Members of Namayumba Town Council Women Entrepreneurs Savings and Credit Cooperative (Sacco) show the different types of baskets that they make for export to Germany. PHOTO | ABUBAKER LUBOWA
The pick-up truck made its way down the potholed road and screeched to a halt at a shell house in Namayumba Town Council in Wakiso District.
The neighbours, including Ms Peace Nantaba, the chairperson of Namayumba Town Council Women Entrepreneurs Savings and Credit Cooperative (Sacco), watched in disbelief as Ms Sylvia Nakaddu, and her four children unloaded their belongings into a house that lacked doors and windows.
“We could all see that the house was not fit for human habitation. We told ourselves that ‘if they are keen on staying there, it seems the city has squeezed them really hard’ ” Ms Nantaba says.
Ms Nakaddu had indeed hit tough times. Until the placement of the country under a partial lockdown as a Covid-19 containment measure, she had been running a salon in Nansana Town. The raft of restrictions included the closure of schools, bars and salons—forcing them to stay shut for more than a year.
“Since the salon was not working, I did not have a source of income. We were forced to relocate,” Ms Nakaddu says.
Beginnings
Ms Nakaddu is one of the 50 members of Namayumba Town Council Women Entrepreneurs Sacco, founded in 2014 by Ms Joyce Nabiryo, the chairperson of the Namayumba Women’s Council.
“We had challenges in terms of raising money for self-development. We would save and collect money for one month to give to one of the women for household development. The following month we would give to another member,” Ms Nantaba says.
The Sacco became fully-registered. They received financial literacy training from the Microfinance Support Centre (MSC) after President Museveni launched the Emyooga programme in August 2019.
Locally known as “kibbo,” which means baskets in Luganda, the group has focused on weaving baskets and other handicrafts for export to Germany since mid-2019.
The idea to weave and export handicrafts was introduced to them in early 2019 by a Ugandan living in Kira Municipality, who had a benefactor in Germany.
“When the contact was first made, most of us did not know how to weave, but we were forced to learn. People were sent to train us in making different items. The district facilitated the process by paying the trainers. We started working with those people immediately after the training,” Ms Nantaba says.
Many of the handicrafts are primarily made from locally available materials such as straws, palm leaves, polythene, reeds, and grass. However, sourcing the right colours has been a challenge.
“Getting quality dyes here is very difficult. Secondly, some of the colours that they want are not available on the local market. The dyes are therefore sent in from Germany,” Ms Nantaba says.
Orders are usually relayed to them through the Germans’ local contact.
“There is a time frame within which we have to deliver. That means that we have to work round the clock while at the same time ensuring that the products are of the required quality,” Ms Nantaba says.
The sizes of the orders vary between 100 and 500. Payments are effected once the goods have been rigorously checked for quality and beauty by the German’s local contact.
The price at which they sell also varies. The downside is perhaps that they do not determine the price at which they sell.
“The price varies from items to item, but every time they give us an order, we already know the amount that they are willing to pay for every item they purchase,” Ms Nantaba says. Despite this limitation, the group is earning a steady income.
The Sacco’s growth has been significantly boosted by a Shs30 million loan from the Emyooga programme, leading to increased savings, loans to members, and share capital.
“The loan boosted us. We purchased lots of materials with which we worked. The money has not done us bad and many of the beneficiaries are paying back the loans they got. The more they work at making handicrafts, the greater the pace at which they repay the loans,” Ms Nantaba says.
Individual members have experienced life-changing benefits from both the loans and the proceeds from handicraft sales. Ms Nakaddu, for instance, has been able to complete her house.
“It helped me to put doors and windows in my house. By the time I entered it there were no glasses in the windows and the front door, but when I got the loan, I was able to do that,” Ms Nakaddu says.
For single mothers like Ms Phiona Mutesi, the Sacco’s secretary, the financial relief has been invaluable.
“I too was not doing well. I was getting support from my parents. My parents were taking care of me and my five children, but not any more, I now take care of myself and my children,” says Ms Mutesi.
The most significant impact of the Sacco has been the improved personal incomes and the achievements that once seemed out of reach.
Ms Aisha Nakyembe, a member, recalled how difficult life was before the Emyooga programme. She says she would at times go a month without a Shs1000 note.
“I could not buy a piece of soap or a book for a child, but those are no longer issues. I am able to do that thanks to the Kibbo. I feel a lot of satisfaction because I used to stay in my mother’s house, but when the Emyooga loan came, I added a little from my earnings from the sale of handicrafts and bought a plot of land. What is left is for me to build,” Ms Nakyembe says with a radiant smile.
The smile is a testament to the positive impact the baskets and loans have had on the lives of these women.
