Country Updates:

Uganda. The conflict in Sudan is beginning to impact the country's economy. Uganda exports 92 million dollars a year in tea, coffee, spices and other products to Sudan. Sellers are now looking for alternate markets as transportation becomes risky and Sudanese customers are unable to access capital. A landlocked country, Uganda also depends on imports from Sudan that arrive at its port on the Red Sea. Additionally, refugees from the conflict are crossing into the camps in Uganda. The warring Sudanese parties recently agreed to a seven day cease fire to allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians but no permanent cease fire plans have been announced.

Kenya. The economy continues to recover and is set to expand this year despite the drought that continues in the northeast section of the country. The World Bank announced it will invest 390 million dollars to implement the Kenya Digital Economy Acceleration Project, which will expand access to high speed internet and improve the delivery of educational and government services. Hopefully, this will benefit village women and families who do not have reliable internet access.

Tanzania. The first recorded outbreak of Marburg's, a deadly hemorrhagic virus similar to Ebola, was confirmed by the World Health Organization to have occurred in northeast Tanzania this spring. Five people in the region have died and contact tracing is being implemented. In good news, Vice-President Harris visited the country this spring and announced 500 million in financing to help US companies export goods to Tanzania. She met with President Hassan and the photos of the these powerful women were an inspiration to the ladies in the loan program.

WMI's Local Director, Olive Wolimbwa, (above, left) and Assistant Local Director, Jacqueline Namonye, (above, right) have had a profound impact on young women throughout WMI's loan hubs in East Africa. They are inspirations, role models and coaches, always encouraging young entrepreneurs to learn basic financial lessons and develop business skills. To understand how young women who are surrounded by strong, successful rural businesswomen view their future we asked Olive's and Jackie's daughters to share their stories with us.

After Mom joined WMI, she started her first business and quickly became an assistant administrator for the loan program – she did this while continuing to teach. The following year WMI built its office in the village and we loved going there - we called it the bank. It was so different from our home and other village houses because it was made from bricks.

Things began to change in our household. We both went to a better school. We were given pocket money to buy little personal items. Recently, looking through old photo albums, we saw how mom’s appearance improved over the years. It is very noticeable. She began to dress better and looked less tired and worn out. In our view, she was simply relieved and became a happy mom after joining WMI.

Several years ago mom was offered a better teaching job further away from Buyobo in Karamoja, and there was also a head teacher job for dad, in a very well-funded private school. But mom said she could not leave her colleagues and her work with WMI – her heart was with WMI. We stayed and with savings Dad and some partners opened a new primary school where he now works.

After Mom joined WMI, she started her first business and quickly became an assistant administrator for the loan program – she did this while continuing to teach. The following year WMI built its office in the village and we loved going there - we called it the bank. It was so different from our home and other village houses because it was made from bricks.

Things began to change in our household. We both went to a better school. We were given pocket money to buy little personal items. Recently, looking through old photo albums, we saw how mom’s appearance improved over the years. It is very noticeable. She began to dress better and looked less tired and worn out. In our view, she was simply relieved and became a happy mom after joining WMI.

Several years ago mom was offered a better teaching job further away from Buyobo in Karamoja, and there was also a head teacher job for dad, in a very well-funded private school. But mom said she could not leave her colleagues and her work with WMI – her heart was with WMI. We stayed and with savings Dad and some partners opened a new primary school where he now works.

Our mom has pushed us to achieve. She has constantly searched for better schools and opportunities for us and our three brothers. Watching her become so successful, we have been confident in making plans for ourselves. Two of our brothers are studying civil engineering and the last one is studying accounting. We are so proud of our mom and what she has accomplished.

We do not want to have small lives. We do not want to focus on settling down and getting married at this young age. We want to be part of changing the system and attitudes.

Charity - I am in my second year at Makerere University, studying pre-med to become a doctor. I intend to look for local scholarships and am also considering studying abroad on scholarship to ease the financial stress on my family. I want to do a small business like a shop or selling soap to help pay for school. I feel that I am born to do something so big that people will talk about it!

Liz – I am waiting for my exit exam results to see where I will go to university in September but I have been performing well at school so am confident my scores will be high. I want to be a lawyer - which is a 4-year course of study, followed by additional training to appear in court, and then I hope to study for a Ph.D. My dream is to be a human rights lawyer and I am very positive I will be able to get a job in that field, whether here in Uganda or abroad.



In addition to their studies, Charity and Liz handle household chores. Liz is the cook in the family while Charity can be counted on for clean-up. Talking with these two highly motivated young ladies provided fresh insight into the myriad ways the WMI program is empowering women, young and old, to set goals for themselves and focus on behaviors that turn their future visions into reality.  

When I began reading about WMI, it very inspiring how the organization differs from normal charity work, as it focuses on providing the needed resources to the local people, not doing the actual work, but teaching the local community how to start businesses and run their own loan program in order to become fully independent. The fact that the organization is run by and for the local community really interests me and was my reason for conducting my analysis. 

I created a visual to assist in explaining to my classmates and professors what makes WMI so special, focusing on the inputs and outcomes. I explained the original internal factors that led to the impressive outcomes for the organization. The professors were very enthusiastic about my choice, as were my classmates, most of whom analyzed large, well-known companies that have a non-voluntary staff. But they were inspired by the outcomes of WMI and were amazed the organization has an entirely voluntary staff in the US. This is one factor that makes WMI so special and a big reason why more and more people should know about WMI to support even more loans and improve the lives for more village families. 

I would like to thank WMI and Robyn for giving me the opportunity to hear about her experiences and get a better insight into your organization that I was able to share with classmates. I hope I can someday visit your headquarters in Buyobo and maybe in the future can contribute to this inspirational work.

WMI partners with a British NGO and an indigenous organization to operate loan groups servicing Maasai women in five wards in Tanzania’s National Conservation Area: Nainokanoka, Alailelai, Naiyobi, Esilaiei and Ngolie. Extensive government regulations restrict business operations there and make it difficult for the local communities to generate income. Nevertheless, with eight dedicated local coordinators providing training and support, the women’s groups are thriving. 

Just over 2,000 women are currently participating in the program. WMI decided to expand operations in this region because of the enormous positive impact and growing demand for services, thus this Spring we allocated funds to provide loans and training for 415 additional village women in the region. During the first quarter of 2023, our local management teams provided the following summary on the program's progress:

SUCCESSES 



We are happy to report that the WMI loan and business training program has transformed lives and communities across the five wards. It supports the main community objectives of reducing poverty and fighting our three enemies of ignorance, poverty, and disease

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Participants agree that the knowledge and the skills they acquired through the WMI loans and training has helped them to start and expand their businesses. The women use the funds wisely despite the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) restrictions and have started up and own their businesses, creating self-employment. This program has led to a great improvement in participants’ household incomes, which has helped families meet their basic needs such as food, education and health service through payment for National Health Insurance (NHI).

SUSTAINABILITY - In terms of sustainability, most businesses started are still in operation and any businesses that were not working switched to something successful as taught in the WMI training. The training uses different memorable slogans such as:

• Not to eat the seed (the loan)
• Money speaks in the pocket, do not listen
• Illness does not make an appointment
• My business is my reputation

This training and their successes have given the women pride in their achievements and encouragement to continue to perform well and expand their businesses.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• High amounts of profit were obtained, increasing family resources
• Savings rates have increased;
• Trainings were provided throughout the year focusing on: business skills, price fluctuations and profit-making;
• Vibrant, newly-formed groups have progressed well;
• The provision of these loans has stimulated the local markets, due to a higher circulation of money;
• The women show increased confidence and are empowered by their decision-making and planning skills;
• The adult education in numeracy and literacy increases the women’s confidence and skills in managing their businesses and record keeping;
• Borrowers report health improvements as they apply lessons learned from the health education classes and they can afford to purchase health insurance.

CHALLENGES 

• Climatic changes have worsened the economic situations of Maasai herders around the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and beyond to Esilalei due to drought;
• Price increases due to the rise of cost of living in Tanzania;
• Registration of loan groups is now required by the government which takes time and money;
• The cost of transport has increased due to increases in the cost of fuel;
• Illiteracy is still a challenge as it takes a long time to learn to read, write in the new language of Swahili (most women speak Maa) and to learn mathematical skills;
• Patriarchal dominance continues to limit some women's freedom in their businesses.

WMI is confident that by continuing to collaborate with our non-profit partner in Britain (WTWT) and by supporting our excellent management team in the villages, we will be able to overcome the current challenges and continue to expand our services with the determined Maasai women in Tanzania. The strong local team is a critical key to the success of this loan hub program and WMI is grateful for the commitment and dedication of: Embapa Runguna, Maria Mirumu, Kisiaya Saruni  Kinyanjui, Sunguyo Sindiyo, Sinyati Ngamuriaki, and Supeet Olepurko.

Traveling by overnight bus from Buyobo, Uganda to Nairobi and then another 6 hours by mini-van, Olive Wolimbwa, Jackie Namonye and Irene Wetaka, WMI’s most experienced trainers, undertook the journey to Namanyuk to provide their expertise to thirty-seven Samburu women, from 10 different villages, who gathered for the workshop. The WMI trainers covered topics including marketing, record-keeping, saving, how to increase sales through pricing and profit margins. and the importance of educating girl children. Olive emphasized that without an education, she would not be there teaching business-skills to other village women. This peer-to-peer training methodology really resonated with the women. At the end of the training session, the Samburu ladies were presented with WMI's signature red tote bag.