The February Photo:
SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES
In this image, you can see Apio Lucy, the mother of our 22STARS sponsored child Zabake Mercy, standing in front of her grocery business, which she was able to start thanks to the micro loans she received from our Entrepreneurship program.
Small Business Beneficiary: APIO LUCY, MOTHER OF ZABAKE MERCY
Apio Lucy is born around 1978 and is one of the long-term members on the program and has been growing her business a lot the past years. She runs a grocery stall in the community market and nowadays expanded to also sell popcorn and juice. Lucy is the mother of Zabake Mercy, who is sponsored by Susan Keller. Zabake Mercy was born in October 2017 and has no sibilings. Mercy would like to become a nurse when she grows up. Her father works in the stone quarry to earn a living. Her favorite subject is science, she likes singing, she is humble, her favorite color is blue and she likes rice and meat.
A few more photographs from that day, shot by Serena Martineau.
Entrepreneurship Program: CHALLENGE
We work in the communities of Acholi Quarter, Kampala and Danida, Jinja. Both areas are one of the poorest in the region, where many people live on only $1 a day. We realised many of the people living here couldn’t grow their business due to illiteracy, poor time management and a negative outlook regarding business growth. In Acholi Quarter many men and women are working foremost in a stone quarry, which brings them barely enough money to survive and worse, is even dangerous for their health. And in Danida, many people were working long days in nearby factories without having any employment contract. Lasting growth depends on the empowerment of communities through education, skill-building, control of natural resources, and effective interaction with society and their governments. The best way to move forward is to ensure that the families of the children we work with can become self-sustainable.
Entrepreneurship Program: SOLUTION
The 22STARS Foundation originated as the 22STARS Jewellery business in 2013, as we always believed that making people self-sustainable through entrepreneurship is the best way to end poverty. We co-designed and marketed the women's jewellery on the Western Market. Already back then we used the profits to also focus on growing the local businesses of the women, so that they would become independent from our selling techniques.Hence when we established the 22STARS Foundation in 2017, it was for us a natural step to focus besides the Child-Sponsorship program also on the Economic Development of the parents of the sponsored children. We at first partnered up with Entrepreneurs Hands Uganda (EHU), to give Entrepreneurship training to the parents and caretakers, mostly women, of the 22STARS sponsored children. Every new member of our Entrepreneurship Program received an intensive four-week training from EHU, then they created in-depth personal profiles for each participant to see how to help them the most. By providing microloans, setting up a saving system, and monitoring ongoing progress these people were able to start small business such asfood stalls, hospitality, clothing (tailoring and thrift stores), and local transport (mototaxi).
In 2022 we have decided to change this formula, in order for our community to be self-sustainable, and we created a local committee, formed by some of the beneficiaries of our program. The committee is in charge of disbursing and recollecting the loans, monitoring the progress of our members, and making sure that the loans are paid back and are restributed within the community. The loans are issued every 6 months and are paid back on a monthly basis by our benficiaries. In 2020 the literacy rate in Uganda was 76.53%, the lack of education not only limits prospects for the future and has an impact on economic stability and health, but can also put people at risk of trafficking and exploitation. Furthermore, by keeping girls in school, the rates of child marriage and teen pregnancy significantly decrease. We want a better future for these children and their communities, and for that they need education. Once they are doctors, engineers, teachers or whatever their dream is, they will become change-makers and able to give back to their community. Educating children will benefit the whole economy in Uganda. We have a holistic approach to education, and hence on top of sending them to school, we run additional programs that benefit these children and their families.
Entrepreneurship Program: GOAL
Our goal is helping our local committee to have access to more fund to be able to enlarge our impact within our communities. Availability of small, but repeated loans is, in the long-term, expected to positively impact the lives of our beneficiaries. In order to keep our Entrepreneurship Program running, be able to hand out larger loans and add new beneficiaries to the program for this year 2023 we are looking into raising €5.000.
"Fight poverty by making people self-sustainable!"
Each month, we will publish a blog post exploring the story behind the featured Charity Calendar photograph, offering insightful commentary and additional images. Check here which months we already posted.