Newsletter May 2023

7 months ago

 MPIGI RURAL PROJECT

In February 2023 our first rural project training women outside of Kampala got underway. Due to the success of an earlier project bringing women from the Jinja area of Eastern Uganda into Kampala for training, we decided to take things a step further. Last year we spent a day recruiting women from Mpigi one of the poorest areas of Uganda with a high incidence of teenage pregnancy and gender based violence. More than fifty people turned up to be interviewed and it became apparent that the COVID pandemic had further disadvantaged women already impacted by HIV/AIDS.

Thanks to our long partnership with the Namasuba College of Commerce instead of bringing the women into Kampala we have been able to arrange a training course at Kawami Vocational College, which is much nearer their homes. The eleven women stay at the college during the week and return home to see their families at the weekend. We will be carefully monitoring their progress and hope that this will be the first of many such courses.

SUCCESS STORIES

During our recent trip to Uganda we caught up with some of our former trainees to see how they were getting on.

Sharifah

After her husband died Sharifah washed clothes to earn a living, but she struggled to get money to support herself and her daughter. Sharifah had to wait a year to start her training because of the pandemic and finally finished in July 2022. After graduating she bought a second hand sewing machine and is rapidly growing her business from home selling clothes, bags and other fashion accessories. She’s using WhatsApp to advertise her products to a wider market and is transporting them throughout Uganda. Every time she sells an item she puts some money aside to go towards renting a property so that she can continue to expand her business.

Jennifer & Christine

Jennifer and Christine graduated in 2012. When we saw them in 2015 they were working from home. Just over ten years after graduating they have established a thriving shop selling their garments and other items and have set up a training programme for vulnerable women in their local area. Apart from the tailoring skills Jennifer says that one of the most important things she learned on the course was how to save and budget for the future. Shortly after finishing the course she opened a bank account something she wouldn’t have been able to do before. They hope to move to larger premises soon and take on more trainees. Jennifer has also fulfilled her dream of buying a plot of land outside the city and is building a house.

2015 right) to 2023 (left)

You can read more about our former trainees on our website and by following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram you can get regular updates on how our projects are progressing.

 New Partnership

We’re happy to announce that during our recent trip to Uganda we consolidated the relationship we’ve enjoyed with Mildmay Uganda over several years by signing a Memorandum of Understanding. We look forward to working together to help vulnerable women who’ve been disadvantaged through HIV.

Recruitment

During our recent trip to Uganda we held interviews in Mpigi and Kampala for our next training programmes. As ever there was no shortage of suitable candidates for our training courses but finding enough funding is always a challenge. We are in the process of submitting proposals to a number of commercial organisations, but the bulk of our funding comes from our loyal friends and supporters.

Fundraising

Our most prolific fundraisers, Frances Dennehy, James Taghdissian and FFion Barham are about to get back into the saddle again cycling around the Isle of Wight to raise money for our next projects. This year there is an important addition to the team, Fran and James’s ten-year old son Ioan. He will be carrying the tradition started by his great uncle Peter into the next generation. He will be attempting the slightly shorter route of 55 kilometres with his father while Fran and Ffion will do the full 100k. It’s no mean feat for a ten year old because the Isle of Wight is full of hills!

It will ease their pain to know they are raising lost of money so if you are able to contribute please follow the link to their fundraising page. All donations large and small will be gratefully received.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/randonnee2023

You can also make a one off donation or set up a standing order directly into the WOMA bank account.

WOMA (World of Music & Arts Assists)
Sort Code 20-44-86
Bank Account 50128678

If you have ideas for a fundraising event please do get in touch we’d love to hear from you. nora@womatrust.org.

 GIVE AS YOU LIVE

Another great way to raise funds for WOMA that won’t cost you a penny is to use the Give as You Live website when you’re shopping online.

If you register on the Give As You Live website and nominate WOMA as your chosen charity, every time you shop online WOMA will get a percentage of the money you spend. The amount varies from 0.5% to 7%.

Give as you Live is linked to most of the major household brands such as John Lewis, Waitrose, Boots, M&S and many more. You can also raise money when you book your holidays or flights from companies like Booking.com, Expedia, Trainline etc.

So next time you are doing some online shopping or booking your next holiday, please think about doing it via the Give As You Live site.

https://www.giveasyoulive.com