WITU_Report2020  Here is how 2020 went down!!!

Najjemba Harriet

Business woman

I am a professional pineapple farmer who for a long time has been growing pineapples as an activity to keep me busy and get a little income after my work contract ended. When i joined WITU (cohort 19) in our Business skills class I thought of turning pineapple growing into a commercial activity so I started looking for customers starting with hotels, restaurants, and markets. When I got a restaurant and a hotel in Nansana my income increased from Ugshs 300000 to Ugshs 1000000 a month. Since I had got bookkeeping skills during the program, this enabled me to keep track of my business financially and this has provided me with financial stability and growth. I am supporting my husband with our children’s school fees and have enabled me to start a pineapple juice business which gives me 50,000 a day by supplying different offices and shops in town. I am saving ugx 300000  a month to be able to start my juice manufacturing company.

Brenda Bua

Business woman

Brenda joined the Elevate program in the 18th cohort during a time she was at the verge of leaving Kampala to go back to her village in Lira district.  She had for so long considered leaving Kampala because she could no longer afford to take care of herself and her children’s needs. The Gnuts and SimSim business she had been operating for a year making Ugshs 50000 monthly wasn’t growing, in debt and contributing little to their needs. After the SWOT analysis and  financial literacy class, Bua realised that she was spending more of the business money on personal expenses and that’s why the business wasn’t growing. After 2 months of applying continuous bookkeeping and financial management skills she had learnt during the Elevate program, Brenda’s Gnuts and Sim Sim grinding business picked up making Ugshs 200,000 a month. In a bid to scale up, she started branding her products using a product label she designed in the publisher class during a computer skills class. This helped her secure more well established customers like supermarkets and bigger shops around Kamwokya which she supplies peanut,ground nuts  and sim sim weekly.  Brenda, a young woman  who had once considered going back to the village used her savings from her Gnut and Sim Sim business, started a retail shop and also enrolled for a presidential initiative program from where she learnt how to make shoes. Brenda sells the shoes she makes outside her retail shop making a maximum of Ugshs 50000 weekly, she also dreams of starting a shoe making company in Lira to teach young women how to make shoes to be able to sustain their livelihood and also empower them with business and life skills she got from the elevate program.

Nampala Ritah

Business woman

 From no business to a business earning a maximum of 12 million monthly, Nampala Ritah has come a long way. Ritah Joined the elevate program in the 18th cohort and it was during the business ideation class that her business mind was unlocked. To be able to excel in the business ideation exercise, Ritah started a pancake business; making and selling pancakes to her fellows in class. Lacking passion & raw materials (bananas) Nampala went to the village to find raw materials (bananas) to sustain her collapsing business but due to seasonal changes she was unable to get bananas but instead left the village with a sack of Cassava as a send off gift  from her family which she sold for Ugshs 100,000. Ritah used the money she got from selling Cassava to finance her new business idea of selling food stuff and fruits which made her Ugshs 200,000 biweekly. From all her savings off of the food business, Ritah financed her  passion for carpentry  and started her dream business of a  furniture shop. Nampala Ritah is now the owner of  a S&S woods furniture located in Ntinda selling sculptures, dining tables, beds, beddings, chairs, table, centerpieces, curtains, curtain holders and art pieces among others. It is from this furniture shop that Ritah makes a maximum of 12,000,000 a month. Ritah continues to save with a dream of continuing her education majoring in business administration to be able to manage and grow her furniture business into a furniture export business.

Alum Milly

Alumni

I joined the WITU Elevate program(Cohort 19), I didn’t have a job and could not work because I could not afford to pay for daycare for my children. During the entrepreneurship class, I was motivated to follow my dream of starting a daycare center for kids. The classes were very practical and relatable to the day to day businesses so with my savings I had been keeping and my husband’s support I started daycare on 1st April 2019. I started to care for 6 kids weekly and 2 on the weekend. I have those that just come in and those on a term basis. In my first month of the operation, I made Ugx 800,000 and I make a minimum of Ugx 120,000 daily. WITU taught me how to use computers which I use to record the attendance of the kids and a database of their details like parent contacts, their illnesses and allergies, stock tracking, and bookkeeping in form of registration and medical forms. This helps me keep all the daycare information and documents safe in one place. I also learned how to make liquid soap and Body Jelly which I plan to start making to be used at the daycare. I want to use the soap to do daily cleaning and the Jelly for the kids so that I don’t spend much on buying supplies. This will cut on my expenses. I plan on setting up a nursery and primary school soon.

Aidah

ERP Systems Professional

When I was at the university studying Computer science, I had my career planned out. I wanted to get a job in a tech field but after the frustrations of job seeking and non-retained internships, my hope started waning. Just when I was about to give up, I had an opportunity to get involved in a training program. A program that would help me level up to become employable. A program that would improve my tech skills, give me life skills and a practical approach on how to hook a job in a male dominated field and level up! This program is the Code Girls level up program by the Women In Technology Uganda (WITU). What started out as an intensive program in applications development, UX design and CERT trainings became an eye opener. I saw first-hand through the networking events Barbara took us to, the mock interview sessions during her life skills class how the tech world really works. What it requires to be employable, what tech companies look for when hiring. I began to realize that my good grades were not enough, I had to show practically what I can do. I had to level-up! I am so grateful to Barbara because through this program, I did level-up! Two months into the program, I got a job interview with Medecins sans frontiers-Swiss (Doctors without borders). I was a little nervous but this time I was confident and ready to face the panel of interviewers. Three days later, I got the job! I am glad I joined the level-up program at WITU; it has polished me, equipped me with skills and shaped me into an employable young woman in tech! I am happy in my career path working with ERP systems for a reputable organization.

Brendah

Digital Porfolio Manager

Tusubira Brenda joined WITU CLSP program while in her S.6 vacation, in the Jan to March 2016 Cohort with no hope of joining university due to financial status at home. While pondering on what to do next, a friend introduced her to WITU programs and encouraged her to apply. Brenda enrolled for the three months Career, Leadership and Life Skills training Program (CLSP). The training empowers the girls with employability skills, and helping the girls confidently apply the skills that they have acquired. The curriculum shapes attitudes and equips the girls with practical skills on key soft skills that are a core component of employment requirements in Uganda. With the skills acquired Brenda managed to write a good application letter and Curriculum Vitae (CV). She confidently expressed herself during the interviews, thus getting a job with an accounting firm in Kololo Kampala Uganda. The firm provides audit, bookkeeping and tax services to a portfolio of clients in additional sectors such as construction, tourism, manufacturing and Not for Profit/NGO industries. She joined as an office assistant managing data entry and digital portfolio management