Happy New Year! As we embark on a new year, I wanted to take this opportunity to take a look back on 2022.
We hit some huge milestones this year, and I think it is important we share those with you. First, we want to thank all of you for your continued support. We rely on donations for our work and without you, none of this would be possible. This year we were able to hire our first employees! This included cleaning staff, an administrative assistant, and bakery staff. We started a bakery! The bakery project allows us to train women in baking skills from our headquarters, while also generating some income to pay operational costs. In addition to baking, we trained several groups in catering. Our group in Kihihi was the first to request catering training, and they have since catered several large events. They are saving so invest in their own supplies so they can grow their catering business and no longer need to rent supplies such as plates, bowls, and cookware. We continue to support their efforts, and hope to help other groups achieve the same levels of success. In total, we trained 110 women in new skills this year; 30 in baking, and 80 in catering.
Our biggest hurdle has, and continues to be, funding. As with any donation based nonprofit, our work is at the mercy of our donors. We are in the process of applying for our Non-Government Organization (NGO) status in Uganda. This will allow us to operate throughout Uganda, and will give us the ability to apply for grants from both national and international organizations. Since 2020, we have operated on a local level and have been required to register in each district in which we work. The NGO certification allows us much more flexibility as well as better access to resources and support for our groups. The application process has taken over a year, and has been frustrating, to say the least. We are in the process of resubmitting the latest updates to our paperwork, and are hoping and praying we will have our certification in the next couple months.
While we had many projects planned for 2022, we were unable to complete them all. The following are updates about our 2022 endeavors.
Administrative Assistant: Early 2022, we hired our first assistant to help Fortunate in the office. Unfortunately, as the bakery got going, we had to decide whether to hire more bakery staff to keep that operational, or to keep Judith. We made the difficult decision to lay off Judith in order to get the proper professional staff for the bakery. This turned out to be the right decision. Judith was able to find another job in Kampala, and we have been able to grow bakery operations.
Bakery: In 2022, we hired two bakers, and two support staff. This allows one baker to fulfill orders while the other is able to lead trainings. This year, 30 women completed baking training at our shop. We also made some consistent clients, and are working on growing our operations in the next year. We plan on hiring some of our trainees to work as bakers so we can begin to sell baked goods from our shop.
Catering: We trained four groups totaling 80 women in catering this year. While some groups are still navigating how to use their new skills, our Kihihi group has taken their lessons and run with them! They are highly motivated, and have catered several events in their town. We are excited to see how this group continues to grow and flourish.
Scholarship: Due to lack of funding, we were unable to pay for tuition for the 20 women in more remote groups who wish to be trained in tailoring and hairdressing. Fortunately the trade school has extended the scholarship indefinitely and will offer the reduced tuition as soon as we are able to raise the $3,000 needed.
Flooding in Rwenshama: Our group in Rwenshama has been dealing with heavy flooding in their community. This began in late October, and has continued intermitantly through December. Many of the community members are living in nearby churches or have left to stay in other villages until they can get back into their homes. This group is a difficult one in that they are a unique community requiring innovative support solutions. We are unable to train them in skills like others as there is no market for many of these skills in their community. We did raise close to $200 to help with emergency relief, though we are still working to find the best ways in which to help the community. We continue to coordinate with community leaders to find the best short and long-term solutions.
We stayed busy in 2022, and are looking at an even bigger year of growth in 2023. Our first order of business is to get our NGO status. Once we have our certification, we can begin to implement programs to better support our groups. Until we get our certification, we will be working on the bakery, and we will be establishing a crafts shop at our headquarters. The bakery needs some bigger machines such as mixers so we can produce products on a larger scale. The bakers currently mix everything by hand, which limits production. The crafts shop will allow us to continue to purchase products made by groups who are unable to work in baking or catering. Women in our Disabled Women’s Group are physically unable to work, so to earn an income, they make handmade goods. By opening a shop, these women would have a place to market their goods and they can
earn an income from operating the store.
We learned a lot in 2022, and we are looking forward to putting what we learned into action in 2023.
Comments