Namwase Angella Sandra. I am twenty one years from Ugandan. I am offering a bachelor’s degree in Nursing at Makerere University in Uganda. I am currently in my second year of study. Below is my IDEAS/Vision for a better future where rural women in Africa are empowered to lead and reshape their communities
The extent to which early marriage belittles the mind of an African woman is quite devastating. At a tender age , the average woman in a rural setting is faced with challenges and obstacles to a brighter future. The main cause of this is that most girls drop out of school at an early age due to lack of school fees. After dropping out of school, the choice left to them is marriage. But how about if the young rural woman’s mind is focused on entrepreneurship, independence , inspiration and everything in between?
How about if she is empowered.....
To add value to rural women, attention should be put on equipping them with skills and teaching them how to put their knowledge to use. An organization with such an objective should be created. Building the foundation of this organization will definitely need funding but this is not a problem, it is only a challenge that can be overcome. Under this organization, centers should be set up in rural areas. At these centers, young women could be chosen from the community to enroll for free training programs, in groups. This could involve teaching different skills like making crafts, catering, fashion and design, modernized farming skills and entrepreneurial classes that would be compulsory for candidates to take.
During the entrepreneurial classes, the young women would undergo supervision to put the skills learnt into practice and then the products would be put up on the market. The organization would be partly responsible for looking for the market for these products. This could be done by putting up restaurants(owned by the organization),craft shops and organizing trade fairs.
Finances from these projects would then be used to maintain the organization. Upon concluding the training program, graduates would be required to form groups in which they would start a business with assistance from the organization. However, each group would be required to pay back a certain percentage, from their earnings to the organization for its maintainance.Women would be required to work in groups to encourage and support each other.
In conclusion, this project would help the rural women count. With such a powerful project, challenges would definitely be there but it would only be successful if risks are seen as possibilities. If we put this great thought to action, then we shall be tomorrow’s conquerors as far as rural women are concerned. “Revolutions are brought about by men who think as men of action and act as men of thought.”Kwame Nkrumah
This event is sponsored by London Centre for Social Impact (LCSI)