and there was a sense of empowerment through the loan programme. Many of them spoke of personal or family illness, difficult family circumstances, and unexpected events like storms affecting housing. However, they all seemed to articulate their ability to pick themselves up and carry on or find other ways to make business work. It seemed like there was good synergy within the loan beneficiaries; all supportive of each other’s successes and inspired to do more having made substantial changes to their life situation.  The loans were typically taken out over a 6-12-month period, but some paid them in a shorter timeframe.  

Vision

At the main church in Tororo, Violet explained her vision for serving the people in the community. Some time ago, she was involved with a group of women and saw that they had significant physical needs but also spiritual needs that needed to be met, and she could see that a small business would make a difference. She advised “if you have a vision, you pray to God and make a plan”.  She has seen great change in these families who are now being provided for, and their needs are being met. A group of 16 women from the loan programme came to the church to meet with us and they were all extremely eager to share their individual stories!  Violet advised there are many more wanting to join the programme. 

Buhimi Loan Programme

Following the meeting at the main church, we took a long ride back down the road to Busia, where we met with a church in Buhimi. There were approximately 30 people at the meeting, and about 14 of those were loan recipients. Approximately 10 of them shared their stories, and all disclosed considerable success and improvement in their life situations as a result of the loans. The church in Buhimi has a total membership of approximately 50 people and there are around 500 people in the village. This area has been very disturbed by insurgency in the past. For a period in the 1990s, children were unable to leave the area to go to school, and there was violence with insurgent groups operating relentlessly. That has now changed, but the people we met were the children of those who were either victims of the insurgency or had themselves been involved. It is also an obviously very poor area, with no power or individual sanitation. There is a communal toilet on church land which sums it up.

The 14 loan beneficiaries in Buhimi had a loan fund of approximately $2,000 allocated to them. The loan programme operates by presentation of a business case and a request for funds. They have a training process in business principles. Once the funds are advanced, interest accrues at 1% per month, commonly 12% per annum. Loans are made for a period of about one year. When loans are repaid, borrowers have the opportunity to obtain larger loans, if funds permit.

Personal Stories

Junic Natsamwa was one of the loan beneficiaries at the church and was very enthusiastic to tell her story. Junic has two children aged 12 and 3, and she started a charcoal business to support her family.  We were able to visit her at the market later in the day.  Her first loan was 500,000 UGX (US$140) and second loan 700,000 UGX (US$200) which she is near completing. She described her business as “good” and “strong” and has resulted in huge change for her family. She can afford education for her children and they are thriving. Her house only had a foundation previously and now has walls and a roof. She was very grateful for the loan programme and proud of what she had achieved through it.  

Christine Awori was an example of the resilience and determination of many of these women in the loan programme. She borrowed 700,000 UGX (US$200) to start a charcoal business also and worked hard to repay it quickly. She was then able to borrow 1.5million UGX (US$430) and started a business selling vegetables also, enabling her to complete her house build. She has also been able to afford school fees for her children. Her son finished his schooling, and she was able to support him to do a driving course and obtain his permit. Unfortunately, while working as a driver, he knocked someone off their motorbike and had to pay a fine of 700,000 UGX, which Christine was able to do. She also had the unfortunate situation of her house falling down due to very heavy rainfall and was able to rebuild it. She seemed upbeat and grateful for the loan programme that enabled her to manage through those circumstances due to having a business providing income. 

The only male loan beneficiary at the gathering was Asaf Okumu, a primary school teacher who has three children. He was an intelligent and articulate person who borrowed 2 million UGX (US$575) to build his home and start a nursery school partway through this year.  He already has 15 children attending and has plans to expand in the future.

Ideas for the Future

In our conversation, we determined that the loan funds allocated to each village loan programme are intended to stay within that programme and be advanced and re-advanced within it. It is clear that several other churches within the FHCOFH network are ready for, and capable of, having loan programmes. Violet and Peter would like to continue expanding the loan programme with input from Bright Hope World to enable this. They are not in a position to interfere in the existing loan arrangements, which are relatively recent, and bringing capital back for further advancement with the interest rate being relatively low is not really practical either. It was also encouraging to see the progress which is being made in a relatively short space of time.

There were several other matters discussed:
1) There is a huge issue around Tororo with street children and children from extremely vulnerable or violent families. We saw some of this ourselves on the streets of Tororo. Many of these children have come here from other areas, particularly the Karamoja area, which is a very poor and still semi-nomadic area in Northeastern Uganda. The streets are extremely unsafe at night and there are unspeakable things that occur to many of these children. 

We have asked Peter and Violet to put a proposal through if they consider they are able to do something. Their idea, which we think is very practical, is that for the children who are willing, they go into foster families prepared to look after them for a period of time. If that were to happen, there would need to be support for accommodation costs, school fees, uniforms, etc. If possible, we think this has real merit and is a creative idea to address a significant problem.

2) Peter and Violet want to generate a plan to address HIV/AIDS in the area. They call this sensitisation. I asked whether there were other HIV/AIDS sensitisations going on in the community, and they acknowledged that there were, but they often missed the most vulnerable and those who most needed input, training, and monitoring of ARVs if diagnosed. They spoke specifically about those not in school who often miss education about HIV/AIDS. Ideally, they would like to see an officer, or someone trained who could travel to each of the 20 districts once a month to carry out sensitisation and ensure those on ARVs are continuing with them. That would involve travel, food, and a small allowance. Apparently, there are people who have been trained and sensitised who would be willing to do this. We would like to see how other areas of this partnership develop before considering this.

3) Another idea raised was related to young girls who often drop out of school because they cannot manage their menstrual periods. Peter and Violet spoke of young girls and young women getting infected with HIV because they are having sexual relations with a wealthier man who will buy them pads and other care related to their menstrual cycle in return. We discussed a menstrual pads programme and the possibility of supplying sewing machines to assist. There are a few obstacles to overcome, and we have left it with Peter and Violet to consider.

4) We also discussed Foundations for Farming and raised the fact that this is one of the central foci of Bright Hope World. We indicated the possibility of having key leaders trained in Jinja, Uganda, at Father Heart Ministries and in Foundations for Farming techniques, who would then bring them back to their communities and teach others. This is something we have left with Peter and Violet to consider.

Prayer and Praise Points

1) People in Uganda who are very poor live right on the edge. Certainly, in the second community we saw, which was very poor, this was the case. Not very much needs to go wrong for a family to be plunged into crisis. Pray for stability in this area, and for those who have experienced conflict, or are the children of those who have experienced conflict, to know the peace that only Jesus brings.

2) For good organic growth in the loan programmes as further funds are made available.

3) For wisdom for the leadership regarding potential other possibilities that we discussed. Not all of those will be supported by Bright Hope World at this stage, but we are looking forward to this partnership continuing to strengthen and grow in the years ahead.

Comments

Given what we have seen, we think that the vision Peter and Violet have is both sound and remarkable. The people have clearly been well trained and have done very well with their relatively small loan advances of between 200,000 and 500,000 UGX. (US$75 - US$150).

Overall, this was a really good meeting. We consider these people reliable and of very good character. One story that really touched us was one Violet told spontaneously. One day she had brought home a baby she found abandoned in a rubbish heap in Mbale. The father was missing, and the mother was a drunkard. That child lived with them for five years until 2024 as part of their family. They were able to reconnect the child with the grandmother and the child returned to live with her. This story shows the character of Peter and Violet and their willingness to sacrificially care for their community. That is one of the reasons we would like to continue to develop and expand this partnership.

Our recommendation is that the existing budgeted payment of $5,500 per annum into this loan programme be extended for a further two years to enable Peter and Violet to expand the loan programme organically into several more churches. They are very happy and willing to do this.