Jennifer supplying maize flour in one of the schools
When Jennifer joined BeadforLife in 2007 she was a widow struggling to raise seven children using her merger income from selling cassava.
She didn’t earn enough to pay her children’s school fees hence some dropped out of school at quite an early age.
Joining BeadforLife gave Jennifer an opportunity to earn some money from the bead sales to meet her daily needs and also save some money that enabled her to start selling maize flour in her neighborhood. She had very few customers to support her business. However, the persistence she had in the business kept her going despite the low sales.
Jennifer’s luckiest day came when she saw an advert in one of the local news papers which needed people to supply food in one of the nearby schools. With zeal for the business, she took up this opportunity, got the school’s contacts and replied to the advert… In her words, “I went to school, fortunate enough nobody had been awarded the tender, and I spoke to the administrators about my proposal. Can you believe I was given a contract to supply maize flour on spot for two years?” Since then she has never looked back.
She now supplies four schools with maize flour. On average, she supplies 25 bags each weighing 50kgs once or twice a term in each school.
Jennifer plans to start supplying firewood and juices as well since one of the schools had requested her to.
Through this business, she has been able educate her children through high school and university education. Jennifer believes she overcame poverty through persistence and hard work.
In her words, “My gratitude goes back to BeadforLife that enabled me achieve all this”. Through the business training organized by BeadforLife, Jennifer has been able to embrace and manage her business a lot better.
Eva Auma works in the BeadforLife Uganda office. Eva is an integral member of our Entrepreneurial Development Team. The program assists members in launching successful businesses within the Ugandan economy. Our goal is for members to become independent of BeadforLife by either starting a successful small business or by receiving vocational training to be able to find steady employment.
Tags: Africa, BeadforLife, Education, Empowering Women, paper jewelry, poverty, sustainability, Uganda, Women Making A Difference