One of our pupils' mums - helped by Child of Hope to start in business last year, has been able to open a second small business and her family is benefitting hugely!
Abandoned by her husband and left alone to raise her family of five, Jennifer struggled to sustain a small grocery shop she had set up and her business collapsed under the pressure of conflicting family demands.
When her son, Denis, enrolled in the Child of Hope nursery class, she became eligible for help through the IGA programme. Following a two-week training in business skills in 2018, Jennifer received a grant of £28 with which she set up a hairdressing salon with her daughter.
This has gone well enough to allow her to bolster her income by selling vegetables, both businesses located side-by-side in Namatala. Jennifer is managing her family well with the earnings from her two businesses and is also saving a little each week.
It has meant that she now rents a better home and her elder daughter, who works with her in the salon, has also rent her own house. Jennifer can also now afford to send two more of her children to school – these are significant improvements for a resident of Namatala slum.
You can read other stories of how business start-ups have helped mums in the Namatala slum, click here.