Selena, Uganda
Selena at her home.
One year ago, Selena opened her shop doors in the Karamoja region of Uganda. Her shop is located beside the main road of a small village. From there she sells groceries like beans, rice and soft drinks.
Selena is one of her husband’s six wives; she has seven children of her own to look after and receives little support from her husband.
She opened her shop keen to provide her children with a better future and is excited to learn at her Savings Group. Selena has already seen the benefits of saving her profits at her Group.
She is proud that she can pay her children’s school fees now and even buy them new clothes. She has found friends within the Group who support her, and share ideas with her.
Selena’s new literacy and numeracy skills mean she no longer has to seek out someone to read her children’s health card, she can do it herself! Her numeracy skills also help her to better track her profits and calculate her shop’s potential to benefit from a loan.
As Selena sees how much her life has already changed, she wants to keep the momentum going. Soon she hopes to take a loan from the Group so that she can provide new, more varied, stock to her store which will attract more customers. With her newfound confidence, Selena is on track to grow her business so she can provide even more for her children.
For fifteen years, our partners have supported communities to save and borrow through Savings Groups. So far over 200,000 families have been able to grow their businesses as a result.
This story was written by Five Talents UK staff for our 2018 Impact Report: Momentum. You can read the full report by clicking here. Learn more about how you can support our partners so more entrepreneurs, like Selena, can build a brighter future.