DIRECT BENEFICIARIES
Over 1,000 children and under aged mothers living with HIV/AIDS and war victims are expected to benefit in the 5 years' program of our different projects.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
Briquette Making;
Over ten years ago when the poorest residents of Uganda started making briquettes out of charcoal dust, they were trying to solve an immediate household problem of unaffordable fuel. Today, the project is helping overcome some of Uganda's capital city’s most intractable headaches—poverty, unemployment, and poor waste management—and contributing to the country’s sustainable development aspirations, too.
WED being an organization with development programs teaches how to make briquettes.Many of our women take care of their families from the sales they make. The briquettes we make are shaped by hands , or moulded in wooden or metal presses into fist-sized units, which are then air-dried.The briquette trade is spreading to rural areas of the country as well. Instead of women spending long hours looking for fire wood, they buy briquettes from our women.
We have customers from poultry farms and households but with higher production we can supply to restaurants, schools, hospitals, bakeries etc.
Why Briquettes ?
- Concentrated.Thus they offer a more concentrated form of energy than firewood or charcoal.
- Slow-burning. The compression process allows the briquettes to burn for a lot longer than if it was loose in its original condition.
- More efficient. Along with the compactness of the briquettes is the increase in heating value.
- Smokeless. This is a unique property of briquettes. Using them creates no smoke, soot, or carbon deposits. Further, briquettes do not emit gases or any toxic chemicals like sulfur.
- Availability. Biomass is the main component in producing briquettes. So where do we get this biomass? Look around you, and there are loads of biomass materials here, there, and everywhere.
- Easy to make. There are presently commercial briquettes sold in the market. However, ordinary households can produce briquettes. You must only have a stock of combustible matter, a binder, and a molder to shape the briquettes.
- Easily stored. The size and shape of briquettes make them easily be stored. They are likewise clean to handle and be packed into bags.
- Easily transported. Compacting biomass waste into briquettes reduces the volume by 10 times, making it much easier to store and transport than loose biomass waste. Considering their shape, size, and density, briquettes are excellent for long distance transport. Likewise, loading and unloading cost are much less and are done easier.
- Cheaper. Since briquettes can be domestically made from plants and animal wastes, they are consequently less expensive to produce, and thereby sold at lower prices.
- Renewable. Briquettes make use of organic materials which are common and renewable. Hence, we are ensured of the sustainability of such fuel source.
Challenges;
1. Lack of machines for quick manufacturing.
2-Lack of transport of the raw materials .
3- Lack of dryers to dry the briquettes and organic waste easily.
MUSIC, DANCE AND DRAMA
MUSIC;
In our WED family music is the driving force and truly a wonderful resource. It is because music has a great effect on how humans think and act, possibly even affecting intelligence.
-Through music, our children are able to express their thoughts and emotion.
-Helps the children make bonds with other children,
-Motivates children feel the need for self improvement both consciously and unconsciously in the classroom and in other areas of life.
-Introduction of music education into the school has helped in a way that test preparation classes and overbearing focus on core areas of education have not.
WED being an organization that works hand in hand with people who have been traumatized due to the war, we use music as a weapon to help raise their self esteem. Another reason is because most children are studying at a late stage so in effect, an education in music will aid the child in what are considered by many to be the two most important and fundamental areas of study. On this same note, concerning failing students, music education has been shown to pull children from even the greatest depths of academic failure because it motivates them.
Challenges;
We lack musical instruments.
If we have a brass band it helps us create awareness because it sounds even with no electricity. A public system for awareness and other instruments to teach the community i.e guitars, key boards, jazz drum set, trumpets etc.
We lack enough funds to record our music and also to record our videos because among the teenage mothers some have got real talent but cannot compete in the music industry.
DANCE;
Dance being one of the best things that help relieve the mind and raise self esteem, WED so much focuses on its ability to boost the livelihood of the people.
Advantages;
-It has helped children grow physically, emotionally and intellectually and helps children with their strength, posture and flexibility.
-In more extreme cases dance has been known to help children with disabilities.
-Many children were very shy and hard to talk to but when they joined our dance classes they came out of their shells . -Again dance also has been used as therapy for children with all kinds of emotional disorders.
-WED is using dance therapy for children depression, other learning disorders and helps kids with their intellectual development.
-Children can learn more effectively when they are involved in an activity where they can be expressive with their whole bodies.
In WED we have understood that the mind and the body are connected and one simply feeds off the other. This is why we keep kids active whether it is in dance or other physical activities! We also have dances for our teenage mothers who are still youthful and interested in dance. We mainly perform traditional dances and this also helps put us together as a family. In the near future, we are aiming at commercial dances to sustain the women involved and their families.
DRAMA;
Advantages
Not only is drama great enjoyment, it truly lifts our spirits, as well.
-When we engage in an interesting hobby or activity, many children react in a positive way with others.
-Drama teaches many of us self control and helps us get to the root of the real problem.
-When the children are in a situation where they feel they can be free and allow themselves the room to express themselves, they react differently in a way better than before.
We teach our communities drama especially comedies for self esteem,HIV/AIDS awareness and sensitization skits, while spotting real future actresses. We want to create movie stars out of our grass root communities that thought they had no future and we want to reduce the rates of suicide by occupying them in entertainment.
Challenges;
We need good cameras and more funds so that we can make good documentaries and movies to improve the livelihood of the affected communities.
TAILORING;
WED'S main goals are to organize women workers for full employment and self-reliance. We aim to mainstream marginalized, poor women in the informal sector and lift them out of their poverty. Its original purpose is to assist women belonging to households of single mothers and its work is focused largely on training and welfare activities. We are aiming at having classes in sewing and knitting embroidery established in centers throughout our areas of operation.
Challenges;
-We have 2 sewing machines which are hardly enough for teaching all the women in the project.
-Cloth materials are also expensive due thus scarcity of funds.
ART AND CRAFT
WED also runs a fun Art and Craft income generating project for women. It allows those in need to use their creativity and earn an income while at the same time regain hope and dignity. In a region where money is hard to come by, Art has changed lives making them primary income earners in their homes. They are less stressed knowing there will be money to buy food.
Challenges;
-Lack of a consistent market.
-Lack of enough capital for materials.
BAKING
WED baking group is working its way from poverty to sufficiency. We have a small baking oven that we use for practicals.The course lasts nine-months but also focusing on reading and writing in our local languages. We hope to start on savings and credit to enable members to learn basic bookkeeping and group dynamics skills. Members will then able to take out loans for capital to start small bakeries.Members can go even further with their education and learn to speak, read, write and count in English, which enables them to engage more fully in the social, economic, political and church lives of their community.
WED SAVING AND CREDIT
Almost all the women in WED are housewives or single mothers or young girls that were prostitutes we removed from the streets. They are penniless and need a push financially. We are working through thick and thin to see that we finance them but WED being a charity organization does not have much to lend to the women. Therefore it is still hard even on the saving side.
Any help given to us will be so much appreciated.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL
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