Project addresses gender based violence and success follows - Uganda
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Project addresses gender based violence and success follows
Auma Nancy, aged 23, is a member of Pitek Kimon Group and is married with two children. She is a Senior Four drop-out. The biggest challenge in her home before the strengthening women entrepreneurship project (SWEP) intervention was gender- based violence. “My house was not a home to live in,” Nancy says. Her husband returned to school and is currently in Senior Six but whenever he returned home, they would quarrel on almost every issue and he would receive overwhelming support from his parents. The husband had stopped her from saving in the group and she had resorted to secretly using a friend to deliver her savings. She had given up on attending the group meetings.
However, things changed when they both attended SWEP gender training in the group. The husband listened to the testimonies of other men who were peacefully living with their wives and was inspired to change his relationship with Nancy. This brought a big change in their home and her husband nowadays jointly plans with her. When he is at school, she makes saving contributions for him in the group. Recently, when their daughter was sick, he asked for time off from school to join Nancy in hospital where their daughter was admitted.
She started rearing one goat but has since increased the number to 20 goats. She currently buys and sells rice (she had just made a sale of UGX800,000 before the interview) and has increased total savings from UGX200,000 in the VSLA to UGX1,000,000 and also sells silver fish in the market. She has been able to buy a bed, mattress, chairs and curtains. Today, her husband cannot sell anything without asking her first and his family is convinced she bewitched him due to failure to believe the positive change. She is all smiles for what Enterprise Uganda/SWEP II did in her household and life.
She currently buys and sells rice and has increased total savings from UGX200,000 in the VSLA to UGX1,000,000
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