At BeadforLife we believe strongly in the value of program evaluation. It helps us share what we are doing with the world, but just as important (and perhaps more so) it helps us know what is and isn’t working, and to make adjustments as we go. We just got the final evaluation from our second graduating class -the Nsambya/Kataza group.
This is a poignant moment for me since I personally enrolled many of the members of the Nsambya group – doing home visits, meeting their children, and knowing each and every woman’s story.
Here are a few of their accomplishments I’m proudest of:
• 92% of them either opened a business or built a house while they were member of BeadforLife. 49% did both!
• Of the 88% of women who opened businesses, 85% still had businesses open at graduation. 41% of these also opened a second or third business.
• Women increased their assets by 233% while in the program. The biggest increase was in high value assets ranging from televisions to homes, which saw a 7 fold increase.
• For those women who were HIV+, the number taking ARV drugs increased from 41% at enrollment to 59% at graduation, some of which may be due to their ability to afford regular meals (many women refuse to start the drugs, even when their doctors recommend it, because they know the drugs cause increased appetite).
BeadforLife Graduates!
We also learned many things that will help our program get better in the future:
• We found that women with successful businesses invested almost 100,000 shillings ($50) more in start up costs than those whose businesses eventually closed. Our business grants help women save a portion of their earnings at each sale, and BeadforLife adds to that amount when they are ready to open their business so they have sufficient capitol to make a solid investment.
• We found that those women who did not successfully open a business or build a house supported more people in their household (8.2 people) compared to those with successful businesses (6.5 people). This makes sense because household expenses are higher with more mouths to feed, but makes us think a lot about how to encourage people to invest in their businesses now so that they can support more people in the long run.
Overall these are thrilling results and a clear indication that people are able to achieve great things when given the opportunity. Thanks for the part you play in making this opportunity a reality!
If you’d like to read the full evaluation report, click here.
Devin Hibbard
Devin is the Co-Executive Director of BeadforLife.
She lives in Uganda with her husband, Mark, and son, Simmy.
Tags: Africa, Beaders, BeadforLife, Empowering Women, paper jewelry, Uganda
It is good to hear this truly excellent news – despite the hardships, people can recover, grow, thrive – thank you for sharing!