Three critical elements must be primarily addressed in the Busengo area:
- The high school drop-out rate of primary students
- The dire socio-economic situation of many young single mothers
- The improvement of families’ economic perspectives
The project therefore plans to implement actions to help overcome these critical issues. Features common to each action include:
- Full decision-making responsibility is given to the community itself, through the establishment of a steering and monitoring committee, composed of representatives of both local community groups (women groups, notably) and representatives of the local parish.
- Detailed accounting of investments and results achieved.
- Periodic auditing by the SPOT program team.
- Progressive implementation and fine-tuning of actions, guided by results.
According to the above criteria, SPOT has completed an exploratory phase, aimed at understanding the needs of the local community and together identifying the areas where the SPOT project would have the most significant impact based on the resources available.
EXPLORATORY PHASE (DECEMBER 2023-AUGUST 2024)
As part of the Exploratory Phase we idenified three areas that should be examined for possible longer-term engagement of SPOT
1. Primary and secondary school drop-out prevention campaign
To prevent further school-drop out in Busengo in the academic year 2023-2024, the community identified the families that were struggling financially to keep their child in school. Based on the findings and proposals by the community, the SPOT project agreed to grant a scholarship to 58 students as well as engage educational tutors in seven schools that ensured the students got the support needed to sucessfully continue their education. The tutors monitored the educational progress of the students and checked their attendance with the objectove to identify any problems or challenges as early as possible.
The scholarship granted to the students in the preliminary phase covered the mandatory fees requested by the school for the students to benefit from the lunch programme, as well as expenses related to school material. All 58 students sucessfully completed the 2023-2024 academic year.
2. Community Training Center
To support the women of the community acquire the skills needed to ensure a regular income in the future we explored the idea of establishing a Community Center which could serve as a training centre and a safe place for students and women to gather around community activities.
We explored various options regarding where to establish such a Community Center and eventually identified a suitable sized unused building that we could rent for a reasonable amount. The building needed some maintenance which was done over summer 2024 and by September we hosted the offical opening of the Centre and with that the launch of two Traning Workshops for women on tailoring and weaving. We have also installed a TV which can help inform the local community.
3. Micro-finance loans
In order to support the self-sufficiency and economic independence of families, the SPOT project explored the possibility of co-financing the local collective savings scheme, which offers microcredit loans to to families in need.
Loans are granted on a case-by-case evaluation by the local community and 25% of the loan is paid back to the micro-credit scheme, so that other families could benefit from similar opportunities in the future.
While we have prioritized activities 1 and 2 so far, we are committed to launching the micro-credit action as soon as needed funding will be secured. We anticipate starting this initiative in the near future.
Based on the findings of the Exploratory Phase, the SPOT project has selected the following actions to focus on in 20204-2025,
Please support the 2024- 2025 activities by donating.
FULL SPOT PROGRAM (SEPTEMBER 2024 – SEPTEMBER 2025)
The feedback received from the Exploratory Phase allowed the SPOT Project to select and optimise the activities we engage in.
1. Primary and secondary school drop-out prevention campaign
All the 58 students that benefitted from the scholarships in the exploratory phase have sucessfully completed the academic year and will continue to benefit from the scholarship for the next academic year. A further 31 students have been selected to also benefit from the scholarship in 2024-2025 – giving us a total of 89 students in primary and secondary school benefitting from the scholarship this year.
The scholarship in 2024-2025 now cover the mandatory fees requested by the school for the students to benefit from the lunch programme, as well as expenses related to school material and school uniform and schoes.
2. Community Training Center
On 19th September 2024 SPOT attended the grand opening of the new “Community Training Center” (INZU Y’AMAHUGURWA in Kinyarwanda, the local language).
The SPOT project has made the 100-square-meter center safe and has launched two workshops for women – on tailoring and weaving. The tailoring workshop is equipped with state-of-the-art machinery, including 4 new mechanical sewing machines, an electric finishing machine, and a specialized machine for buttonholes and more complex stitches. By borrowing additional machines from a neighboring parish, we’ve created 10 well-equipped workstations. Each workstation is furnished with essential tools and a generous supply of colorful kitenge fabrics. The weaving worshop only requires the weaving material which is made available on an ad-hoc basis.
A blackboard and television have been installed in the center to facilitate both learning and community engagement. The Center will primarily focus on providing trainings for local women, helping them develop valuable skills and generate income.
3. Micro-finance loans
The micro-financing scheme has been designed, and will be initiated as soon as the additional funds needed have been raised. A specific fundraising campaign will be launched to this purpose.
