Rockflower is pleased to announce our partnership with Dare Now Uganda, a non-governmental organization based in Kampala City, Uganda that works closely with marginalized groups of women, girls, youth and their families in the urban-slums of Kampala city and Wakiso district.
Dare Now Uganda is dedicated to economically and psycho-socially empowering marginalized groups of women, girls, youths and their families by providing them economic opportunities, career development skills, small business enterprises development support, access to formal education, as well as access to maternal, reproductive and oral health.
The organization recently partnered with Rockflower to provide micro-capital to disadvantaged women-owned small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Family Economic Empowerment Support (FEES) for Women in Uganda will allow these women to get back on their feet and avoid the very real threat of homelessness that many of them face.
Robertson Hagggai, founder of Dare Now Uganda told us, “Before we met and mobilized the women, one constant issue for most of them was precarious day to day type of survival and when speaking of the future, it was difficult for these women to see past the immediate future or to see past a life in the slums. Much of their energy was focused on day to day survival.”
Nabwire Mary, a 30-year-old single mother of two living in the urban slums of Kampala is one of those women, who did not envision a bright future for herself before participating in Dare Now Uganda’s program. After the passing of her father, Mary moved to Kampala City at the age of twenty with a neighbor who promised to find her work as a housemaid, although there were no jobs waiting for her when she arrived. After facing unemployment, years of domestic violence, and raising two young children on her own, a group of women who were enrolled in Dare Now Uganda’s community program approached Mary and encouraged her to enroll as well. Since then, Mary has learned a number of skills and started her own small business.
“When I joined the women’s group and committed to working and participating in the training program, I felt very afraid and wondered whether I would be able to cope with the program. Now I have also been empowered by the skilling program and my fellow women and started my own business supported with the capital I received from Dare Now Uganda to boost and expand my small business. Right now I have diversified my small business through selling a variety of things which increases my daily profit. I want to tremendously thank Rockflower for the continuous support given to Dare Now Uganda who have given us hope of living.”
Dare Now Uganda aims to not only economically impact women on a small scale, but to provide emotional support, training and education that will allow them to envision and create a better future for themselves and their families.