This international women’s day, we highlight a Microfinance project, run by ORA Uganda. This project empowers women who are struggling to provide for their children, by giving them business mentoring and an interest-free start up loan to help them stand on their own two feet. Women on the programme meet together and support each other to sell products at local markets, or run other small businesses. When they are financially independent, they return their original start-up loan to ORA and the funds are used to support a new group of women in need.
This project first started in 2014, as ORA Uganda personnel had an idea this could help some women who were struggling to feed, educate and provide health care for the children in their homes.
In 2015 and 2016 Hope St and ORA Uganda personnel worked together to design a programme that would not need continuous support from Hope St. In 2016 Hope St funded this project and initially four microfinance groups (32 women) received loans and business and life coaching until their loans were paid back.
Following those four initial groups, 336 women have since joined ORA Uganda Microfinance groups, receiving loans, business and life coaching. That’s 368 women in total, all having paid back their loans.
368 homes, and over 1,500 women and children whose lives have been changed.
After completing the programme the groups have continued to meet independently, working together, saving together and encouraging each other. The women included in the project have testified that their involvement has resulted in moral development, improved social wellbeing in the community, financial literacy and economic empowerment. Beneficiaries feel empowered to provide food, clothing, and school fees for their family as well as adopting saving cultures for the future. The women have been able to improve sanitation at household level, with some able to construct new homes for their families.
Hope St highly values ORA Uganda’s microfinance project. We’re proud of ORA Uganda. The need was in front of them, they found this solution. Working with Hope St they developed a sustainable programme, and they have implemented it successfully, blessing 368 homes, with more to come. ORA Uganda and Hope St working together to end poverty in all its forms everywhere, and promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all1.
1UN Sustainable development goals 1 and 8
