On the verge of giving up on life - Uganda
On the verge of giving up on life
AGNES OROMA
“I was on the verge of giving up on life”
Agnes Oroma, aged 39, is a widow with three children and ten other dependents. She belongs to Rwothumio Women Group. She says Enterprise Uganda came at a time she needed a hand to hold her from collapsing. “I was having a timber business in Democratic Republic of Congo when I lost all I had to the soldiers that confiscated all my timber and took all the money I had. It was a trying moment and I was on the verge of giving up on life as I had completely nothing.”
A friend of hers invited her for an Enterprise Uganda training. It was about addressing the mind-set. A number of facilitators talked and gave them hope and encouraged them to look at things from a positive angle. The facilitators told the story of a Bumble Bee that manages to fly even when many people thought it had no ability to fly. This motivated Agnes and she started imagining herself holding millions of shillings again.
During the training she learnt about Enterprise Selection and Projected Income Statement that enabled her identify the business opportunity of growing and selling coffee and banana (matooke).
After the training, she sold her plot of land at 4.8 million shillings and used two million to buy coffee for selling; another two million to hire and prepare land in DRC for growing beans and maize and UGX800,000 for paying school fees. After harvesting, she raised 4.2 million shillings from two tonnes of beans and one tonne of maize and also continued buying and selling coffee.
Consistent work in the field builds a business worth of 20 m shillings
She has since diversified into making detergents and lotion, growing bananas, coffee, beans, onions and maize, and harvesting grasshoppers which she sells in DRC. She also opened up a shop for selling detergents and lotions in Paidha town. Since 2014, she has been consistently working in the field and her daily sales range between UGX300,000 and UGX800,000 per day. Her businesses are worth over 20 million shillings.
Agnes currently employs 11 workers. She has a daughter at Kyambogo University where she pays tuition of 1.4 million shillings per semester and another child in A-level. She has bought two plots of land within the town council: one plot at ten million shillings and the other at six million shillings. She plans to construct a residential house and leave the current one for business.
She is now very influential in her group and community as a whole and encourages fellow women to stop over-depending on their husbands. They should start their own businesses with whichever money they have to have sustainable income in case their husbands are no longer there. She thanks Enterprise Uganda for putting a smile on her face once again.
The Strengthening Women’s Entrepreneurs Project (SWEP II) was a 3-year project seeking to economically empower 5,000 rural and semi-rural women in Northern and Eastern Uganda (The Greater North) to become the main vehicle for expanding production, increasing household income, alleviating poverty and enhancing economic growth. - Charles Ocici (Executive Director)
SWEP II has shown that it is possible for women, even those in rural areas, to enjoy economic emancipation through adopting and practicing an entrepreneurial mind-set. The increase in household incomes, savings and investments as a result of gender-sensitive entrepreneurship and business development skills shows the capacity of women to transform their lives and those of their households if guided into the right direction. There was also a marked improvement in household relationships and appreciation of the civic responsibility of the woman in the community. This highlights the fact that an economically empowered woman is also a better mother in the home and citizen in the country. - Rosemary Mutyabule (Director, Business Development Services)
Used with permission from Enterprise Uganda. Project Report can be downloaded here