Women in Busoga, Uganda’s poorest region, form groups of 30-40 members known as Mukenkedde (beloved friend). They visit one member per fortnight, donating “prizes” including mugs, clothes and some cash to the host. Most resources, though, are spent on feasting and entertainment. The proposed project aims at mobilizing the women to use the scarce resources for development activities, not feasting and entertainment, so as to raise household income.
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Describe the specific community with whom you will be working.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
There will be news about using scarce resources for maximum economic gain, agriculture, initiatives to raise income at household and community level and the need to preserve heritage sites vis-à-vis promotion of tourism income. Programs will be prepared and presented on radio, national newspapers and the internet by the tribes-women themselves, mobilizing others to be proud of their heritage and promote the economic development of their regions.
What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?
Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established that will contribute to the success of the project.
We have established a relationship with Busoga Tourism Initiative and arrangements are under-way to make a consortium with them. We are identifying with District and lower local administration authorities in the area and subscribing to the umbrella organizations of non-profits in the region. We are also networking with several community development organizations both within the country and outside, with whom our initiative would be shared.
How many participants do you think will be involved in your project?
We shall train 5 women per district, totaling to 50 participants for the 10 districts. These will be chosen by women groups themselves with names coming from grassroots, and so on till we get the 5 per district. These will be respected ladies in the community; therefore they should be able to perform. They will be given refreshments, a modest fee for transport to the training and facilitated for project implementation, hence getting motivated.
Besides the microgrant funding, what other resources and support are you seeking for your project to ensure its success?
We shall need to develop a website for the program. We shall also need 10 lap-tops,complete with accessories including flash discs and modems. We hope to buy the digital cameras and audio recorders from the fund. We would also like to get connected to other communities, individuals and organizations worldwide that might share ideas and information with the people of Busoga.
Organization
Sustainable Agriculture Advancement Initiative – SAADIN
