HerStory Podcast Series

Dive into the world of the HerStart program by listening to first-hand stories from young women entrepreneurs, fellows, partners and staff working together to advance women's equality globally.

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In this episode, Angel George Buendia, HerStart Program and Partnerships Fellow speaks with Ukasha Mohammed from Norsaac’s NiV Hub, one of YCI’s HerStart partners in Ghana.

Ukasha shares how Norsaac supports young people to achieve economic independence and sustainable livelihoods though vocational skills development and entrepreneurship training. He also discusses sociocultural practices as the biggest challenge to gender equality and how the partnership with HerStart has strengthened NiV Hub's capacity through training and volunteer support from HerStart Fellows, enabling them to lead gender equality initiatives and advocacy.

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Intro (00:04):

Angel George Buendia (01:05):

Hello, my name is Angel George Buendia, and I'm the Program and Partnerships Fellow with Youth Challenge International or YCI's HerStart Program in Tamale, Ghana. Today I'm speaking to Ukasha Mohammed about his role as the HerStart partner lead for NiV Hub. NiV Hub is a social enterprise organization based in Tamale, Ghana that aims to build sustainable businesses to achieve positive social impact through social entrepreneurship. NiV Hub is a related entity to Norsaac, one of Youth Challenge International's partner organizations here in Ghana. Norsaac and NiV Hub's partnership with YCI was developed under the Partner Innovation Fund, or PIF, through the Partner Sustainability Plan, or PSP initiative. NiV Hub has been working with YCI and supporting the implementation of the HerStart program since 2020. Ukasha and I are coming to you from the NiV Hub office here in Tamale, Ghana. Hello, Ukasha. It's a pleasure having you for this podcast.

Ukasha Mohammed (02:07):

It's a pleasure having you too and a great opportunity.

Angel George Buendia (02:11):

Can you first tell us about your role as NiV Hub's partner lead for HerStart?

Ukasha Mohammed (02:17):

I serve as the partner lead within the North-South partnership with YCI. In that capacity I happen to be the liaison officer when it comes to implementation related issues. And this includes planning, recruitment of trainees, facilitation of the three models of the HerStart program. And in that light, I'm the lead trainer at Norsaac NiV.

Angel George Buendia (02:45):

How long have you been working for this role at NiV?

Ukasha Mohammed (02:49):

I've been part of the program since inception, so I can say that it's about four years now an I happen to be, I was part of the team since 2020 in the capacity as the partner lead.

Angel George Buendia (03:04):

Why is NiV's partnership with the HerStart program important?

Ukasha Mohammed (03:09):

Economic independence among the youth is a significant concern to our organization, leading to our effort in the past and now where we provide pragmatic and youth-centered solutions that have guaranteed some form of sustainable livelihood means to thousands of young people through vocational skills development, entrepreneurship trainings, access to credit for business expansion and growth among others through these interventions rollout. As mentioned, Norsaac gained some recognition in the area of economic empowerment for young people and we cannot do this alone, hence the need to partner with like-minded organizations like YCI. So HerStart for me, that partnership can be described as timely, as Norsaac NiV since 2015 began an exploration on social entrepreneurship as one of the tools or areas for development. This interest and commitment of NiV, as a related entity of Norsaac, and by so doing we see this partnership as a tool to foster development in the areas that we work.

Angel George Buendia (04:39):

How do you think the partnership between NiV and HerStart contribute to the gender equality goals of the HerStart program?

Ukasha Mohammed (04:47):

For me, I would say it's been massive. If you look at the partnership, it has strengthened our effort in championing gender equality related interventions. I would say that the coming of the HerStart project, it has been a reinforcement of gender equality efforts through the provision of opportunities for young women who for some time now have been denied research opportunities. I see it as an equalizing factor since gender equality is all about equal rights, responsibility and opportunities for women and men, girls and boys. It has been easier in the recruitment of these young women as we have leveraged on our existing established youth network groups and communities. The trainings also, I can say that the trainings we provide or facilitate for four years now, it is a clear contribution in addressing barriers that contribute to the marginalization of young women. And this includes the funding and support for women to develop social entrepreneurship.

Angel George Buendia (06:06):

What were the impacts of HerStart here in the community of Tamale? Can you share some examples of that?

Ukasha Mohammed (06:13):

Yes, there have been, for four years now, I can say that there has been great impact and generally we can talk about the numbers, which currently we can boast close to a thousand young women have been empowered on social entrepreneurship through the various layers of training. And for me it is very significant. Why am I saying that? This has increased the ability of young women in developing their business plans and in the context of social entrepreneurship, we say the impact business model canvas, now they have the ability to do so. Significant also is the fact that there have been great support received from these young women, from their relatives. You can talk of parents, you can talk of spouses, you can talk of guardians. We have been implementing projects, we've not seen that massive support that young women are getting from their relatives. And this can be attributed to the approaches that we have honed into and used in the implementation. I can also see that the concept of social entrepreneurship has become a household name predominantly among young women. And for me, what it means is that the community has become more aware of environmental and social issues that is affecting them and how they can be able to initiate sustainable solutions to addressing some of these problems. If you look at the numbers, it is worth noting that over a hundred most vulnerable or excluded people have been reached out to. We can talk of rural folks who've been in the rural areas, providing trainings. We have reached out to people living with disability. We have also reached out to people living with HIV and AIDS. So people who are already excluded in society, these are the people that we have consciously also targeted. And for me, it's an impact. They're also getting the opportunity to become economically independent through the models that we we run. There are a lot of impacts. We can also boast over 40 young women have successfully launched and are growing their businesses, their social entrepreneurship business through the Catalyst Fund. If you look at the Catalyst Fund assets, the last cohort we had about 30 young women within Tamale who are benefiting. And it is through the Catalyst Fund that they have been able to grow. Some of them grow their business, some launching their social entrepreneurship. There are numerous of young people outside the Catalyst Fund who are nurturing their businesses. And for me it is very significant. Why is it significant? Because the areas that they're venturing, it is providing employment opportunity to other young people. Some of the initiative, I mean, it is caring for our environment because we have people who have solutions that are protecting and preserving the environment. And we also have some that is focusing on gender equality and inclusion related. So for me it is very significant.

Angel George Buendia (09:50):

What has been the biggest challenge related to achieving gender equality you have observed within your community?

Ukasha Mohammed (09:58):

The biggest in my own opinion is sociocultural practices and orientation. That is it. This is very broad because there are other factors that can be attributed to this. So for me, I see it as the biggest challenge. For example, we still have the issue of boy child preferences and that is affecting the female counterparts. We still have child marriages. These are some of the problems or issues affecting gender equality. We can also talk of menstruation and menstruation-related issues. These are all, but we can attribute it to the sociocultural practices and orientation.

Angel George Buendia (10:49):

How has the HerStart program supported your organizational capacity to tackle these challenges?

Ukasha Mohammed (10:57):

We have received series of capacity building in gender equality, both in person trainings and also online. So this is something that has helped us build our capacity in that regard. I cannot forget to also mention the fellowship program. I mean, it's a contribution in building our capacity because we have received fellows in gender equality and they have all significantly contributed. I mean, in terms of our capacity, in terms of identifying some gaps within our structures that is affecting our delivery as far as gender equality programming is concerned or gender transformative programming is concerned. So for me, these are some of the things that we have gained from the HerStart project significantly. Significant also is the PSP, the Partner Sustainability Plan, the support that we are getting through PIF currently in year four, the theme was gender equality with the resources that was given to us. It presented a groundbreaking initiative aimed at fostering gender equality and transformative programming within the civil society organization in the Tamale municipality, municipal areas of northern Ghana. So with this project, it has given us the opportunity to strengthen our advocacy because we are not alone in the civil society space, but we are using this resource to champion, to be the lead in advocating more how our other colleagues can be well capacitated and challenge some of the norms, bring on interventions that will promote gender equality and girls and women will not be affected like we are currently seeing. So for me, I see it's a thumb up to YCI and HerStart. And these are some of the ways that we have been able to, so through that, again, I must say that it does strengthen the gender transformative program of Norsaac NiV. And why am I saying that? Because we got the opportunity to conduct gender equality analyses of all policies of the organization to see. And for me, with that effort, it has strengthened our recognition of the fact that men, women, girls, boys, we all have unique interests and needs. And for that matter, in all our dealings, we need to factor this and provide solutions that will not be harmful or that will not disadvantage the other genders. So for me, these are some of the support that we have received and we are so grateful for that.

Angel George Buendia (14:15):

What else do you think should be done to address these challenges?

Ukasha Mohammed (14:19):

We need to intensify gender equality sensitization and campaigns. We need to, in our own effort, in the communities, at the workplace, I mean wherever in society we need to intensify this. Also as a civil societal organization, I mean Norsaac NiV, we can also initiate policy dialogue with key stakeholders. And the reason is that if you look at Ghana, we have the best of policies that is championing gender equality, but enforcement is not there. The implementation is very weak. So for me, with these dialogues, it is possible for us with the stakeholders to outline, to identify some of the systemic challenges affecting implementation of these beautiful policies and to see how can we forge ahead to have the best of implementation so that both men, women, girls, boys, we all live in a society that is just and also non-discriminatory. I also think that education is a tool that can solve this problem. So education accessibility for girls and boys, or more girls should be promoted because as we school, as we are in enlightened, some of the negative orientation, some of the negative attitudes, all of the harmful practices we live it. And thankfully in Ghana, successful government and even current government have tried their best to provide free quality education to people. And I see it as a strong way of solving some of the challenges that we have just mentioned. So as NGOs too, maybe educational interventions that can help young girls to stay in school. And I mean that's the retention, girls retention in school when it is promoted. Once they're retained in the schools, they can climb to high height in terms of the educational level.

Angel George Buendia (16:41):

Looking forward as an organization, what is NiV's vision for its community?

Ukasha Mohammed (16:48):

Our vision is to become a leading social enterprise in Ghana where sustainable businesses for social impact thrive. That is our vision. But in the context of gender equality, for me, I think that our vision is more about equal rights, responsibility, opportunities for women and men, girls and boys. That is it. When we do that, it's possible for us to solve some of the problems that we have mentioned before.

Angel George Buendia (17:21):

Ukasha, thank you again for giving us the time to speak with you today and we look forward to seeing NiV grow and create more positive impact here in Tamale and beyond.

Ukasha Mohammed (17:31):

Thank you so much also, Angel, for the time and the opportunity to share my thoughts.

Outro (17:44):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart Innovate the Future podcast episode, please subscribe and share our episodes on social media. A special thanks to the fellows that volunteer their time in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda, who help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and Fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Cooperation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

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In this episode, Bobbi Martellacci, HerStart Communications Fellow, speaks with Brenda Geofrey from Barefoot College Zanzibar, one of YCI’s HerStart partners in Tanzania.

Brenda shares how Barefoot College Zanzibar empowers rural women through practical training in solar energy, beekeeping and regenerative agriculture. She discusses the challenges of advancing gender equality, including resistance from male family members, and the innovative entrepreneurship training program that equips women with essential skills. She highlights the transformative impact of the HerStart program on financial literacy and inclusion and outlines how HerStart Fellows have enhanced BCZ’s initiatives.

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Intro (00:00):

Bobbi Martellacci (01:05):

Hi there, my name is Bobbi Martellacci and I'm a Communications Fellow with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Today I'm speaking with Brenda Geofrey about Barefoot College Zanzibar, which is a branch of Barefoot College International, operating in Tanzania. Brenda Geofrey is the Director of Programs and Operations at the Barefoot College Zanzibar Center. She originally started with Barefoot in 2019, where she was an Enrich Coordinator. In this role, she was training women on life skills through their Enrich curriculum. And in 2022, she was promoted to be the Director of Programs. Currently in her role, Brenda oversees all project activities and operations at the center. Brenda, can you provide an overview of Barefoot College Zanzibar and what specific activities contribute to advancing gender equality in the community?

Brenda Geofrey (02:00):

Barefoot College Zanzibar provide training, practical training, to women who are from rural communities and who, most of them, they never had a chance to get formal education. So what we do is we provide the training through our projects, starting with solar energy. Women are selected from their communities, and these communities are the ones which are not connected to the national grid electricity yet. So we select two women from one village to join our center, to come and be trained at our center. The solar program is a residential training, so they have to stay there for five months without going home to be trained on how to assemble solar equipment, how to maintain the solar equipment and to repair the solar equipments because after they finish the program, they'll go back to their communities and become the leaders. They'll be installing the equipment to the houses, which they need their houses to be solar electrified, and then that's it. So, apart from the solar program, we also have a beekeeping program. The same, we're training women. So for the solar, we're training all the women, but for the beekeeping and sewing program, the regenerative agriculture program, we train women from 18 years old. And you ask yourself like, why do we train only women and not men? It's because we realize that women, they're not given priority, especially rural women. They're not given priority. But again, rural women, it's because we understand and we believe that women who are living in urban areas, they at least have access to information, they least have access to opportunities compared to rural women, where they don't have TV to watch, they don't have radio, they don't have smartphones. They don't even have power. So giving them opportunities is when we realize that these rural women, they're very innovative and they're very eager to learn. All our projects at the center, we don't just train and leave the women, you know, to figure out themselves. We train and we equip, but also we assure them of the market. So at the end of the day, they'll be able to earn income as we want, because again, we are dealing with women who are earning let's say $1 income. So what we want is to even have extra dollar, you know, per day or even extra than $1 per day. So what we do is we train, we equip them. So if you are beekeeper, you'll be given all the equipment for you to become a sustainable beekeeper. And then we assure you of the market. So they go back to the communities with equipment, they harvest the honey, they're free to come to sell to us in a very good price that we buy. At the end of the day, we'll pay them, so they'll earn income. So it's assuring them that at the end of the day, they'll earn extra income whenever they come to the center. Yeah.

Bobbi Martellacci (05:13):

What are some of the significant challenges faced by the community you work with involving gender equality?

Brenda Geofrey (05:19):

Most of the challenges I will talk is when we are going to the communities, for example, with our solar program to go and select women who will come to be trained at our center. So one thing that we encountered is a woman has to get approval from the husband to go to get the training. So you'll find most of the time, men don't want to give this approval. They'll just tell the woman, like, if you go to that training for five months, consider it as a divorce. And again, women are, they don't want to get divorced. And again, it's not like Barefoot plans, you know, to divide the families. So the big challenge I'll say is women getting approval from their husbands. We have to convince, a lot of energy is used to convince their husband to agree for a woman to come to join our program for five months. And then again, return her to the communities where she's safe. So we have to do a lot of convincing to the chief, to the community chief, who is a leader, to first talk to the husband. But again, the good thing of Barefoot is we are working with the government, and the government have a very big hand. So that's also, we use that hand to convince the husband, because at the end of the day, this program will not only benefit her, the woman, but the community and the family at large.

Bobbi Martellacci (06:49):

What is Barefoot College's entrepreneurship training program and how does it empower women?

Brenda Geofrey (06:56):

At Barefoot, I'll say all our programs, they are based, or they're focused on the entrepreneurship skills. Like how do we change these mindsets of the rural women who are born to believe that I was only, you know, born to be a mother or a wife. They can also be, you know, successful entrepreneurs. So talking about beekeeping, talking about sewing, talking about regenerative agriculture, it's all about how we are changing their mindsets, how we are equipping them with the skills that they're sustainable. But at the end of the day, they will help them to earn income. So we have a curriculum which has entrepreneurship skills. So in here, women are trained on how, you know, how you even talk to your customer. What's the kind of language that you talk to a customer that they have to come back to a shop instead of going somewhere else, or they have to come back to your business instead of going somewhere else. So we have different games that we play with the mamas while training this. You know, I'll tell them, think about where you buy your groceries. You know, think about where you buy the products that you use at home. Why do you go to that shop often and not going to the other shop? So they'll come back to us with a lot of responses, maybe how they're free with them, how cheerful the owner of the shop is, how they're free even to, you know, to borrow something at the shop. So the flexibility, it's the same thing that they also have to do with their businesses because again, they'll leave at this Barefoot as sewing ladies, they'll be interacting with customers. They'll leave there as beekeepers. So they'll be interacting with customers.

Brenda Geofrey (08:49):

It's very important for them to know, okay, this is the service I need to provide to my customer. This is the language that I need to talk to the customer. But again, knowing that most of them, they didn't go to school. So some can not know how to read or write. We still train them on how to write, you know, to keep bookkeeping records. Let's say you have a stock, or maybe you just have a small business at home. You're selling snacks. Let's say you have made a hundred chapatis and you went to sell it, but you were only able to sell, let's say 90 chapatis and 10 remain. So you have to put bookkeeping records of your stock. How much did you buy to make a hundred chapatis? How much was your profit, you know, what has remained? So the very simple bookkeeping method for them to track records of their spendings but also if they are making profit. Apart from that, also in our entrepreneurship skills, we emphasize on a way a woman can be confident to pitch her projects. Let's say you came to Barefoot today, and you know, you're selling, let's say something which we also put to the shops, let's say you're selling dresses. Pitch to me. You know, I make very nice, you know, so we are preparing them also to prepare like a pitch, something in one minute. Let's say, I'm so busy, but in one minute you can tell me everything, and by the way you speak, it's when I'll be interested to know about your product. All of that, we are training women, and yeah, we see how they change.

Bobbi Martellacci (10:33):

Could you share with us an impact story related to the HerStart program that, you know, particularly highlights positive changes that have been brought to the lives of women living in the communities that you serve?

Brenda Geofrey (10:46):

So, to answer your question, I think we talk of the recent project that we are currently doing with YCI. And that is a PIF program, it's a partner innovation program that, for Barefoot, we are working on rural women. We are training rural women on the financial inclusion, financial literacy. We provide education as far as financial literacy is concerned. We came up with this project and we are working with 60 women, 20 from each region in Unguja Island. So we already trained both of the regions now. So we go to these mamas and we ask them, after two months of the training, what do you see as a change? So most of them, they'll tell you, now I have my own bank account, I didn't have a bank account before, because I believe that having a bank account, you have to be very rich. You know, some others are saying, I didn't know to read or write. So I know like, if I go to the bank, maybe some people will just steal my money. So I was scared to save there. But now they have bank accounts, they're operating bank accounts, they're saving their business income in the bank accounts.

Bobbi Martellacci (11:59):

Can you tell us how HerStart Fellows contribute to the success of Barefoot College Zanzibar's initiatives?

Brenda Geofrey (12:07):

Barefoot College, it's a very, very big organization as far as Zanzibar is concerned. We have staff, but sometimes we need new skills. You know, we need new experience, we need new ideas. So with these fellows coming up, let's say today we have a comms person, Comms Fellow, the next day we have a Monitoring and Evaluation Learning Fellow, the other day we have Social Entrepreneurship Fellow, we have Program and Partnership Fellow. So having all these skills to our center, having all this experience to our center is really adding positive impact to our work. For example, currently I don't have to work, you know, on the, let's say, writing newsletter, preparing the newsletter, or let's say some sort of report, because we have a comms person who is on the ground most of the time. So she's seeing everything and she's taking pictures of everything. So it's easy for her to write, to help me write a report. Let's say talking about a monitoring and evaluation person. In Zanzibar Center, we don't even have a person who is focusing on evaluation, monitoring and evaluation. So it's really good that we don't have to go to our headquarters office to request, like, I need a MEL person to help with this, because again, we have the fellow on the ground who has exactly skills that we needed. So for me, I'll say fellows are really helping us grow, because at the end of the day, it's not just about us learning from them, but it's also about us also sharing our experience with them.

Bobbi Martellacci (13:44):

What are the next steps or future goals for Barefoot College Zanzibar? Especially related to the challenges that you spoke about earlier in the interview about challenges faced by the community.

Brenda Geofrey (13:57):

One of the plan that we have is to expand our projects because we have seen how this project has worked well in Pemba and Unguja Island. So now we want to expand more to mainland, but also to expand even more to East African countries.

Bobbi Martellacci (14:16):

Okay. Wow.

Brenda Geofrey (14:17):

We have been approached by organizations in Uganda, in Kenya, in Malawi, in Rwanda. Can we have the same solar program in our communities? Can we have the same, you know, let's say beekeeping program in let's say in Botswana? All these things now are forcing us also to somehow expand our project to those countries. Not even opening the center, but at least having women trained. So we can send our trainers to go to those countries if it's easy. Or we can send women to come to Zanzibar to be trained.

Bobbi Martellacci (14:50):

What advice would you give to individuals or other organizations that are also aiming to promote gender equality in similar communities like Zanzibar through maybe social entrepreneurship or community development?

Brenda Geofrey (15:06):

One thing I'll advise entrepreneurs is to create a product which can compete in the market. Like, you don't have to use a lot of strength marketing it because it's a very good product. In Zanzibar, what I also noticed is if one or two hotels are buying your products, all of them, they'll contact you. So good products, good marketing skills, you sell the product. So that's advice. But again, advice to organizations, I'll say is the organization that are working on similar to what we do, giving entrepreneurs training only is not enough. You train them, let's say for Barefoot, we only train them on how, you know, you do beekeeping, but if you don't equip them, you know, if you don't assure them of the market. It's very hard for the project to be sustainable. So making sure that they have skills, but they also have equipments to practice those kind of skills.

Bobbi Martellacci (16:07):

Thank you.

Outro (16:15):

In this episode, Sarah Harvey, HerStart Communications Fellow, speaks with Stella Lukwago from Social Innovation Academy (SINA), one of YCI’s HerStart partners in Mpigi, Uganda.

Stella discusses SINA’s mission to empower marginalized young people to become self-reliant social entrepreneurs. She highlights the transformative impact of HerStart's collaboration with SINA, particularly in creating opportunities for rural women to drive social change and achieve economic independence. Through stories and insights, Stella shares the importance of social entrepreneurship in addressing community challenges and fostering sustainable development in Uganda.

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Intro (00:04):

Sarah Harvey (01:05):

Hello, my name is Sarah Harvey and I'm the current Communications Fellow with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Mpigi, Uganda. Today I'm speaking with Stella Lukwago about Social Innovation Academy, commonly referred to as SINA, and more specifically about Jangu International, a self-reliant community that applies the SINA model to support young people in Mpigi, Uganda to become self-reliant social entrepreneurs. Good afternoon, Stella. Do you wan to start by introducing yourself and explaining your role with HerStart?

Stella Lukwago (01:35):

Yes. I'm Stella Lukwago. I'm the HerStart coordinator for Social Innovation Academy, a partner for YCI.

Sarah Harvey (01:45):

Amazing. Congratulations on your recent promotion.

Stella Lukwago (01:49):

Thank you so much.

Sarah Harvey (01:51):

Could you start off by just describing what the Social Innovation Academy framework is and how Jangu International fits into this movement?

Stella Lukwago (02:03):

Okay, so Social Innovation Academy supports young, marginalized and vulnerable young people aged between 18 to 28 to support them, to empower them to create innovations that benefit themselves as individual, their communities and the environment by creating innovations that support and impact other young people by creating jobs for others. So in the beginning it was only Social Innovation Academy, but then later on we thought that why don't we create a global movement of different young people of Africa that can also be able to change or to create, to see challenges as opportunities where they can actually change their communities and impact different people. And to do that, we created a model, a replication model where our scholars, especially the first ones, were able to take and replicate SINA, which is the Social Innovation Academy, back into their communities. And those communities that we are replicated out of the SINA model, for example, like Jangu International, where we reside currently, are some of the many, many communities right now being created in Africa and in refugee camps all over East Africa and as far as Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar and other refugee camps, and the movement is still growing.

Sarah Harvey (03:47):

Okay, amazing. How exactly does the HerStart program fit into all of that? How does the HerStart program contribute to the work that is done at Jangu International under the Social Innovation Academy?

Stella Lukwago (04:00):

Yeah, so when you look at Social Innovation Academy, we partner or we work or we support or we empower young Ugandans or youth on the margin to actually be able to change or create or impact their communities in different ways. But when you look at the kind of scholar or the kind of youth who we're bringing into the program, he or she was a specific type, and of course she was vulnerable, she was marginalized, and she was coming from all over Uganda. And while we were bringing in young people who had not attained university level or university education level, there was still a gap when it came to young women accessing opportunities. And of course, coming to SINA to have a scholarship in social innovation that is already also an opportunity that many rural women and girls could not be part of.

Stella Lukwago (05:05):

So HerStart actually complements the SINA intention so well, that we are on the same path to creating opportunities for rural women, young people to also be able to create the change they want to see in their communities. So imagine with the support that HerStart gives to Social Innovation Academy, we are able to create more impact in our communities. With the support we get from HerStart, we are able to actually create numerous impact and also support young women, especially rural young women in rural Mpigi to also be part of this change we are saying we want to create all over Uganda. And what better way than actually working and complementing each other, HerStart, YCI and SINA, through the HerStart program to actually create more impact, create more jobs for other people, but also support women to be economically independent so that they're able to make financial decisions, economical decisions that affect their lives and then lives of those around them. And of course, an African woman has 10 hands, you know, is expected to have 10 hands, but the African man only needs to have two. So what better way than actually for YCI and SINA to come together through the HerStart project to support women, to give them a voice, to create more opportunities for them, to elevate their status, you know, so that rural communities can also thrive and SINA, providing the space, I think it's a great combination.

Sarah Harvey (07:00):

And you kind of touched on this a little bit, but why do you think that social entrepreneurship is an effective way of addressing various challenges that are faced by different communities in Uganda, specifically marginalized communities? Why is social entrepreneurship the way to address these problems?

Stella Lukwago (07:20):

Yeah, of course. Previously we've seen traditional businessmen and women and you know, they've also been able to create profits for themselves and support their families. In my opinion, I feel that social entrepreneurship, because it is intentional, the person knows why they're creating a social enterprise, why they're starting this and this, what problems are identified in their communities that they can actually tackle and create sustainable solutions that will not only benefit themselves and their families, but will also benefit the community. And because with social innovation, the person or the young woman has an intention, you know, and that intention supports her to actually create sustainable solutions that fit into community or societal problems. And with a solution problem fit, somehow not only does it bring impact to the community, but also it supports the young women in our case to actually also elevate herself out of poverty. But imagine if she just doesn't do traditional business, but this time she actually creates a business that is socially sustainable, socially beneficial, it benefits her, it benefits the community, it benefits the environment. So it's a win, win, win. It's a three win. A triple win. So, yes. We continue.

Sarah Harvey (09:07):

Wonderful. So we're going switch it up and I'm going to ask you a couple of questions that are more about you specifically. So I know that you've been at SINA for quite a long time. How is it that you ended up working here?

Stella Lukwago (09:19):

Okay, so I've been with SINA since 2013, because actually I've been with SINA since before it even started because SINA officially opened in 2014. But in 2013 we were doing background work to ensure that we start off. And so I had an opportunity in 2013 to actually go and do my internship in the UK in London as an events and program fellow intern. And when I was there, there were many things that blew my mind in Europe. Like everything was different, of course, for an African like me who had never even used the underground train, everything was so mind blowing. But I kept reflecting on how best I can also impact my community when I go back to Uganda with the skills I'd learned, you know, from my internship, with the people I'd met, the connections I'd made, I felt that I could also contribute to my country as a young woman at that time. And so when Etienne approaches me, that someone in Canada had given him my contact for us to start something together, you know, I was like, wow, I don't know how that looks like, but I think it's a good thing. And so that's how the journey starts. And so when I come back, we start on the journey for creating SINA with a team of other people. And yes, 10 years later we are here, impacting many young people all over the country and also outside of Uganda. And now we are even touching rural communities, working with rural women in their own way.

Sarah Harvey (11:16):

Okay, wonderful. And just to clarify, Etienne is the German founder of SINA.

Stella Lukwago (11:24):

Yes, Etienne is the founder of Social Innovation Academy, but of course everyone contributed to this very big movement.

Sarah Harvey (11:34):

In regards to the HerStart program, for you, what is the most rewarding part of working specifically with HerStart since you joined HerStart?

Stella Lukwago (11:43):

Yes, so I've also been with HerStart since the beginning, even before it started. So, I think for me, had very many questions in the beginning but what stands out for me, because in the past I never used to really train and or facilitate rural young women. And I was used to people who could speak English, you know, who also other people were able to facilitate it, and then I just come in and everything is easy, but with HerStart, it gives an opportunity to every young woman to realize their fullest potential. So I've met young women who I wouldn't even imagine that they could start a social innovation or a social business. And thanks to HerStart, that is now possible. And also with my background with Social Innovation Academy and the kind of scholars we were bringing to the program, the HerStart young woman is a different woman, is a unique woman, and she needs special attention and she needs actually a special way to be handled and supported, you know. Most of them, most of these young women are married, they have children and they're young, you know, they're less than 28, some are 30, some are 19, you know, and they have issues that need attention. And for me to see them thrive through the program, they commit themselves to come and learn and study and relearn, you know, and unlearn. I think for me, that is what really stands out for me for the HerStart project. And I think that if it wasn't here in Uganda, and if it hadn't partnered with SINA, we would actually have missed out a lot and many women in the Mpigi district wouldn't have gotten the opportunity they have right now of, you know, changing their communities, impacting their communities, but also benefiting themselves and realizing their fullest potential as responsible citizens of this world.

Sarah Harvey (14:03):

That was a beautiful response. So yeah, just speaking of the impact that HerStart has had within Uganda, are there any areas of opportunity that you see for HerStart to expand or grow within Uganda?

Stella Lukwago (14:19):

Of course, it depends on the current problems or the challenges in communities. Currently, there is, I think, a gender inequality issue. And of course that is predominant, I think in the whole world, but at different levels. And I think for African rural Ugandan woman, it's even quite different. And the challenges in inequality, in gender-based violence, in lack of resources, lack of opportunities, somehow they affect a woman to not realize her potential. And of course YCI, through HerStart and also through the Partner Innovation Fund, has been able to support us to create some programs, some projects in other fields like agroforestry, climate action, and also gender inequalities. But I feel that maybe if we could also explore other ways, it could be gender-based, it could be climate action specifically, to create programs, not only for capacity building. I don't like those programs for capacity building, but you know, like how we created a forest here in SINA, everyone can see it, it's visible, it's going to impact, it's going to benefit everyone. I think HerStart has that capacity to influence and innovate and write innovative innovatively programs that actually impact people.

Sarah Harvey (16:11):

I just want to say thank you for all of your work that you've put into SINA and HerStart. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today.

Stella Lukwago (16:21):

Thank you, Sarah. I think this has been nice.

Outro (16:29):

In this episode, Elinam Akogo, HerStart Social Entrepreneurship Fellow, speaks with Agness Bweye from the Practical Permaculture Institute of Zanzibar (PPIZ), one of YCI’s HerStart partners in Tanzania.

Agness shares how PPIZ empowers women and youth through permaculture education and sustainable livelihood initiatives. She explains the core ethics of permaculture—earth care, people care and fair share—and how these principles are applied to address the intertwined challenges of climate change, poverty and environmental degradation on the island. Agness also highlights the impact of YCI's HerStart program, which provides support through volunteer HerStart Fellows, capacity building and funding.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:04):

Elinam Akogo (01:04):

Hello everyone and welcome to a new podcast episode of the HerStory series. My name is Elinam Akogo and I'm a Social Entrepreneurship and Communications Fellow with YCI's HerStart program here in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Today we have the chance to have a guest from one of YCI's local partners in Tanzania, sharing stories and insight on how her organization is empowering women and youth in local Zanzibar communities. Joining us today is Agness Bweye, the Programs Manager of the Practical Permaculture Institute of Zanzibar, or PPIZ, an organization dedicated to teaching and sharing permaculture knowledge with communities all around Zanzibar, educating the youth, women and others. Welcome Agness.

Agness Bweye (01:49):

Thank you. Elinam.

Elinam Akogo (01:51):

Can you please introduce yourself to the listeners?

Agness Bweye (01:54):

My name is Agnes and I work with the Practical Permaculture Institute as the Programs Manager, I manage the programs department, which has different projects that are working in the Zanzibar communities.

Elinam Akogo (02:10):

Can you tell us what permaculture means and how does PPIZ fit into this global movement?

Agness Bweye (02:18):

Permaculture can easily be defined as sustainable livelihood and regenerative design, and it is a global movement that started so long ago in the 1970s. It is nothing new because it is the ways that people have been living for so many years in the back, before the development of technology and innovations that are good in some way, but also destructive in some other ways. So the only thing that permaculture is trying is to combine the development that we have of technology with the ancient wisdom that has been existing for ages in communities all over the world because people had a lot of knowledge that is very sustainable. But now I think we are forgetting some components of life, and that is why we are becoming more destructive. So permaculture has three ethics, which can be defined as a core of permaculture. We have healthcare, people care and fair share. And when you come to look at these three ethics, they touch the community life, as in people care, and then the environment and the climate in the earth care, and then we have the economy, which is very important in fair share. So these three pillars have to align because people depends on nature. They also depend on the economy because they're doing activities to sustain their livelihood.

Elinam Akogo (03:55):

Can you talk about your background and how did the purpose of PPIZ align with your career?

Agness Bweye (04:02):

Okay, so I studied mass communication and while I was studying, I lost interest of working with the media or in the communications. And then I started working with community development projects a lot. I engaged myself at the university. I engaged myself in the gender club when we were doing a lot, raising awareness about gender issues at the campus where I was studying. And through that I got so much into the community works and development works, which was something that I really liked more than what I studied. And then I started engaging with other non-government organizations doing community projects. So for me, because I was doing service, that was really what I really liked. I got involved so much into social justice movements, and that for me defined what I really wanted. And when I came here, the first project I worked with was a project that was empowering young people, both men and women. It was 50% women, 50% men, and they were coming from those kind of background. They didn't have high education, they didn't have a lot of opportunities. And I really fell in love with my job. And since then I've been working with the Practical Permaculture Institute now for six years because I really think we are doing something great.

Elinam Akogo (05:42):

What are some of the biggest challenges faced by the communities that you work with especially in terms of climate issues, but also environmental preservation?

Agness Bweye (05:53):

The communities we are working with are facing a lot of challenges, especially because of climate change. We know we are living in a small island and land is very limited and we are surrounded by the ocean. So anything that is affecting the island is affecting people directly. Our communities are highly depending on the ocean. We are working with fisherman communities a lot. And the environmental issues like ocean pollution and land pollution is affecting them highly because it is affecting their livelihood directly. So if the communities were depending on the ocean, let's say fisheries, and then they are no longer, the resources are no longer abandoned, they cannot get resources easily because of overconsumption, now they are going to destroy the forests that are surrounding them. They're cutting them down so that they can sell firewood or they can get a source of energy and they're creating even a larger problem again. So all the problems are intertwined because the environment, when it is affected, then it is affecting people's livelihood. And when their livelihood is affected, they're going to even over deplete their natural resources. The three ethics people are facing difficulties in the economy, things such as poverty, it's affecting people's livelihood. And when they are not well, they cannot even be well physically, mentally, their health are affected. Their overall community welfare is affected. And also the environment is even affected more because now they're going to over exploit so that they can sustain the other things like the economy and their own social welfare. So we are trying to tackle that by talking about permaculture. And then we are introducing the alternative sources of income. For example, we go to the communities that are depending highly on the forest that is cutting down the trees to get firewood and charcoal.

Agness Bweye (08:04):

So these people, if you don't give them solutions, they will continue cutting down the trees because that is how they're sustaining their livelihood. But when you go there and then you tell them, have you thought of having a home garden that will solve your problems of buying food because you are going to grow your own food. And afterwards you are going to have, if you have a surplus you can sell and then you are earning income and maybe you can make compost manure and sell it, and then you have an alternative. You don't have to depend on the forest because this is protecting you. And if you preserve it also for the next generations, they're going to have resources that are there present for them. So those are the problems that we are dealing with.

Elinam Akogo (08:52):

How has the He Start program supported PPIZ in tackling some of their challenges?

Agness Bweye (08:59):

So the HerStart program came during the time which was very, very tough for the institute. It was during COVID and the world was going crazy, you know, you didn't have a lot of funds because all the funds went to the emergent crisis that was there. And then HerStart started to support the young women who have ideas to tackle their social challenges using entrepreneurship. So the HerStart program has first helped a lot PPIZ on the capacity development because we received a lot of trainings on how we can deliver trainings to the communities, how to design programs, how to do monitoring and evaluation, which was very, very valuable because we lost so much as PPIZ and it was only the two of us by then because we lost all workers during COVID, people resigned and we didn't have the capacity. So the capacity building was very, very helpful. And even when we added some new members, HerStart was there to help us train them to become the best in the work. So in the area of capacity building, that is how it has been helping a lot. But for the community, the HerStart project has two things. First, the HerStart which is the mother project. So the young people that are going, the young women that are going through the HerStart program, after they complete the incubation phase of the project, the Seed Your Social Venture, they receive a Catalyst Fund. You don't get a lot of projects that is giving Catalyst Fund for young women to establish their businesses, which is very, very crucial because sometimes people have very, very good ideas, but because they lack the funds to realize their ideas and implement whatever they want to do, it becomes very difficult and a challenge for them. So the HerStart program is very supportive of the young women because it gives them the skills, the knowledge, enough training to establish your business. And if your idea is good and scalable, they're supporting even the establishment of the idea and the growth of it. So the funding part, I will say it's a very, very important because it complements the skills. And if someone is very empowered already with knowledge and then they get the Catalyst Fund, there is nothing to stop them, to block their ways. And another thing which is a very, very great component of HerStart is the Partner Innovation Fund, which you get every year in different thematic areas. I mentioned earlier that the first year we did climate change. This year we are doing gender. You get a chance to come up with an idea that is focusing on this thematic area. And for this year we are doing a project on gender dealing with young mothers and the women who were married young at the age under 18. And the project is called Believe in New Tomorrow Initiative. We call it BINTI. 'Binti' in Swahili means a young lady. So it's a perfect reflection of what we are doing. A young lady who got pregnant and she was married, forced to get married at a very young age. She doesn't have skills. She has a lot of other issues. And then these young women are receiving training, that means skills development. And then they're getting psychosocial support because a lot of them have been traumatized by their experience and they have very, very difficult issues they're dealing with. We've had women who are even suicidal and they've attempted to take their own lives. So through the HerStart program, they're receiving therapy sessions and they are working with the person who is taking them through their journey. And they've been testifying saying that now we've seen new hope. They lost all the hope. They couldn't see a better tomorrow anymore because of their experience. But through the Partner Innovation Fund, they're getting this help. And now we are happy that a lot of people have heard of what we are doing. They are really willing to support, but always initiated by HerStart through the Partner Innovation Fund. So it gives us a chance to try our own wild ideas to support our community, because most of the time you get funds that are very strict. You have to do this and this, but the PIF it doesn't give you that restriction of thinking you have to come up with your own idea. It only has to align with the thematic area. And we've been so happy because it is supporting our community. If the women are not well psychologically, emotionally, and even physically, they cannot support the development of their communities. So we are so happy for that, because this is giving our communities a new hope through the women that have been traumatized a lot, but now they find a new hope through the BINTI project.

Elinam Akogo (14:28):

Can you tell us about the future goals of the organization? What's next for the next year or even for the next five years? What is the vision?

Agness Bweye (14:37):

The major, major vision is to achieve the goal of a hundred percent organic Zanzibar, which is a very huge and scary goal, but we are going to go for it. But for the next five years, we want to focus on supporting, improving the livelihood of our communities, because sometimes it is poverty that is causing people to destroy the environment, to overexploit the resources and doing the things which are not so good for the environment and even for their communities. So we want to focus on livelihood improvement so that people can have decent income and decent lives. And that is when, when even you are giving the knowledge of preservation, it'll be well received in the community because people have taken care already of the basic needs. For someone who can't even afford the basic needs of life, it's very difficult for you go there and tell them about protection of the environment or there is climate change and this. So we want to focus on the livelihood and also the gender aspect. I know we've been so scared of it because we think it is something which is a very difficult challenge, but I'm so glad because the women of PPIZ have been pushing a lot for the gender projects.

Elinam Akogo (16:02):

They want it, actively.

Agness Bweye (16:04):

Yes, me included, and my fellow women, female staff. We are like, we need to do projects in gender because you cannot talk about the environment and forget the welfare of the community. So we really want to focus also on the women empowerment, especially on the island, because it is something that is not, it is spoken, but it's, you know, we don't dig deeper as to how deep the problem is and what are the challenges that are facing the the women of the island.

Elinam Akogo (16:40):

Thank you very much, Agness. Thank you for your time.

Outro (16:50):

In this episode, Katherine Prior, HerStart Communications and Social Entrepreneurship Fellow, speaks with Professor Daniel Ayoung of Bolgatanga Technical University (BTU) one of YCI’s HerStart partners in Ghana.

Professor Ayoung discusses the university's efforts to address gender issues on campus and the impact of entrepreneurship training programs on women at BTU and in the surrounding community. The conversation highlights BTU's focus on ecological agriculture, the transformative power of financial empowerment, and the positive cultural shifts facilitated by support from YCI’s HerStart program.

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Intro (00:04):

Katherine Prior (01:03):

Hey everyone, and welcome to this episode of the HerStory podcast. My name is Katherine Prior and I'm a Communications and Social Entrepreneurship Fellow with the HerStart Program in Bolgatanga, Ghana. Today I'm delighted to be joined by Professor Daniel Ayoung of Bolgatanga Technical University to speak about addressing gender issues on campus and the impact of entrepreneurship training programs with women at BTU and in the surrounding community. Professor Daniel Ayoung is an associate professor and librarian at BTU. He holds a PhD in Information Systems and Computing from the Brunel University London and a Master's of Business Information Systems. Daniel works with the HerStart team as a project lead for BTU's partnership with YCI. Bolgatanga Technical University is a public institution located in the Upper East region of Ghana. It was established as one of 10 technical universities in the country, which aimed to advance education and engineering sciences, applied arts, technology-based disciplines and technical and vocational education and training. The university offers 35 programs with around 1400 students enrolled. BTU has utilized the grant provided by YCI's Partner Innovation Fund to address gender issues and women's rights on campus. BTU's gender equity project aims to increase staff capacity on gender issues and women's rights through the implementation of new gender and sexual harassment policy and training program. Professor Daniel Ayoung, welcome to the HerStory podcast. Can you start off by telling us a bit about Bolgatanga Technical University and its focus areas?

Daniel Ayoung (02:45):

Bolgatanga Technical University is one of 10 technical universities in Ghana and located in the northernmost part of Ghana. We share close border with Burkina Faso, just about 50 minutes drive to Burkina Faso and one of the smallest of the ker universities in Ghana with a little about 2,500 students. We are a technical university that is focused mainly in ecological agriculture. That is our niche area. So all the 10 universities have a niche area and ours based on our geographical location, is on ecological agriculture, basically looking at how to conserve the environment and also support in reducing desertification. As you're aware when you're coming up, you'll realize that we're more of a northern savannah and ours is towards the desert. So our focus mainly is to preserve the ecology and most of our research and our efforts are driven towards ensuring that we achieve a better ecology for our region and Ghana as a whole.

Katherine Prior (03:53):

Thank you so much for sharing the history of BTU and the vision moving forwards. Before we jump into your current focus areas, I would love if you could provide us with a brief background on your career path, which led you to your current position as a project lead for the HerStart program at BTU.

Daniel Ayoung (04:13):

So, as a young man in my early formative years, I was inspired by my class teacher, especially my primary sixth classroom teacher. What inspired me basically was how he taught and made teaching easy. So I got interested in wanting to be a teacher. After graduating my secondary school, I actually went to do some teaching to teach primary school children, and I actually enjoyed the environment where I was dealing with young ones and helping to see how they could also grow into budding young individuals. Following that, I got admission into the University of Ghana and I took a course, a major in information studies and minored in religion. And following that, when I graduated, I became a teaching assistant, so fulfilling the dreams I wanted as a teacher and I got a scholarship to study in the University of East London where I continued my information studies education and got a Master's in business information systems, looking at how to incorporate technology into the delivery of information. Then after graduation, I came back to Ghana and got a job with Bolgatanga Technical University in 2009 as an IT lecturer. And since then I have been teaching, I went back to school in the UK again to do my PhD in computing information systems and came back to teach.

Katherine Prior (05:52):

The partnership with HerStart, BTU's partnership with HerStart largely focuses on gender equity issues, particularly in the last year. Would you be able to provide some context on gender challenges and the gender gap on campus and in the broader community here in Bolgatanga.

Daniel Ayoung (06:12):

For the HerStart team in BTU, I think when we started doing the trainings for the young women who were, majority were our students actually, then we went into the community, we kept on getting this resounding issue of gender issues, gender disparities and all that. We went ahead to try to see where we are as an institution with regards to gender and where we intended to go. So the theme for that year actually resonated with us as an institution and we realized that even though the institution had some idea about gender and sexual harassment issues, we had very little capacity in that area. So we were excited with the fact that HerStart was going to then support the institution through the fellows to help us at least create more awareness on gender issues. Meanwhile we have been training some of the young women and we got to also appreciate from their point of view how their perceptions of gender shift the way they lived in the communities. And we realized that there needed to be a shift in the thinking if we needed gender parity or gender equality in the university campus and subsequently going out into the community because we believe that the university community was a microcosm of the bigger or wider community because a lot of young individuals come from different parts of Ghana into the university. So if we were to change or to help shape the mindset around gender issues, then they will, after graduation go back into their communities and be agents of change.

Katherine Prior (07:58):

Could you explain how you believe the entrepreneurship training is going to help address the gender gap at BTU and the Bolga community?

Daniel Ayoung (08:07):

We come from a part of Ghana where poverty is really high and we all know that empowerment, financial empowerment can actually lead to empowerment in other areas of community. So when women are empowered, when women are emboldened, when women have financial capacity, then they are able to also make decisions. So the entrepreneurship trainings that are given, which empowers the young ones to be able to establish their businesses, in the long run, this empowers them to be able to take their own decisions in the first place. Because once a lady or a woman is empowered, they're able to voice out their feelings, they're able to take part in decision making. But if you are controlled by somebody else, I think the the level of decisions you can make is also controlled. However, if you have the capacity to make your own decisions, if you have the financial muscle to be able to do what others will do for you, then it gives you the power to be able to sit at the table and also be able to enforce or ensure that certain decisions that affect you and that of your children are made in the interest or your interest. So this empowerment purpose for us is actually quite phenomenal because most of those who have trained have been able to uplift themselves, if not even financially, but emotionally, intellectually, and be able to also speak to some of the things that worry them a lot. But for those who have been able to support, as you're aware, they're already been able to decide what they want to do in society because they have been able to, they get their own support, they're able to build their own wealth and based on the wealth, they're able to make decisions that come with financing. And that is what HerStart has given to majority of over 760 women we have trained so far.

Katherine Prior (10:07):

I really love how you said this goes beyond just kind of the financial implications and even the educational, it goes into the communities and households. Could you expand a little bit just on the feedback you've received from the BTU community and from the participants who are undergoing training with HerStart?

Daniel Ayoung (10:26):

The feedback has been phenomenal. Now we know that the Catalyst Fund at the end of the training is not enough to get to everyone. So we select the best. However, what we have done is to get feedback from those we even trained and based on the feedback, what the positive feedback we're getting is that it has not only given them training, it is some sort of empowering in that most of them now know that even within the communities in which they exist, there are a lot of business avenues because part of the training we're able to, we tell the students or we take them to how to identify problems in the community and how to find solutions which they can commercialize. So through the training process, we have gotten some of them to tell us that, look, based on your training, I'm now able to appreciate some of the problems in my community and I now have an inkling as to how to commercialize some of these problems, and then we need little support. I think the last time we were going around after the training, we met a lady who just stopped me on the way and said that because of your training to today, I am starting a small business on my own, even though I didn't get the Catalyst Fund. For me, that was the best inspiration I got out of this training because even though they didn't get the money, they had started something small that will later develop into something important for them and then be able to keep food on their tables instead of going out to hold on for others to support them and then control them. For us as a team, that is what the training is about, to empower individuals to own their own start businesses rather than waiting for handouts.

Katherine Prior (12:20):

I've noticed that your approach to gender-related issues is very expansive. You seem to have a lot of knowledge on gender issues. Has working with HerStart impacted your approach to gender issues?

Daniel Ayoung (12:35):

Yes, working with HerStart has impacted my outlook on gender tremendously. Obviously we've gotten some trainings from HerStart on gender and gender-related issues and how gender programming should be done for us to be able to deliver the HerStart program. Obviously that has taken almost all of us in the team to even take courses beyond what HerStart for us to appreciate, what do you call it, how to approach some of our students. So I will say that HerStart has been the most single influencing factor in changing my perception of gender issues and extended into sexual harassment issues. And that actually fed into our policies, our gender policy, our sexual harassment policy, and our drive to ensure that the university community actually follows best practices in ensuring that no one is left behind. Everybody is seen as an equal. And then we are trying to stamp out sexual harassment on campus. So yes, the collaboration with YCI and HerStart has changed or shaped me, my team and probably a lot of people in BTU's perceptions about gender issues.

Katherine Prior (14:04):

Obviously this work is super rewarding, but it doesn't come without its challenges. Would you be able to share the most challenging part of addressing gender-related issues on campus?

Daniel Ayoung (14:16):

You know, gender issues are things that are, let me use the word difficult to discuss. So wanting to actually shift a mindset is a very daunting task. I remember when we put up some of our posters, we've seen the posters on the staircases talking about gender equality and how it affects. I understand that a prominent person seeing the symbols laughed and says, this is going to be a very impossible task. He was asked why, and he says, well, based on our cultural values, it becomes difficult to want to seek gender parity. But we were not discouraged by that because we believe that every culture is dynamic. And once previously a culture saw gender as, let me say, the power imbalances swaying towards the other. We are now getting to an era where that thinking has to shift if we need to go, because we believe that the female gender has more to contribute if given the opportunity to do so because the capacities are the same in our opinion. And since we started the training, we've seen that shift, especially when we started training with the administrative staff and what came out of the trainings. It meant that there were a lot of things that were bottled up that were seen as a no-no, that was seen as things that cannot be discussed. Our trainings give that avenue for people to voice it out and to know that they have the support should they want to do what is right by them.

Katherine Prior (15:58):

Last week, we both had the privilege of attending a workshop with about 150 BTU students where we addressed teaching the new gender and sexual harassment policies, which the HerStart team has helped BTU co-create to tackle these gender issues on campus. How do you think the workshop went and do you think that HerStart supported BTU well in tackling these challenges on campus?

Daniel Ayoung (16:30):

For me it was quite revealing. Students who were there and didn't see management felt comfortable to talk, and a lot of things came up that ordinarily will not be heard or students will not be heard saying some of these things. So definitely YCI has given us a platform which has allowed us to have an insight on how students think about the university with regards to gender, which has never happened before. So this is actually the first time that has happened where students have been given the opportunity to express their views on how they feel gender issues are being handled. And it was phenomenal. We got to hear a lot of information that we would ordinarily not have heard. And because it was a diffused atmosphere, I will call it, with no responsibility, people got to speak their minds. For me, it gave us opportunity to reinforce our desire to support the young ones and to let them know that should they be empowered to report instances of gender discrimination or sexual harassment, the avenue was there for them to seek, to get redress, and for them to be able to live in an inclusive environment where they can get the best out of their education.

Katherine Prior (17:56):

Looking forward into the future, what goals do you have for BTU?

Daniel Ayoung (18:02):

We want to see a BTU where everybody feels safe. Everyone, whether male or female feels safe, that whatever they say will be taken based on merit and not based on who is saying it. We want an environment where gender is not a hindrance to growth. We want an environment where students can achieve the best of their capacities without fear, without being worried that they'll be discriminated against. And the ultimate goal through this gender policy or through the sexual harassment policy, is to get people reporting to the right channels when they feel offended. So our goal is that at least more young women and more young men will be empowered to be able to put up their best because they will feel safe in an inclusive environment.

Katherine Prior (19:01):

That's excellent. Thank you so much Prof Ayoung for sharing your wisdom and your experience and your inspiration for our viewership. Thank you.

Outro (19:17):

In this episode, Shafreen Bagha, HerStart Program and Partnerships Fellow, speaks with Sheila Mwiny Makungu from the Ministry of Youth Zanzibar, one of YCI’s HerStart partners in Tanzania.

Sheila shares how the ministry empowers young people in Zanzibar through training in leadership, entrepreneurship and vocational skills. She highlights the challenges faced by youth, such as socioeconomic disparities and lack of resources, and how the center addresses these issues by providing essential tools and connecting youth with supportive stakeholders. Sheila also shares how HerStart has offered new skills and knowledge to support young entrepreneurs, especially women, through training and funding.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:04):

Shafreen Bagha (01:05):

My name is Shaf and I'm the Program and Partnerships Fellow at YCI Youth Challenge International in Zanzibar, Tanzania. I have been here for almost three months now and I've had the privilege to work with fellow partner organizations. Throughout my placement, I've been working with the Ministry of Youth and today seated here with me is Sheila, the center coordinator at the Ministry of Youth's training center, Vallejo, who is single handedly managing the center and providing life skills training to youth to empower them to make positive life changes. Thank you so much Sheila, for joining me today. Could you please start us off with a bit of introduction about yourself?

Sheila Mwiny Makungu (01:43):

Like you said, Sheila is a manager of youth training center that is founded in district of Unguja. She coordinates all the center programs and personnel with eight years of experience in managing youth socioeconomic programs and projects. Sheila is also a beginner entrepreneur in natural cosmetics, still learning and slowly practicing. She's a graduate from the University of St. Augustine. I'm a public relation and marketing professional. Yes, that's all.

Shafreen Bagha (02:13):

So, Sheila, thank you so much for telling me a bit more about yourself. I wanted to ask, what inspires you?

Sheila Mwiny Makungu (02:21):

Okay, what inspires me is a woman who is independent, who believe in herself, who is compassionate and also like believing in herself who is not distracted by the external and internal force. I mean also listening to what she wants, following her passion and also her talents.

Shafreen Bagha (02:38):

What is your career aspiration?

Sheila Mwiny Makungu (02:40):

Well, my career aspiration is to become a compassionate and influential team leader, empowering my team to achieve their goals as well as my clients, which are the youth here, as well as foster collaboration work environment with other youth stakeholders.

Shafreen Bagha (02:55):

You said you have experience for about eight years, so is that how long you've been working with the Ministry of Youth for?

Sheila Mwiny Makungu (03:01):

Yeah, exactly. With different youth programs, youth empowering programs.

Shafreen Bagha (03:05):

So could you tell me a bit more about the Ministry of Youth's training center and what exactly it is that you do over here?

Sheila Mwiny Makungu (03:13):

Actually, when we talk about the Ministry of Youth, it's a ministry where it is called a Ministry of Information, Youth, Culture and Sports. And within the ministry there's a Department of Youth Development and within the Department of Youth Development there is where you find the center, the youth training center that I managed. When you talk about Department of Youth, the main work is to coordinate all youth empowering and social wellbeing programs that are concerning all youth in Zanzibar. And when you talk about about the center, it's where there's programs, some few program, especially practical theoretical program that are provided for the youth to improve their socioeconomic wellbeing.

Shafreen Bagha (03:59):

Could you give me an example of a few activities that the center engages the youth in?

Sheila Mwiny Makungu (04:05):

Yeah, actually here we engage in providing, like I said, theoretical and practical trainings where we provide leadership trainings, entrepreneurship trainings, as well as employability skills training and also life skills training. But we also practicing in providing some few practical vocational training like tailoring, aluminum workshops as well as shooting as well as stage and home decor.

Shafreen Bagha (04:34):

That seems like a very well-rounded program. Now that I know a bit more about what the Ministry of Youth training center is all about, can I ask you what motivated you to join this cause?

Sheila Mwiny Makungu (04:45):

Okay, this cause is all about the government working with the community, considering my professional as a public relation where I'm dealing to establish a relationship between the government and the community as well as I'm part of the community and I've seen a lot of problems in the community that the youth are the victims or faced by the youth. Where now I am in the position of assisting or helping the youth to achieve their socioeconomic goals. And I am using this right or this space to make sure that I'm doing everything to at least assist somehow with different programs that we are creating in this center by collaborating with different stakeholders.

Shafreen Bagha (05:26):

How has the HerStart program contributed to the success of the Ministry of Youth?

Sheila Mwiny Makungu (05:31):

Actually with HerStart, there's more than two programs, but I was engaged in two programs where they provided fellows, the ministries who are coming from other countries with knowledge, providing us with different knowledge and new skills. Also providing with development of different socioeconomic empowering youth programs, but as well as they have this part where they're providing entrepreneurship skills to the girls who are already engaged in different businesses. I understand they're small scale and skills, where they're providing skills to improve their businesses as well as to acquire more profit and fund.

Shafreen Bagha (06:15):

I'm glad to hear that the fellows have been a positive impact throughout the programs at the Ministry of Youth. How does the Ministry of Youth contribute to developing social entrepreneurship skills in youth?

Sheila Mwiny Makungu (06:26):

By providing skills, we understand that most of the youth here practicing traditional ways of entrepreneurship, but also we are providing tools, equipments to simplify their work, as well as we are collaborating and connecting them with other youth stakeholders that are providing different programs and socioeconomic programs and also tools.

Shafreen Bagha (06:49):

What would you say is the breakdown, the demographic of the training programs?

Sheila Mwiny Makungu (06:54):

Actually, we work for all the youth, but especially out of school youth. So it's like we're engaging everyone. We are not leaving anybody behind. We're engaging the girls, the boys, also women, but you have to be age 15 to 35. That is how policy is guiding us.

Shafreen Bagha (07:14):

Do you find that there are challenges between people from different socioeconomic circumstances?

Sheila Mwiny Makungu (07:20):

Yeah, there are challenges because some of them, like I said, they're coming from poor families. Some youth are with disabilities. Some youth lack confidence and trusting themselves. So it's like you find it's so challenging to put all these people together and give them the same training. So it's like you have to really go slow for some other people or some youth and you don't have to be like very strict and providing the same to everybody because these people, they're coming from different backgrounds, social backgrounds. So it's like you really have to like go really slowly considering their nature and how they were nurtured.

Shafreen Bagha (07:57):

What are the factors that foster success versus failure post training programs?

Sheila Mwiny Makungu (08:03):

Actually, you find most of them that they don't have start-up fund to start their businesses, but you find some of them they don't have land. And for those who don't have space also to practice their business, like the one who graduated from aluminum workshop, they don't have a space to practice or to manage or to establish their businesses. They don't have enough start-up fund, but they don't have enough tools. Yes, so you find that it's really challenging, but we do have some few boys, I mean, some few youth who have already started their businesses.

Shafreen Bagha (08:40):

You guys have done so much great work already. And I wanted to ask, what are your plans for the future, so what is your vision?

Sheila Mwiny Makungu (08:47):

Our vision is for the center to provide more trainings to provide with the youth that they need. And also we want it to be very busy where everybody wants to be here to learn different theoretical and vocational trainings program here. And we want it to be like, we want to grow, we want to lead another branch around here because we found this place is very peacefully and friendly for the youth.

Shafreen Bagha (09:15):

Awesome. Well thank you so much, Sheila. That concludes the questions I have for you today. I just wanted to take this moment to appreciate your time and the work that you have done with Ministry of Youth Vallejo Center and have a great day.

Sheila Mwiny Makungu (09:29):

Thank you.

Outro (09:36):

In this episode, Hafsah Abdi, HerStart Communications Fellow, speaks with Isabel Atugonza about her role as YCI's HerStart Knowledge & Learning Manager in Uganda.

Isabel explores the challenges faced by women in the region and the transformative impact of the HerStart program on young women entrepreneurs. She shares how HerStart supports economic empowerment and gender equality through social entrepreneurship training, grant funding and initiatives like the Partner Innovation Fund, which builds local organizations' capacity to continue building a brighter future for women in Uganda.

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Intro (00:04):

Hafsah Abdi (01:05):

Hello, my name is Hafsah and I'm a Communications Fellow with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Uganda. Before we begin, I'd like to thank Alexis, our Communications Fellow in Kampala for her work on this podcast episode. Today I'm speaking to Isabel Atugonza about her experience working with the Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in pursuit of a brighter future for young women. This program helps young women entrepreneurs grow their social and environmental impact through business skills, coaching, mentorship and training. Isabel and I are speaking today from Mpigi District, SINA Village. Can you tell us about your role with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program?

Isabel Atugonza (01:55):

I am Isabel Atugonza. I am the Knowledge and Learning Manager on the HerStart program with Youth Challenge International in Uganda. My role as the Knowledge and Learning Manager is to contribute to the growth and adaptability of the HerStart program through fostering a culture of learning and knowledge sharing amongst the HerStart team. This involves helping the HerStart team to promote efficiency in program implementation through knowledge sharing, training and development based on the different team needs, information management and supporting the team to analyze program findings while integrating the key learnings in the program delivery. I have been able to do this through monitoring and evaluation of the program progresses while contributing to the strategic planning and management of the HerStart program in Uganda.

Hafsah Abdi (02:47):

Can you tell us a bit about the challenges women face in Uganda and in your community?

Isabel Atugonza (02:54):

One of the main challenges that women face is lack of economic empowerment. Women in Uganda have substantial economic and social responsibilities throughout Uganda's many traditional societies, however, due to limited economic empowerment. They have, first, limited access to education and equal employment opportunities, little influence in decision-making, both at the family and national level among others. Majority of the root causes of gender inequality is attributed to limited economic empowerment amongst women. That continues to affect not only these women but their children, their families and their communities. Families continue being dysfunctional. This is affecting not only the women, but even the growth of the country at large.

Hafsah Abdi (03:46):

Do you have any personal stories from your time working with HerStart when you felt like you had a significant influence on the lives of young women?

Isabel Atugonza (03:55):

Yes, I do have many stories, but I have been privileged to work as a trainer with the HerStart program where I've trained over 600 women on the program. I have been amazed by their personal growth as the platforms that we have offered these women have boosted their confidence to express themselves and become empowered to make their own independent decisions. Sometimes we underestimate the power of sharing stories, but the different personal stories that have been told during these sessions have inspired women to start businesses with the small savings they have and the resources available in their communities. One of our beneficiaries shared that the stories we have told about starting small in businesses pushed her to start a side business apart from being a stay home mother and entirely relying on her husband for financial support. She has been able to contribute to her children's school fees. I now pride in finding out that I'm part of that story that has been written.

Hafsah Abdi (05:01):

So what inspired you to want to work for an organization with a mission of empowering women?

Isabel Atugonza (05:08):

With cultural constraints, I have witnessed a lot of women whose potential has been compromised due to the different family and society expectations. Gender inequality still exists despite the different interventions that have been made by individuals, organizations and even the Ugandan government. I believe that if we need to create a better future, we need to be part of the solution. There is joy that comes from knowing that I have been part of the change and that a child, a family, and even a woman, their lives have been transformed because of my efforts. For that reason, I am thankful that I get to work with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program as we rewrite different stories that are being told and continue to contribute to the impact created in the different communities.

Hafsah Abdi (06:00):

Within your role, how do you work with the Canadian volunteer fellows to support the goals of the HerStart program?

Isabel Atugonza (06:09):

I have worked with different Canadian volunteer fellows from different professional backgrounds. They always have expertise and experience in different fields to ensure their productivity. I always work with them to clearly define the objectives and goals that we are working towards. On the HerStart program, one of the most important aspects has been creating a multicultural environment where each volunteer feels respected and appreciated. Within the workspace, I have worked with an amazing team to streamline communication channels and to ensure that there is flexibility in work objectives. As volunteer fellows identify the field in which they can serve better, I have empowered them to take the lead on some of the areas that they are confident with. Fellows always participate in in-country orientation where we share knowledge and experience about culture and work adaptability, and this prepares them for the reality of volunteering. In addition, we have different capacity-building sessions and we share resources or different platforms to address fellow needs and support their work on the HerStart program.

Hafsah Abdi (07:23):

So now I'd like to talk about the Partner Innovation Fund. Can you tell us a little bit more about the Partner Innovation Fund and how it furthers the impact of the HerStart program?

Isabel Atugonza (07:35):

One of the main components of the HerStart program is the partnership sustainability plan that assesses partners' capacity to not only support the HerStart program, but also to grow as partners and contribute to gender equality and the impact being created in their communities. The Partner Innovation Fund is part of the partnership sustainability plan and this helps partners to meet the identified needs. This can be through creating projects, acquiring resources or seeking technical support aimed at building their capacity. An example, one of our partners has been implementing the HerStart program, but they didn't have a clear gender strategy within their organization. They felt the need to integrate a gender lens in their programs through the Partner Innovation Fund. To us, the impact created goes beyond what the HerStart program is creating. We aim at empowering program beneficiaries, the partners, volunteer fellows and the different stakeholders with knowledge, skills and resources geared towards creating social, gender and environmental impact.

Hafsah Abdi (08:47):

Looking to the future after seven years, how do you think Youth Challenge International's, HerStart program will continue to have a positive impact?

Isabel Atugonza (08:59):

HerStart program will continue thriving through its different stakeholders. Partners have been empowered through the partnership sustainability plan where they have gained the capacity to continue delivering solutions that contribute to environmental and social impact. The HerStart program is currently delivering trainings on social entrepreneurship where women have been equipped with knowledge, resources and funding to implement social enterprises aimed at creating social impacts in their community. Women have been able to ideate and each make businesses and through the Catalyst Fund, they have started producing products and offering services in their communities. Jobs have been created and the families affected are able to support their children in schools. For some environmental businesses, each product made reduces poor waste disposal and its effects in the environment. The HerStart program is planting a seed for the future through investing in young women to come up with innovative solutions to the social, gender and environmental needs. For us to realize the impact in the future, the best time to start was yesterday. I am confident that the HerStart program is working towards the future that we all envision.

Hafsah Abdi (10:17):

And finally, if you could pass on any advice to any young women listening, what would it be?

Isabel Atugonza (10:24):

To the young women out there, I need you to know that you are worthy. You are valuable and deserving of love and all the good things that life has to offer. You can achieve incredible things and all you need to do is to trust in your abilities and unique qualities. A lot of people believe in us as women, and I encourage each woman out there to utilize the opportunities available from those who believe in you. Sometimes we get overwhelmed with family, life and responsibilities, but always remember that you need to fuel your own self before you can continue lighting for others.

Hafsah Abdi (11:01):

Thank you very much for sharing, Isabel.

Outro (11:10):

In this episode, Riley Chervinski, HerStart Communications Fellow, speaks with Mwanaidi Abdulla about her role as YCI's HerStart Operations & Finance Manager in Tanzania.

Mwanaidi discusses the challenges faced by women in Zanzibar, including low financial literacy, negative societal norms and unemployment. She shares how YCI's HerStart program collaborates with Canadian volunteer fellows and local partner organizations to support young women to start their own businesses, gain economic empowerment and break gender barriers.

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Intro (00:04):

Riley Chervinski (01:04):

Hello, my name is Riley and I'm a Communications Fellow with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Tanzania. Today I'm speaking to Mwanaidi Abdulla about the transformative HerStart program here in Zanzibar. Mwanaidi is the Finance and Operations Manager with HerStart and her journey with HerStart began in 2020 when the program was just beginning. Mwanaidi plays a pivotal role in guiding Canadian volunteer fellows through their journeys, leveraging their skills to support HerStart's mission to help young women entrepreneurs grow their social and environmental impact through business skills, coaching, mentorship and training. Throughout the episode, Mwanaidi and I discuss the challenges that Zanzibari women face in finance and entrepreneurship and the evolution of HerStart in Zanzibar, sharing success stories that underscore the program's influence on the community. Looking ahead, Mwanaidi shares her vision for HerStart's next phase in Zanzibar, and makes a compelling case for why Canadians, especially potential funders and volunteers should engage with and support the HerStart initiative. Mwanaidi and I are speaking today in the YCI HerStart office in Zanzibar. Join us as we uncover the stories of empowerment, innovation and collaboration that are shaping the future of Zanzibar's women entrepreneurs. Mwanaidi, to start off, can you share a brief overview of your journey and how you became involved with YCI's HerStart program in Zanzibar?

Mwanaidi Abdulla (02:25):

Hello, my name is Mwanaidi Abdulla from Zanzibar, Tanzania. My education background is international business administration and I specialized in accounting previously working with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Zanzibar. I was working with a local organization as a grant manager, but I was more interested in working with international organization where there is gender inclusion, flexibility, learner-centered and multicultural environments where people from different countries come together with innovative ideas to make a positive impact for the community. Over the past three years, I have witnessed dramatic changes to young women in terms of their leadership potential, confidence-building, business ownership and the multiplier effect of their business in the community.

Riley Chervinski (03:31):

So what exactly is your role within HerStart?

Mwanaidi Abdulla (03:34):

My role with HerStart as Operation and Finance Manager is to oversee the project plan is implemented as per the budget, and ensuring that the overall program and office operations are running smoothly in general.

Riley Chervinski (03:55):

So in Zanzibar specifically, what are some of the key challenges that women are facing, especially regarding finance or entrepreneurship?

Mwanaidi Abdulla (04:03):

Through my experience, the key challenges that women face in regard to finance and entrepreneurship, firstly we can say lack of financial literacy. Women have a limited knowledge in term of record keeping of their business finance, doing budgeting for their business and also personal finance management. And we can see most of women who engage in entrepreneurship use their business finances for their home expenses. So this limited them to sustain their business and to grow their business, but also lack of financial support. And this can be in two ways. First we can say, the loan requirements that are required by the bankers, for example, women have to submit the house ownership as a collateral, hindering them. Because most of these woman who are engaging the small business do not own house or they don't have a physical thing that they can use as a collateral. But also these financial institutions, they are providing loans and these loans have high interest. And as we can consider the religious beliefs of women in Zanzibar as a Muslim, and if they understand this loan has interest, which in regard to the religion is not allowed, and they become resistant to this opportunity that's available in the market. And we can also say, the key challenge is these woman, they have no innovation in their business. Most of them, they pursue business that is already in the market. Everyone is doing it. They don't use innovation or innovative ideas to differentiate themselves with other business owners. And this also limits them to assess the market because of low quality of product they produce and the competition and everything else that is in that aspect. So they cannot compete with other businesses, as a result they remain small for a long time, and at the end they end up closing their business. So those are the key challenges they are facing.

Riley Chervinski (06:58):

So how does the local culture and societal norms impact women's opportunities and their aspirations?

Mwanaidi Abdulla (07:04):

There is local culture and social norm that also impacts inspiration for women and opportunity to do their dream or to pursue their dream. We can say women in Zanzibar are more likely to be unemployed and earn a low income, but also the priority system in Zanzibar's culture constitutes barriers to accessing a decision-making role. And this can be in their home, it can be within the community and also it can be within the constitution. Most of women stay as a gatekeeper. They are just depending on their husband to provide for them. But also negative community perception, where people perceive women as marginalized and so they are limited to do any economic activity for themself. There should be someone to take care of them. So these kind of social norms really impact the young generation to pursue their dream and contribute to the economic activity. Previously it was difficult for some women to be in my position, but as you can see, I am here in the Zanzibar office as the Operation and Finance Manager, so I am a role model in the society. But also we have a female president, so there are dramatic changes in term of how the local culture and social norms was before and now the kind of improvement. But some of this practice still exists or maybe we can say in rural areas.

Riley Chervinski (09:07):

And you've been with HerStart since the very beginning, so in 2020. So how have you seen the HerStart program evolve over the last three years?

Mwanaidi Abdulla (09:15):

The HerStart program evolved over the last three years and this is because of how we are responding to the society need. So through implementation we learn, we unlearn and we relearn to adapt new strategies on the best way to engage and deliver to the community. For example, previously we were providing the Catalyst Fund to young women as one category, but as we learned, now we differentiate the funding into two categories. Now we have the validation fund, where we are giving an opportunity for these young woman to validate their ideas and then they can apply for the growth funding where they come with a six-month strategy, a one-year strategy on how they can use the fund to grow their business. So as regards with the HerStart program, my role also is to coach these young women on their business, on how they manage their finances, but also to assist and manage the overall project in order to ensure that we are binding to the value of money as per the YCI policy.

Riley Chervinski (10:44):

And are there any particular success stories or transformative moments that really highlights the impact of HerStart on women in the Zanzibar community?

Mwanaidi Abdulla (10:52):

The success story, we have a lot of success stories, but I want to share on one of our Catalyst Fund recipient, her name is Munira. She is doing an environmental business where she is collecting garbage at Gulioni area and then she transforms this garbage into fertilizer and chicken feed. Munira's business employs more than 10 young women in her region and also her business contributes to the value chain of other economic activities.

Riley Chervinski (11:33):

How does HerStart specifically address the following international development issues, including gender equality, environment and climate change and human rights and inclusion?

Mwanaidi Abdulla (11:42):

So the HerStart program specifically focuses on marginalized group, such as widows, that do not have alternative source of income to empower them to start their own social business. In terms of environment and climate change, the kind of businesses that we are funding are those social businesses that are environmentally friendly, there is gender inclusion and they provide economic benefit for the community at large. But also within the program, we are partners with Practical Permaculture Institute Zanzibar (PPIZ). Our partner focuses on championing environmental issues, food security and organic farming. So in terms of environment and climate change, also we are providing the Partner Innovation Fund where the partner institution designs and implements programs that are tackling environmental challenges here in Zanzibar. They are also coming up with a project that empowers young women, specifically those who have experienced gender-based violence. So this, you can see, we are focusing on inclusion in different angles of the program. Women's economic program, economic ownership so that these women, they can control their own income. So the HerStart program specifically charge these development issues, gender equality, environment and climate change, human rights and inclusion, in a different element, in a different angle.

Riley Chervinski (13:46):

Thanks Mwanaidi. Is there anything else you want to add that I didn't ask you or any last thoughts or final words that you wanted to share with everyone?

Mwanaidi Abdulla (13:54):

I have seen how we are changing the manual. We are changing the way how we deliver the training. We are changing the way how we are engaging the young women, the way how we are defining the element of the program so as to be able to reach those people that we are targeting. So the program actually impacted these young women in a different way. And it's really amazing seeing their businesses actually come to life and they are growing up. It's really something that really touched my heart. So that is my story. Thank you.

Riley Chervinski (14:46):

Thank you Mwanaidi.

Outro (14:51):

In this episode, Ariel Tozman, HerStart Program & Partnerships Fellow, speaks with Humu Abdul Rahaman about her role as YCI's HerStart Partnership & Training Coordinator in Ghana.

With a passion for women's equality, Humu shares how YCI's HerStart program addresses the economic disparities faced by women in Northern Ghana, creating avenues for empowerment through entrepreneurship and mentorship. She shares real-life success stories, showcasing how HerStart has supported women to start businesses, gain financial independence and ultimately bridge gender inequalities in the region.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:04):

Ariel Tozman (01:04):

Hello, my name is Ariel Tozman and I'm a Program and Partnerships Fellow with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Ghana. Today I'm speaking to Humu Abdul Rahman about her role at YCI Ghana as the Partnership and Training Coordinator. Humu was also one of the mentors for the HerStart Grow Your Social Venture program. This program helps young women entrepreneurs grow their social and environmental impact through business skills, coaching, mentorship, and training. Humu and I are coming to you from the YCI Ghana office. The first thing I asked her about was the role of the Partnership and Training Coordinator (PTC).

Humu Abdul Rahaman (01:42):

My role entails coordinating trainings, managing the affairs of the trainings, and being a liaison between YCI HerStart and the partner Norsaac. So, basically, I do trainings on SPARK, SEED, and GROW. And then also, I meet with partners and coordinate the activities of the partner and YCI. So, basically, that's what I do.

Ariel Tozman (02:14):

How long have you worked at YCI as the PTC?

Humu Abdul Rahaman (02:18):

Yes. I joined YCI in September, 2020. So basically I've worked for three years now. So I'm three years old in my role as a PTC.

Ariel Tozman (02:32):

What motivated you to join the HerStart program in Ghana as the PTC?

Humu Abdul Rahaman (02:37):

Okay, so my motivation for joining YCI HerStart in Ghana stems from my passion for women empowerment. Throughout my background, I've been working with women to promote gender equality as well as community leaders who are the custodians or people who makes decisions in these communities. And so, my passion stems from this, working with young women and also seeing that it aligns with the goals of the HerStart, which is also working to bridge gender inequalities in our communities. When I saw this opportunity, it was a dream come true because I've been waiting to work on a project like this. And it came at the right time because I just ended a project which was also on girls' education. And then I transitioned to this role, which is very similar to what I was practicing or doing over the past few years in my life.

Ariel Tozman (03:49):

Can you tell me why the HerStart program in particular is meaningful to you considering your background in women's empowerment and your passion for female empowerment?

Humu Abdul Rahaman (04:00):

Yes, so it's meaningful to me in that, over here in Northern Ghana, women are not so engaged in economic activities. So HerStart, being a program that focuses on ensuring that women are empowered through economic activities, I saw it as an avenue for me to contribute to achieving or bridging the inequalities in our society. And so HerStart has contributed a lot to the lives of young women through entrepreneurship, and even those who have not been able to start yet at least they have some basic knowledge about entrepreneurship and how to roll out their businesses in case they start these opportunities or they get the opportunities to launch their businesses.

Ariel Tozman (05:01):

How have you seen the real life impact of the program? Can you provide a specific example of what you were talking about in terms of how entrepreneurship has really helped these women empower themselves financially.

Humu Abdul Rahaman (05:12):

Yes. So, since we started this program, in Tamale specifically, I can talk about one of the entrepreneurs who is into shea production, and so through the shea value chain, so she has a lot of products that she uses share butter. And so this young woman did not have any economic venture or any business, but through the program she's been able to start her own business and she has been able to employ other young women to work with. She's been able to put up a grinding mill in a community that did not have access to a grinding mill, where they had to travel for miles before they could access it. But through the program, she's been able to launch her business. She's been able to even scale up beyond what we even expected. And so I can say she has gained some kind of freedom because I remember very well that she's now very confident to make her choices and make her decisions. Another young woman who was also being forcefully married, but after getting this opportunity, she was able - like it was out of her will, the marriage was out of her will - but after gaining her economic independence, she was able to take a decision for herself because it was something that she never consented to. So she had to just leave the marriage and then focus on her business. And she's doing so well because in the first place, she wasn't so happy with the man that she was with, but she didn't have an option because she didn't have any source of livelihood than to depend on the man. But now she has her own business and she can take decisions for herself. So she's now very cool with life and life is so good with her. And so I would say that it has impacted so, so many times on these young women's lives.

Ariel Tozman (07:16):

One part of the HerStart program is that there's this mentorship aspect for the women who make it to GROW, the final stage. And we were talking about confidence building and you know, in the first stages you learn about social business and that stuff. But specifically with confidence building and mentoring in general, can you tell us a bit more about that aspect of the program and how it's helped these women?

Humu Abdul Rahaman (07:42):

Okay. So for the young women that we work with, actually some of them are first time into business. And so we believe that they need people to guide them to take them through the entrepreneurship journey. And so what we do as an organization is to identify people who have some entrepreneurial experiences and skills, and then we assign these young women to guide them as to how they can work on their businesses in terms of sourcing raw materials. Because we know that some of these young women, after venturing into their businesses, sometimes face challenges with accessing or getting the resources, the raw materials for their business. And so for some of the mentors, they've been able to guide these young women to create some other networks within their ecosystem to link these girls up too, so they can have access to things that could make their businesses a reality. And so these mentors have contributed so much to the success of these young women. Also mentors, they meet on regular basis. And so through their meetings, the young women are able to channel their challenges to them and they are able to support or guide them through this because they also belong to a group of entrepreneurs. They end up linking these young women to other associations or other people who could also help them beyond the HerStart project.

Ariel Tozman (09:32):

Where do you think your passion for female empowerment comes from? And if you could tell me just a little bit about your background, where you're from and where you think your passion started.

Humu Abdul Rahaman (09:43):

Okay. So my passion for women empowerment stems from my school, my high school days, when I completed high school. There was this network in Tamale called Kama. Kama is an association of Comfort Alumni. And so in the group, what we were doing was to go around communities to talk to some community members, especially the opinion leaders about the importance of girl child education. We also did some activities around sanitation, things that could promote good health and wellbeing within the communities, especially the girl child education, because those days, girl child education was a big challenge. It still is, but comparatively about 20 years ago, I think it was much more of a challenge than now. And so my passion came from there. And so as we were going through the communities and talking about this, I just felt that, oh no, this is where my passion lies. And so I did business back at senior high school, accounting. But through these activities I noticed that no, I want to venture into development work. And so I switched from the accounting field to the development work. And so when I went to university, I read a course on community development. And so I started my journey from there. And right after completion, I had the opportunity to work with Comfort, you know.

Ariel Tozman (11:27):

Full circle.

Humu Abdul Rahaman (11:28):

Yes. I had an opportunity to work with them and I was working on the entrepreneurship project. And the focus was on women. So I would say I got my passion from Comfort and the Kama network and also growing up from the northern region, I saw so many challenges. I saw some challenges within the community where women who were not economically empowered, suffering and a whole lot, going through lots of challenges. And so, growing up to see all this, I just, I found that this is the area I want to work on. And so that is how come I am in this field.

Ariel Tozman (12:15):

Thank you so much for talking to me, Humu.

Humu Abdul Rahaman (12:18):

Thank you.

Ariel Tozman (12:19):

Thank you so much.

Outro (12:25):

In this episode, Krista Manteiga, HerStart Communications Fellow, speaks with Nidhi Gupta about her experience as a HerStart Climate Action Fellow collaborating with our partner, Norsaac in Ghana.

With a background in environmental engineering, Nidhi shares how partnering with local communities to promote sustainability and environmental awareness has shaped her perspective on global climate issues. She also discusses her experience developing climate frameworks, supporting women’s social enterprises and her advice for future HerStart Fellows.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:04):

Krista Manteiga (01:04):

Hello, my name is Krista Manteiga and I'm a Communications Fellow with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Tamale, Ghana. Today I'm speaking to Nidhi Gupta about her experience as a Climate Action Fellow in Ghana. Nidhi is an environmental engineer who joined HerStart to better understand environmental issues from a global perspective. Hello, Nidhi, thank you for joining us. So would you start by telling us about your role as a Climate Action Fellow?

Nidhi Gupta (01:31):

So, my role as a Climate Action Fellow here in Tamale, Ghana is with our partner organization called Norsaac. They have a subsidiary called NiV and within NiV I work to support the framework that they have and their policies on climate action and sustainability as well as environmental awareness. My role specifically is to work with our partner to gain environmental awareness in the organization, assess their capabilities and their awareness of environmental initiatives and support them in developing any policies and frameworks.

Krista Manteiga (02:07):

Can you please describe your surroundings for us?

Nidhi Gupta (02:09):

Yeah, so right now we are sitting in the YCI Ghana office located particularly in Tamale, around us. We're sitting in a room in the office, we have the AC blasting and I can hear the noises of the slight traffic around the area. They usually comprises of horns and different types of cars, motorcycles.

Krista Manteiga (02:28):

What is a typical day like for you?

Nidhi Gupta (02:30):

A typical day for me includes waking up a few hours before work, doing some morning yoga, having my morning tea or coffee, and then jumping in my yellow yellow with my roommates. Pretty common form of transportation here in Tamale. So we leave our house around 8:00 AM. Once I get to work, I greet my coworkers and get to my desk and start doing my tasks for the day. So it usually begins with a to-do list, looking at what we're working on this week, what our main priorities are, and then starting the tasks. And they usually comprise of a variety of things, but right now they kind of jump around from developing assessments, developing environmental awareness surveys and looking at the capabilities and what is being addressed and what the gaps are at our partner organization and then going to develop a framework and different types of policies from that. So my morning usually comprises of me working on those, and then when lunch rolls around, I usually head into the main building and chat with my coworkers and do a little bit of socializing and unwinding. And after my lunch hour is up, I can finish up any remaining tasks for the day. Once that's done, I hop back in the yellow yellow at 5:00 PM and go back to my house.

Krista Manteiga (03:42):

What motivated you to partake in the HerStart International Fellowship program?

Nidhi Gupta (03:47):

I think what motivated me most was wanting to get experience in the environmental sector globally and learn about the different environmental problems that are experienced in parts away from North America. I have a variety of work experience in North America and a little bit in Asia, but that was not necessarily environmental focus. So I think what I wanted to do with the international fellowship was to learn about what different international development issues are common in Ghana and to learn more about a cultural context and working in using a cultural context to advance my knowledge of environmental issues. And that's what motivated me.

Krista Manteiga (04:21):

Can you please describe the community you're living in and what it's like?

Nidhi Gupta (04:25):

Yeah, the community we live in right now is quite rural but very, very peaceful. It's very different than where I live in Canada and I really like that part about it. Lots of animals, goats, livestock, and lots of agriculture, which is really nice to see. We have things like roosters, you know, doing their thing at 5:00 AM waking us up. And I think it's very interesting and honestly kind of fun to have a contrast to what life is like for most people in Canada. So, yeah, it's very, very quiet, very quaint. We have very, very friendly neighbors and lots of children around to hang out with after work and go for walks. And one of my favorite things ever is just watching the sunset from where we live. I think living in a rural area, it's a great way to end your day and close off and give you kind of a break from the bustling city life that Tamale can sometimes bring.

Krista Manteiga (05:15):

What led you to become involved in climate work?

Nidhi Gupta (05:19):

I think I've always been passionate about climate work and climate action specifically throughout my whole life. I grew up outside mostly camping, being in nature a lot, and I think I've developed a quite a close connection with it. And then when I wanted to go to university when I was in high school, I thought why not do something environmentally related since I found that I have quite a bit of passion in that. So I pursued an environmental engineering degree and worked in the environmental space after I graduated for a bit. And I think what I wanted to do was focus a bit more on climate action work specifically, which is what led me to HerStart and focusing more on enhancing strategies towards mitigating climate change and working towards a global solution.

Krista Manteiga (06:01):

What specific projects or initiatives have you been involved in during your fellowship?

Nidhi Gupta (06:06):

So I've been working on a variety of different projects within our partner, NiV. The first one that comes to mind would be working on their climate framework and developing a climate strategy for the organization. Another project that I've worked on similar to that would be evaluating the environmental awareness of our partners, Norsaac and NiV to understand what environmental capabilities they currently have and what areas they can build on. Another project that I'm commonly involved in, as many people know, is HerStart. I attend some of the trainings whenever I can and I help out on giving climate guidance to the beneficiaries and participants to develop and strengthen their solutions and their business ideas.

Krista Manteiga (06:49):

What is the objective of the climate framework at NiV?

Nidhi Gupta (06:56):

The objective of the climate framework is really just to provide NiV with a solid strategy to enhance their initiatives in the climate environmental world. So giving them kind of a direct tangible document to fall back on when they're opposed with an environmental issue or problem or an enhancement they want to add to their organization. So for example, if they're assisting a social enterprise and they want to understand how they can, you know, use best practices in the environment to strengthen and make that social enterprise or strategize to make it more environmentally conscious, they can always fall back on this framework to enhance that.

Krista Manteiga (07:32):

What do you hope to achieve during the fellowship?

Nidhi Gupta (07:34):

I hope to achieve an increased understanding and awareness of climate issues and environmental issues in Ghana and West Africa. And I hope to use this knowledge to then strengthen my awareness and strengthen my ability to tackle different climate issues from a North American context or whatever other context I work in the future and to make sure the solutions I provide and work towards are inclusive.

Krista Manteiga (07:56):

What are some challenges you have faced so far and how did you overcome them?

Nidhi Gupta (07:59):

Some challenges I faced while being in Ghana have definitely been just adjusting to a new cultural context and then working in a new cultural context. I think the biggest thing is when you move to a new country, you get settled almost as fast as you can and you kind of just start working. And I think that that is something that you expect in any situation, in any scenario similar to the context that I'm in. But I think the biggest challenge was just to kind of let that happen and wait for a routine to sort of eventually develop, which it did. And I think it definitely got easier and how I overcame it was just letting things happen as they're supposed to and eventually knowing my way around different things. Another thing I really noticed was just understanding where things are in Tamale and learning how to get around and sort of do your own thing. And once that was all that came with time, just like the routine did and once that came, I was able to really adjust. It just takes time to sort of be aware of your surroundings and be open to learning and asking questions.

Krista Manteiga (08:55):

Can you tell us about a particularly impactful moment you've experienced during your fellowship?

Nidhi Gupta (09:00):

Yeah, a particularly impactful moment during my fellowship has definitely been during the trainings, seeing the women who continue to participate in the HerStart trainings and are coming with open ideas, understanding their struggles and what they've kind of gone through to get to where they are, and now what they're doing to overcome that has been really inspiring to see that resilience and that determination that I think was just really, really nice to see and really inspiring in the sense that you really can always start fresh if you're always open to learning and open to working on your skills. So I was really inspired by the HerStart participants in particular and their openness and excitement to approach every day with a new idea.

Krista Manteiga (09:41):

What has been your favourite part about the fellowship?

Nidhi Gupta (09:44):

My favourite part about the fellowship has definitely just been living in Ghana in general. I think working with the people I work with, working on the projects I worked with have been really, really exciting. And I think every day is kind of a journey from when I get in my yellow yellow to being different things in the road, how people live different animals to sort of understanding and having different hurdles at work, seeing different people's ways of living had definitely all been part of my favorite part has really just been the cultural context that I've been working in, very different from what I'm used to, and every day has been been really cool to see.

Krista Manteiga (10:15):

In your opinion, how can Canadians be better involved in climate action?

Nidhi Gupta (10:20):

Canadians can be better involved in climate action by being aware of what's needed to be done from a climate perspective and being aware of the climate issues that surround them locally and provincially and throughout the country. And what Canadians can also do is to vote in a way that reflects how they want to approach climate action and to just be aware of what's going on with their governments and look at the policies that are being developed.

Krista Manteiga (10:43):

Do you have any future aspirations, both personally and in the realm of climate action?

Nidhi Gupta (10:49):

My future aspirations are really just to advance climate solutions in any way that I can. My next step in my future will be to pursue a master's in sustainability within Canada. I think that will really help me kind of develop and shape my understanding of what those solutions could look like. And as long as I'm working towards developing a greener world and working towards climate solutions, that's what I'm really striving for.

Krista Manteiga (11:15):

To wrap things up, what advice do you have for future HerStart Fellows?

Nidhi Gupta (11:19):

The advice I have for future HerStart Fellows would definitely be to approach everything with a positive mindset. Knowing what I knew before I arrived in Ghana and knowing what I know now, being in placement country, I think that what I've learned is that the country team here is extremely accommodating, extremely helpful, and I think that there's a lot more resources at your fingertips than you realize, so as long as you keep an open and positive mind, I think you can get the support you need and adjust the way you need to is and, and have a great time.

Krista Manteiga (11:45):

Thank you Nidhi for joining us.

Nidhi Gupta (11:46):

Thank you for having me. This has been great.

Outro (11:54):

In this episode, Aisha Imana, HerStart Communications Fellow, speaks with Jessica Zapata about her experience as a HerStart Program & Partnerships Fellow collaborating with our partner, the Ministry of Information, Youth and Culture in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Jessica dives into her experience leading sessions for youth and supporting women entrepreneurs to promote their businesses, as well as learning Swahili to better communicate with her community and adopting the Zanzibarian “pole pole” mindset to be more present.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:04):

Aisha Imana (01:04):

Hello, my name is Aisha Imana and I'm a Communication Fellow with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Today I'm speaking to Jessica Zapata about her overall experience as a six-month fellow here in Tanzania. To start, do you mind introducing yourself a little bit to the listeners and could you describe your role in the program and what your day-to-day tasks involve?

Jessica Zapata (01:27):

For sure, thanks for having me, Aisha. My name is Jessica Zapata, I am a Programs & Partnerships Fellow here in Zanzibar, and I arrived in January 2023. As part of my role and my day-to-day tasks, I support the Zanzibar government's Ministry of Information, Youth and Culture. They also have their partners, which were PDS and True Vision Schools, so I was able to visit them and work alongside their teams. Some of the activities that I feel proud and grateful to have completed here in Zanzibar were assisting the youth workshops at the office and leading the leadership sessions where youth local had the opportunity to learn more about leadership, networking, advocacy, relationship building, and some skills as future professionals, which was really empowering for me as well. I also work together with women entrepreneurs and their businesses, helping them to improve their online brand and overall their communications, interviewing and promoting their story across the island through our podcast. And then also on the other side, Aisha, I am really passionate about education and empowerment. So with the support of PDS, Perspective Development Skills, I had the opportunity to visit the True Vision School and collaborated with kids to improve their education as a second language and overall wellbeing. Also, while doing that, I started designing the strategic planning for PDS, collecting our partner's information, values, goals, and everything that helped them envision their programs and goals for the future. Lastly, and just to recap my final project, showcasing the importance of women in leadership roles where I did research about Samia Suluhu and her achievements as the first female president of Tanzania and impact in gender equality. It was really rewarding researching about politics in Tanzania and overall her role opening a new chapter for the role women play in modern society as Muslim women from the island of Zanzibar.

Aisha Imana (03:30):

Wow, that all sounds so amazing. It just seems like you had a lot of experiences with different fields within the HerStart program. So now that we have an idea of your role within the program and how fascinating your day-to-day tasks are, I'm curious to know if there's any particular aspect of your role that you found most challenging or rewarding, and maybe tell us a little bit why.

Jessica Zapata (03:54):

For sure. Well, the official language in Zanzibar is Swahili. Not everyone speaks English. So at the HerStart program, we actually had the opportunity to receive Swahili classes and that was definitely helpful while starting collaborating with partners and communities. It changed the whole dynamic by knowing a little bit of Swahili. And as I said, even though the communication was challenging, it actually became an opportunity for me to learn a new language and I put it as a goal for my six-months placement that I wanted to be able to understand and speak Swahili. So by now I can say it really made a difference while communicating with people, to understand, move around, being able to shop and to do everything while living here in Zanzibar.

Aisha Imana (04:42):

Definitely, I know how hard it was for me in Swahili lessons, so that's really good to know that you found that challenging, but at the end of it, you found it also rewarding. So it's clear that this program has challenged you in various ways. So do you mind sharing what you've learned about, you know, your participation in the program? Are there any specific skills or things that you acquired and found valuable?

Jessica Zapata (05:08):

Oh, yeah, that's a really good question. I learned a lot of things, that's for sure. But one thing that I have learned the most from people that I have been working with as part of the program, to be honest, is to be present in the moment. In Zanzibar, there is a saying, and I know you know it by now, but it's "pole pole", which means "slowly, slowly". So people here use it all the time and it helps as a reminder that no matter what the important thing it is or what we have to do for now, just pole pole, just enjoy the moment, be present. And that's definitely something that I'll keep forever in my heart, the people and how the importance of just taking everything day by day.

Aisha Imana (05:52):

I definitely agree with you, pole pole. It's a really good way to, you know, slow things down and I think it's valuable to walk away from experiences like these with something to take back home with you, like you said. So I'm glad to hear that you've learned so much. With learning comes adaptability, so I'm just wondering, and I'm sure listeners would want to know as well, how has the program challenged you to step specifically outside of your comfort zone and what have you gained from that experience of doing so?

Jessica Zapata (06:22):

Lots of things. I guess that by living here in Zanzibar, one thing for sure was traveling across the island in the dala dala, which are the buses here in Zanzibar. So visiting the partners in the dala dala, that's a whole experience. If you ever come and visit, you will notice the dala dalas are normally really busy, you have to be aware where to take it, where to stop. It was a whole experience and it's something that definitely puts you out of your comfort zone. But then being here and being able to visit your partners, taking the dala dala was something that was challenging at the beginning. I would say that knowing Swahili helped after a couple of months, so it actually changed the experiences as well, but there's always new stories, new moments, new people at every ride that you take. So now I can say that I will definitely miss it and we will be missing the whole experience of taking the dala dala, but something like this, it might be just transportation, but it really makes a difference and puts you out of your comfort zone, so that's one piece. And then in the program related to the experiences that we had, it's the importance of working in a whole different place. There's different types of working, different communication styles, leadership styles, and it was great to have the opportunity to learn about that as well as a Programs & Partnerships Fellow.

Aisha Imana (07:42):

No, for sure. I think even with me too now being in Tanzania, the dala dala, I'm always anxious about it, but I feel like I'm gonna get to where you are. So I definitely understand stepping outside of our comfort zones can be very transformative, like you've mentioned different leadership styles, and I just appreciate you being so transparent and honest, and I'm so sure the listeners want to know more about your experience in Zanzibar specifically. So do you mind telling us more about how you enjoyed living here as well as what did you enjoy the most about Tanzania?

Jessica Zapata (08:15):

First and foremost, the people, that's the number one thing, but apart from all that naturally includes the people, but the lifestyle, the music, the dance, dancing around and dancing at every corner of Stone Town while you're walking, you know, Aisha, just like the importance of living a happy life no matter what. And also the food, I love local food, as you can tell.

Aisha Imana (08:40):

I love the food. What's your favorite food?

Jessica Zapata (08:42):

What do you think is my favorite food?

Aisha Imana (08:44):

Chips mayai!

Jessica Zapata (08:47):

Of course, chips mayai and chapati, my favorite ones. If you ever come, listeners, please try it out. I love it and I love local food. I'm gonna miss it so much. But yeah, Tanzania, it's that place that allows you to live a life full of experiences and joy, watching sunsets after work, going to the beach, walking across Stone Town, chatting with friends, with people that has seen you for so long now that they become friends and then you just stop and talk with everyone at every single corner. Being here, it's a gift and it's an experience that you have, you start feeling it and I can say it in a word, and I feel it's the energy overall.

Aisha Imana (09:28):

Wow, I love that. That sounds amazing and I'm so sure you're going to miss Zanzibar and all it has had to offer when you go back home. Living in a different country often brings about like these unique experiences that you've touched on, and I think that it's also interesting to consider the impact that this program has had on your future aspirations. So with that being said, in what ways has this program influenced your perspective on your future career or maybe some personal goals?

Jessica Zapata (09:56):

Well, I actually took this program as an opportunity for a career change personally. After working for almost five years in the tech industry, I wanted to have experience in the nonprofit sector and abroad, and as you mentioned in your question, it reminded me that it's what I enjoy the most and what I would like to do for the rest of my life. So I was able to continue exploring the nonprofit work with new people, programs, experiences, learning how new organizations and nonprofit organizations work and operate in Africa, that I now have in my overall professional skillset. And I'm also excited for what's coming ahead and the opportunities that I have personally with my own NGO, The Winged Foundation as well as professional and what's coming ahead.

Aisha Imana (10:41):

Wow, I love that you shared about how you've already started your own foundation and I'm sure this program is gonna influence that work. So to begin wrapping up this amazing conversation, even though I wish we could talk for hours, I thought it would be nice to throw in a fun question. So I was wondering, looking back at your experience in the program, what is one word or phrase that encapsulates it and why?

Jessica Zapata (11:08):

Usiogope.

Aisha Imana (11:10):

What does that mean?

Jessica Zapata (11:13):

Usiogope. This was one of the first words that I learned in Swahili, and it actually means don't be afraid. So people here use it as a meaning of saying that everything will always be alright, even if it doesn't look like, and usiogope represented for me, as a reminder that I was able to be resilient with the cultural shock at the beginning as well as with the overall experience of moving to Africa. And every day in this country, as you can tell by now is a new story. Not even a story, it's almost a chapter because there's always things happening. But once again, usiogope, no need to be afraid.

Aisha Imana (11:52):

Wow, that's a great word choice and I love that you have it tatted on you. That's so beautiful. I did

Jessica Zapata (11:57):

I did! I tattooed it here in Zanzibar.

Aisha Imana (11:59):

Just a piece of Tanzania to take back home and to always remember. I know it can be hard to sum up a six-month experience in one word or phrase, but I just want to say that this is sadly the episode coming to an end. But before we go, I wanted to leave all the listeners with some lasting insight and ask you what advice would you give others considering applying to a similar program or even HerStart?

Jessica Zapata (12:27):

I will say moving out of your comfort zone, this is always an opportunity to grow and explore new things. It gives you the freedom to explore more about you, what you like, how life works in another part of the world. So yeah, like the skills that you learn, the experiences that you get, the relationships that you build, the friendships that you build will stay forever in your heart. And I think that it reminds me to one of the quotes of my role model, Nelson Mandela, he once said, "There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you're capable of living." So if you are thinking of taking an opportunity like this, I will say don't settle, explore, challenge yourself because I promise you won't regret it.

Aisha Imana (13:17):

Wow, that is such a beautiful way to end this episode. Thank you so much, Jessica, for sharing your incredible journey and experiences as a fellow in Tanzania. Your insights have truly shed light on the transformative power of programs like HerStart and the meaningful impact that they can have on individuals and communities and I'm so sure this can help others and inspire others to step out of their comfort zone. So thank you so much for tuning into this episode. Stay tuned for more inspiring stories and insightful conversations.

Outro (13:54):

In this episode, Ashley Stevens, HerStart Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Fellow, speaks with Lindy Quann about her experience as a 6-month HerStart Program & Partnerships Fellow in Uganda where she collaborated with our partner, The Innovation Village (TIV).

Lindy shares her professional and personal growth while promoting digital literacy, gender equality and community development. She also offers a glimpse into her experience learning Luganda, the welcoming community she's embraced and her future plans in international development.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:04):

Ashley Stevens (01:05):

Hello, my name is Ashley. I'm the Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Fellow with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Kampala, Uganda. And today I have the pleasure of speaking with my colleague Lindy, who is our Programs & Partnerships Fellow here in Kampala. And as Lindy is nearing the end of her six-month fellowship with only a couple of weeks left, I'm excited to chat to her today about her experience as a HerStart fellow, the amazing work that she's been doing to build the HerStart ecosystem here in Uganda, some of the challenges that she's faced along the way and what life can look like outside of work for a fellow in Kampala. We hope this gives you a bit of a taste of what you can expect as a potential future HerStart Fellow. Hi Lindy, thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell me a little bit about your fellowship position with HerStart?

Lindy Quann (01:50):

Hello. I am a Program & Partnerships Fellow, and I work with both the HerStart project and our partner organization, The Innovation Village in Kampala, Uganda.

Ashley Stevens (02:02):

And can you tell me a little bit about where you're situated in Uganda and a little bit about the city that you're in?

Lindy Quann (02:07):

Yeah. Kampala is the capital of Uganda. It's been fairly easy to integrate because most people here speak English, but the national language is Luanda, or the most common language is Luganda. I've been very, very fortunate to have a really great Luanda teacher who's been able to share, you know, teach me a lot of the basics that I'm able to use to get around and feel a bit more comfortable here. But for Uganda generally, the weather's amazing. The culture is very welcoming. The people have been so welcoming and nice and I think it's a really great place to be.

Ashley Stevens (02:46):

So I think a lot of people might be thinking about applying for a fellowship or starting a fellowship. Can you tell us a little bit about why you applied to the program and a bit about your background?

Lindy Quann (02:57):

Sure. So my background is actually in science. I studied biopharmaceutical science and genomics in university, and I'm also a certified English teacher with teaching English as a foreign language. But I have past experience in international development. I worked in India with an NGO as a project manager on a healthcare project and I absolutely loved this role. I loved that I was able to work with the community and, you know, build their capacity to create the impact that they wanted to see. And I wanted to do more of this kind of work. So I was very fortunate during the COVID pandemic to have a very stable job where I worked remotely, but I knew that I wanted to go abroad again, and I wanted to do meaningful, impactful work. So I was able to extensively research the HerStart program and Youth Challenge International before I applied, and I really appreciated that they focused on employing local staff. So I knew that everybody I'd be working with and learning from would know the cultural context very, very well. And I appreciated that they had a focus on skills development and training, because I think that that is one of the most important things in a person, you know, being able to better themselves and their community. I'm very passionate about education and thought that this fellowship would be a really great fit.

Ashley Stevens (04:23):

Yeah, I think that's a really interesting example of you being able to apply a study or a past experience that might not necessarily be completely related, but still drawing on those skills that you do have in the position. So if you could choose something that inspired you to start a fellowship or something that's important to you, what would that be?

Lindy Quann (04:46):

As I mentioned, I'm very passionate about education, so I love that in this program we really promote and support learning and not only learning for betterment of self, but we, you know, have a very strong focus on community development and all of the businesses started are social enterprises that positively impact their communities, the communities of the participants in some way.

Ashley Stevens (05:10):

So you've been here for almost six months, so you've done quite a bit in your time. Can you tell us a bit about a day in the life as a HerStart Program & Partnerships Fellow.

Lindy Quann (05:20):

A day in the life can be quite busy, but I love it. It's very engaging. Usually I'll come in in the morning to the office. So the HerStart office is in the main building of The Innovation village, the main office space. So I'm able to be in one spot and work with both teams very closely. So I'll usually come in, plan my day, I find myself in numerous meetings. And in between that, I work a lot in partnership mapping and outreach and program support. So I do this both with the HerStart program and The Innovation Village.

Ashley Stevens (05:57):

And I think that's important to note that not every day looks the same here and throughout the day you won't be working alone. You'll get to collaborate a lot with other fellows, with the local staff, with staff members of the partners. So it's a really great opportunity to just expand your horizons in your job. And so you've done, again, quite a bit in your time here, but if you had to choose one of your biggest successes or something that you're most proud about, what would that be?

Lindy Quann (06:28):

I would love to be able to choose two. I think the work I do with The Innovation Village and the work I do with HerStart can vary quite a bit. So for my work with the partner organization, my proudest accomplishment so far has been my work with the agrisolar workshop and baseline study. This project was actually supported by the HerStart program and YCI through the Partner Innovation Fund. And we were able to engage people from across Uganda who all had different touchpoints and interests in the agriculture industry and bring them together to discuss how we can better implement solar technologies into agriculture, which is the biggest industry in Uganda. So we had a strong focus on climate action for this, and it was interesting to hear a lot of different perspectives. I was able to engage a lot of different development organizations to come in and kind of have a different perspective as well, so that was really interesting. As far as the HerStart project, one of my proudest accomplishments and something that I'm really excited about is that I was able to increase capacity and digital literacy training. So I was working collaboratively with my teammates to expand the scope of the training that we already have in place. So we already offer a two-day training where the participants in our program are able to come in and learn how to, you know, use different technological devices and incorporate it into their business plan so that they can, you know, better compete in the digital market. But we found that this was just not quite enough time, so we were able to create a coaching and kind of broader training plan to help support these women further.

Ashley Stevens (08:20):

That sounds really cool and I think those are all things you should be really proud about doing. And so like any job, there's also challenges and HerStart is no exception to this, so if you could choose one of your biggest challenges or obstacles that you've overcome in your time, what would that be?

Lindy Quann (08:38):

Yeah, there's always challenges that come with any job, I agree. I think here in this role, I think it's always difficult to figure out your place in an organization when you're coming in, especially when that's in a different cultural context. So I think although the staff here in both the HerStart office and the partner organization have been very welcoming, very supportive, sometimes it can be difficult to communicate with that cultural barrier. So I think I've been able, you know, myself and the other fellows and the staff have been able to work together to really overcome that cross-cultural communication barrier. And I think we've all been able to use it as a really great learning opportunity.

Ashley Stevens (09:26):

I think that's a really positive way to look at it, to see it as a learning opportunity and room for yourself to grow. So if you had to choose something that you've learned, one of your biggest takeaways, whether that's personally or professionally in this experience, what would that be?

Lindy Quann (09:43):

I think one of my biggest takeaways both personally and professionally is that people's motivations and reasons for caring about social issues can be very different and their approach can be very different to achieve the same outcome or, you know, aim for the same impact. I think a really great example of this, one event that I'll always remember is the community engagement session that we ran. These sessions are run to engage the males in the support system of the participants in our program once they start to move further in the training where they require more time and effort and commitment. And I think it's always great to have, you know, a really strong support system no matter where in the world you are. So at this particular session, we had a gender equality expert speaking to these participants and, you know, their partners and brothers and any people in their support system. And he was able to relate the HerStart mission and the concept of gender equality in very culturally relevant terms. So he was able to draw on examples from, you know, the way that families traditionally and typically operate here in Uganda and, you know, draw on religion and cultural context to really promote gender equality and make it seem like a really relevant topic, which I fully agree that it is. And I think this session was not only engaging for the participants and their support systems, but also for the fellows and staff. And I really, I learned a lot from that presentation.

Ashley Stevens (11:20):

Yeah, and I was also present there too, and I can speak to how it gave me an opportunity to see the HerStart programming in practice and on the ground, but also gave me a really good insight into the Ugandan culture and the life outside of the program that the women experience. So there is a life outside of work with HerStart, can you tell me a bit about what life is like in Kampala or in Uganda in general?

Lindy Quann (11:49):

Life in Kampala is very exciting. There is so much to do here outside of work. I've been very fortunate to be able to take a lot of weekend trips and see a lot of the country, but also staying in Kampala, there's so much to do. I often go to trivia nights and karaoke and craft markets and different kind of fairs. And I've been able to meet a lot of amazing people. I have a lot of local friends here that are very open to including me in, you know, different cultural events and also just regular, you know, activities that they're doing. And I've been able to meet a lot of people who are also, you know, from abroad. And so the community's been really welcoming and very warm. So it's a really great place to be.

Ashley Stevens (12:42):

I would agree. I've also found that it's really neat to be able to network outside of the office in more social settings and also just do things that I also do at home. So there's yoga, there's swimming, there's gyms, there's almost too much to do that you can't decide what you want to do on the weekends. And that's not even mentioning all of the trips that you can do and the safaris. So your fellowship is coming to an end in a couple of weeks. What does the next step look like for you after the HerStart Fellowship?

Lindy Quann (13:10):

I definitely want to stay in the space of community development. For now, I think my interests remain in international development, so I do have plans to stay in East Africa. I really enjoy the culture here, and I think I have a lot more to learn. And I will be, you know, looking for roles where I can use all the skills I've learned and everything that I've built here in HerStart to, you know, continue to do work that is meaningful and impactful, and helps, you know, support communities.

Ashley Stevens (13:44):

And I'm sure you have a lot of advice that you would like to give to incoming fellows, but if you had to choose one piece of advice that you would want them to keep in mind, what would that be?

Lindy Quann (13:53):

My best piece of advice would be to come in with an open mind, to be open to exploring and just experiencing whatever may come your way. I think what's really helped me integrate and have a good experience is meeting a lot of local friends, going out and seeing all the things there is to do.

Ashley Stevens (14:15):

I would agree with all of that. And I'd also add too, just taking initiative and exploring what you want to explore, whether that's inside the program or outside, and really just taking advantage of the opportunities that you face when you're here. Well, thank you so much, Lindy, that's all the time that we have today. Thank you for all of your advice and your inputs. I think it will be really helpful for all incoming fellows.

Lindy Quann (14:38):

Thank you, Ashley, for having me.

Outro (14:47):

In this episode, Aida Embaye, HerStart Social Entrepreneurship Fellow in Mpigi, Uganda, speaks with Florence Nakamya, founder of the Transformers Academy – a social business that aims to motivate, counsel and guide young girls and women in her community for success. Florence talks about her experience seeing girls being misled at a young age and her hopes to see young women thrive in her community.

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Intro (00:04):

Aida Embaye (01:02):

Hello everyone, my name is Aida Embaye, and I'm a Social Entrepreneurship Fellow with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Uganda. Today I'm speaking to Florence Nakamya about her business, Transformers Academy. Florence is a participant in the HerStart Grow Your Social Venture program and a recipient of the HerStart Catalyst Fund. We are speaking today at the Social Innovation Academy, one of HerStart's partners in Mpigi, Uganda. Florence, thank you for joining me today.

Florence Nakamya (01:32):

You're welcome, Aida.

Aida Embaye (01:33):

Tell me about yourself.

Florence Nakamya (01:35):

Right. My name Nakamya Florence, thirty-three year old female Ugandan who hold diploma in secondary education with biology and sports science. As my teaching subjects, I also found the Transformers Academy, so I'm the founder and the chief administrative officer of that academy.

Aida Embaye (02:02):

Your business is called Transformers Academy. Why that name?

Florence Nakamya (02:07):

Right. The business's name is Transformers Academy simply because I got the name from the word transform and I wanted to change the lives of young girls. The Transformers Academy deals with counseling and guidance, with girls between 12 to 25 years of age and actually offer appropriate age-best counseling and guidance services.

Aida Embaye (02:35):

What does a typical session look like? What do you guys talk about? What is the counseling about?

Florence Nakamya (02:41):

Our counseling sessions are actually age based whereby we group up these girls according to their, to actually what they need to hear about as far as their age is concerned, and this drives them to the next sessions as they grow up. So we counsel them basically on lifestyles, how they can maneuver through the temptations of the the youthful challenges, and so on. That is how a typical session looks like. We counsel them based on their age limits. Yeah, so we group them 12 to 16, then 17 to 19 schooling, then 20 to 25, both schooling and then schooling. Yeah.

Aida Embaye (03:27):

Were you always passionate around this? I know you were a teacher, but how did this business, how did it come about?

Florence Nakamya (03:34):

I started teaching from my vocation of senior six and I began teaching these young children in the nursery sections and then the primary sections till when I got someone to sponsor me out to attain that diploma in secondary education. Then I began teaching the secondary levels and then it so happened that I met girls and children that I had taught from the lower academic levels and I had planned to teach them in the secondary levels, but then to my dismay, I met, I found that some of these girls were dropping out of schools due to early unwanted pregnancies and on interviewing them, they were like, "It wasn't our will. We didn't wish this to happen. But then we were misled by some people who could actually, they thought they were guiding us, but again, they, we found out that the counseling they were giving us was inappropriate to our age and it drop us out". So that's why I decided to come up with this idea of counseling girls. But then in the beginning it was just an idea because I couldn't start it up as a business. I didn't know anything about it being a business, but I had the feeling for counseling and guiding these girls.

Aida Embaye (04:58):

Why is it important to you to work with young girls specifically around preventing early pregnancy and school dropout? What is the personal connection to you?

Florence Nakamya (05:08):

As we say, I happened to leave school because my dad had died and so my mom did not have the capability to make me go through the other academic levels. So that made me to think that girls and ladies play a big role towards the well-being of their children and when girls are not well off and when girls are not prepared for that future life of supporting themselves and their offsprings, maybe it can be difficult for their children to maneuver through this world without the fathers. Therefore, that's why I came up with dealing with the girls specifically to see that their lives in the future are a bit changing.

Aida Embaye (05:55):

So it turned from an an idea and now it's a business. In terms of HerStart, how did you end up joining the program?

Florence Nakamya (06:04):

In 2019, it so happened that we had that lockdown of the COVID issues and we happened to get the people from the Social Innovation Academy who came to our village that is Boza, and they started engaging us into those trainings in the HerStart program. And then that is when we got to know about, I got to know about the HerStart, and then after having started in the HerStart programs, I saw that my idea that I had before for counseling and guiding girls could actually be turned into a business idea. That is when I began up the academy and the business idea. Yeah.

Aida Embaye (06:51):

What kind of impacts have you been seeing with the women you've been working with?

Florence Nakamya (06:56):

Since I'm working with both the schooling and the non-schooling, the impact, first of all, I'm seeing many girls who are schooling insisting and they're saying, "Come what may, we have to continue with our academics." And more so, as far as the new in the secondary education is concerned, these girls are engaged in the skilling issues. So they find out that when they join our counseling sessions, they are actually being counseled and at the same time being helped to begin up their different projects in their schools where they study from, and therefore the impact is that many girls are insisting onto their academics. And then the non-schooling ones are being helped to begin up or to be skilled in different skills like hairdressing, like tailoring, and actually we give them opportunities to give out their ideas, what would they want to engage in, and then that is the area we deal with them, and if we don't have any technical personnel in that idea, then we help them develop their own ideas to make sure that they can begin with it. Yeah.

Aida Embaye (08:18):

You mentioned schools. I'm curious to know in terms of response, how have schools and parents been responding to your business idea?

Florence Nakamya (08:28):

My target customers in the business were the parents with girl children and also the schools because in different schools we have girls there. So as far as the business is, both schools and parents are interested in the business and in the services. But then the only limitation that I'm having is that some schools have a fees schedule, which cannot favor them to petition some money for the counseling and guidance sessions. And then you find that some of these parents that I'm dealing with, these village parents, who are also struggling to see that their children are well off, they are loving, they want their services, but they are not financially fine or well off. Therefore, finance from the parents is a big challenge with our business, but hopefully since they have the will we know they are going to support us and they're actually engaging themselves within the business. Yeah.

Aida Embaye (09:37):

So the response seems like it's positive and people want this service, but the financial issue is a challenge.

Florence Nakamya (09:45):

Yes.

Aida Embaye (09:45):

In terms of other challenges, personal or business-wise, like what are some of the challenges you've faced?

Florence Nakamya (09:52):

The other challenge I have is with the, as in personal challenges that I feel at times, to timetable well, for when to be at school and when to be for the counseling sessions. I find at times there is a collision in there. That is why I'm looking forward to see that I employ or engage more counselors specifically for counseling services with my clients. Yeah.

Aida Embaye (10:20):

So that's how you plan to grow your business. So from the beginning, I imagine you've seen your business evolve and it's changing. So from where you are now from where you were, what is your hope for the future? Where do you see your business going?

Florence Nakamya (10:35):

In the next five years? In the five years to come, I want to see that we've equipped this counseling group with the skilling materials so that the girls we counsel and the ladies we engage are skilled enough to sustain their lives, even if academically they have not succeeded, but they can still use the skills they obtained from our Transformers Academy to maneuver through their lives and they can support their lives plus the lives of their offsprings.

Aida Embaye (11:08):

So it started off with preventing pregnancy, preventing dropouts. And now you asked what next, and you've gone to like a business incubation hub where they come up with their own businesses. So how do you think your business is connected to gender equality?

Florence Nakamya (11:27):

Once ladies are having some money and can support the lives of the people they're living with, at least there is a way these men are going to be having a changed mindset towards the female gender. Therefore, because they're seeing that impact onto the development part of the family or of the whole family with the help of the ladies having got their own income, then gender equality can be realized in there, that we are both supporting ourselves for the wellbeing of the family members.

Aida Embaye (12:06):

You're so passionate and it's important to share your message and you do this through your counseling with your woman, but for a more wider audience, what would you like to share? Maybe to inspire?

Florence Nakamya (12:17):

With ladies, please. I just urge you whenever you get an opportunity to learn more, even if you are not an academic graduate, even if you did not attain any higher academic levels. But whenever you get an opportunity to engage into different studies, like for these of the HerStart programs, the social innovation programs and others which are coming up to help us maneuver through, please, I urge you ladies to attend to those studies since it is, it all begins with us, the ladies, we are the ones who know better our children, who can support them better. Actually, we are all what our children need. So please, ladies, I urge you to always attend to different sessions of any kind of teaching such that we can help our children.

Aida Embaye (13:21):

Thank you very much, Florence.

Florence Nakamya (13:24):

Welcome, Aida.

Outro (13:29):

In this episode, Tierney Paige Russell, HerStart Communications Fellow in Ghana, speaks with Latifa Ayinbota Atule, founder of Latty-H Soaps – a social enterprise that creates skin products using organic ingredients. Latifa discusses her goal of improving skin health and employing women in her community and how YCI's HerStart program supported her entrepreneurship journey.

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Intro (00:04):

Welcome to Youth Challenge International's HerStart HerStory Podcast Series. Youth Challenge International, or YCI, launched the HerStart Innovate the Future program in 2020 as part of our initiative to advance women's equality globally. Our goal is to provide 10,000 women in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda with the resources and support they need to successfully launch and grow their social businesses. We are sharing real stories of young women who are leading change in their communities. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future program is funded in part by the Government of Canada to progress Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org. Today's podcast is hosted by Tierney, a Communications Fellow with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Bolgatanga, Ghana. She'll be speaking with Latifa Ayintoba of Latty-H Soaps, an organic cosmetics company. Latifa is a participant in the HerStart Grow Your Social Venture program. This program helps young women entrepreneurs grow their social and environmental impact through business skills, coaching, mentorship and training. Latifa is also a recipient of HerStart's Catalyst Fund. The funding provides women-led ventures with critical seed funding that can help them thrive. Latifa and Tierney's conversation today is taking place at the Bolgatanga Technical University where Latifa took part in the HerStart training program. Latifa starts off by sharing what inspired her to start a business in organic cosmetics.

Latifa Ayinbota Atule (02:08):

I started this business because I was raised by a single mother, and so we needed to survive on something since she was a trader too, so I had to also find ways to help her take care of my younger ones so I can do my own production and then use it as a source of livelihood. That is what got me inspired.

Tierney Paige Russell (02:33):

Did anyone help you start your business?

New Speaker (02:36):

I helped my mom sell at the market and then the small money she gives me as my feeding money, I saved it and then got some small amount, went to the market, bought some ingredients, and started the business. So it is from my own small, small savings I used to start up the business.

Tierney Paige Russell (02:59):

What is the innovative aspect of your business?

New Speaker (03:04):

The innovative aspect of my business is that I produce organic cosmetics, organic products. I use shea butter. I use healthy ingredients that are good for the skin, that are healthy for the skin, not like the inorganic products in the market. So that makes my business an innovative one because I produce quality and healthy products.

Tierney Paige Russell (03:35):

How did you come up with the idea for your business?

New Speaker (03:40):

Once I started the business in my community, people started patronizing and giving out good resource about it. So I continued till now.

Tierney Paige Russell (03:54):

What motivated you to come into the business? Did you find a gap in the field of business or a need in the community?

New Speaker (04:01):

The thing that motivated me in this business was most of the cosmetics were not organic in my community, and so people in the community have a problem of some skin diseases or bleaching skin. So I decided to go into the production of organic cosmetics to solve that problem. Yeah, so that is what motivated me because inorganic, highly purchase of inorganic cosmetics in the community made me to think of using what we have, which is the organic essential oils to produce good cosmetics to solve that problem.

Tierney Paige Russell (05:02):

What is your plan for your business now?

New Speaker (05:06):

The plan I have for my business is to expand the business to make it grow into a bigger company, cosmetic company in the future.

Tierney Paige Russell (05:24):

Who do you want your business to benefit?

Latifa Ayinbota Atule (05:27):

I want my business to benefit people who are struggling with skin issues so that they'll be able to test good organic cosmetics. As well as in expanding my business, I'll be able to employ more widows that will help reduce rural-urban migration.

Tierney Paige Russell (05:53):

How has HerStart helped your journey?

Latifa Ayinbota Atule (05:57):

HerStart has been helpful throughout my business journey because I only knew how to produce, but through HerStart, I was able to get the training on how to make my business an innovative one. I learned on how to do more research to make my business grow. In fact, the knowledge HerStart gave me from how I started, there's a huge difference because now I'm into the market and I know how to manage my finances, know how to deal with my customers. So in fact, HerStart has really helped me in this journey, yes.

Tierney Paige Russell (06:51):

What aspect of your business has come easily to you?

Latifa Ayinbota Atule (06:58):

In the production, it was easy because I was working with somebody who already knew the skill, so I was helping her. So for the skill, I was perfect with the skill, but selling my products to the market wasn't easy. So I had to learn on how to sell my products.

Tierney Paige Russell (07:20):

Have you found any outside factors to be particularly difficult with starting your business? Any challenges or difficulties?

Latifa Ayinbota Atule (07:29):

Yes, the challenge I have is the inflation because most of the organic products I use in my production, their prices have been increased. So I think the inflation has a bigger effect on my business and my production, yes.

Tierney Paige Russell (07:52):

What are the long term goals for your business?

Latifa Ayinbota Atule (07:58):

What I hope to achieve in this, my business, is to become a big businesswoman. I want to be the CEO of an organic cosmetic company in Bolgatanga, the Upper East region, the biggest organic cosmetic company. That is my dream for my business. And so as my business grow, I'll be able to employ more and more women, and I'll help reduce the unemployment rate of widows or women in my community or in the region.

Tierney Paige Russell (08:44):

What has stood out to you the most with the HerStart program and what might you say to people who are interested in getting involved?

Latifa Ayinbota Atule (08:54):

What I would say is that the training HerStart program has given to me, it has brought my business to another level. More research being done, more innovative research. In fact, I would tell my colleagues to also try and take part to be able to do a business not only to gain profit, but to solve a community problem.

Outro (09:32):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart Innovate the Future podcast episode, please subscribe and share our episodes on social media. A special thanks to the fellows that volunteered their time in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda who help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and Fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Cooperation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Jessica Zapata, HerStart Program & Partnerships Fellow in Tanzania, speaks with ZamZam Khamis Juma, founder of Zajkha Organic Beauty – a business that creates products like soap and face scrub using natural materials. ZamZam discusses her goal of reducing harmful chemical use and women's unemployment in her community and how YCI's HerStart program supported her entrepreneurship journey.

This episode was conducted in Swahili and the English voiceover is provided by Ilham Haji.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:04):

Jessica Zapata (01:02):

Hello, my name is Jessica and I'm a Programs and Partnerships Fellow with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Zanzibar. Today I'm speaking to Zamzam Juma Khamis about Zajhka Organic Beauty and her line of beauty cosmetic skincare and hair care products. Zamzam is 24 years old and a participant in the HerStart Grow Your Social Venture program. This program helps young women entrepreneurs grow their social and environmental impact through their business skills, coaching, mentorship and training. Zamzam is also a recipient of HerStart Catalyst Fund. The funding provides women-led ventures with critical seed funding that can help them thrive. Zamzam and I are speaking today in her business and she speaks Swahili. Her answers were translated into English and read by Ilham Haji. Tell us more about your business idea.

Zamzam Juma Khamis (02:05):

I'm processing the natural cosmetics that are made from plants and natural oil. Those products are soaps, scrubs, face oil, hair oil, body oil, lip balm and lip scrub.

Jessica Zapata (02:20):

Now we want to know where this idea came from and why did you start your business?

Zamzam Juma Khamis (02:27):

I started this business after completing my diploma. I wasn't able to continue with my degree studies due to health problems, which was skin problems. Therefore, I personally sacrificed myself to use household products like lemon, turmeric, but I searched it on the internet. Using those household items is bad, therefore there is another way of using natural cosmetics that can help you rather than using the chemical ones. I followed those people who knew how to teach me on making natural cosmetics where I learned. After finishing that, I made the natural cosmetics and used them and I also gave them to my close people. We used those natural products and they helped us. This is where I became motivated to make natural products because I've seen a lot of people suffer from skin problems like acne, pimples and also if they use the chemical cosmetics that affect them to have skin bumps, eczema, which is an inflammation of the skin, and others.

Jessica Zapata (03:37):

Can you share with us how your business operates day to day?

Zamzam Juma Khamis (03:42):

I open my shop and other people come to buy my products from my shop. Others make an order because I used to post my product through social media and I make a delivery for them and they pay after delivery.

Jessica Zapata (03:58):

How do you create your product?

Zamzam Juma Khamis (04:02):

I create different products. In the case of coffee scrub, I use coffee, honey, sugar together with foaming butter that make bubbles to the products. I also put in a preservation that helps the product to stay longer and not to be damaged. In the case of hair oil, I dry the powdered flowers like fenugreek flower, neem tree, cloves and rosemary for about two weeks and finally pack on the bottles.

Jessica Zapata (04:36):

What are some challenges that you're facing?

Zamzam Juma Khamis (04:41):

My side, the challenge that I face is lack of marketing and unavailability of resources like foaming butter, which is not found in Zanzibar, which needs me to buy in other areas. Also packaging, you can buy a package but on other days you can get the new ones, which is sometimes a challenge to the customer due to different packages. In the case of society, Tanzanians don't believe in the use of natural cosmetics, which needs much time to make them understand and buy the products.

Jessica Zapata (05:21):

How has HerStart helped you in your personal and professional goals?

Zamzam Juma Khamis (05:28):

HerStart helped me during the training, they gave me good training because for the first time I didn't know what my business is among the social entrepreneurship, but when I went there I knew about the social entrepreneurship since it helps people in my community. Also, it helped me to know everything should be kept in measurement. Like when I use water to create my product should be in measurement. Or I have to pay for myself. But I did not know before, however, it helped me to get the grants to operate my business. I really thank.

Jessica Zapata (06:11):

What accomplishments are you most proud of? Personally, professionally and educationally?

Zamzam Juma Khamis (06:17):

The accomplishment that I am proud of is I got the training and I'm working for it. In the case of business accomplishment, it is for the things that I create to help people and are beneficial. So this gives me ability to continue more with my business.

Jessica Zapata (06:36):

Which individuals played a role in your personal growth and how did they help you?

Zamzam Juma Khamis (06:43):

The people that helped me to establish the business until here are my parents. They are the ones who gave me capital and gave me permission to go to training and they also helped me to make a follow up. My mother is the one who advised me whenever I ask, and my young sisters.

Jessica Zapata (07:05):

How do you wish to expand or grow your business?

Zamzam Juma Khamis (07:11):

I expect to expand my business by making the sales within Tanzania and out of Tanzania. Also, I want to know more about cosmetics and other products. However, I want to establish a spa that will use natural cosmetics during the provision of products like facials, massage and others.

Jessica Zapata (07:35):

What do you envision for the future of your business?

Zamzam Juma Khamis (07:39):

My envision is to strengthen the skin health by being creative and making the quality natural products by using plants.

Jessica Zapata (07:49):

Do you have anything else to add?

Zamzam Juma Khamis (07:53):

I thank HerStart for giving me training and grants for continuing with my business. They are doing great and they should keep on doing great. I advise other people not to give up because commencing a business is not the fastest way to grow. They have to sacrifice and they have to know that there is loss and profit. They have to do it with all passions.

Jessica Zapata (08:22):

Asante Zamzam. We are very proud and happy to have you here in Youth Challenge International and be one of the recipients of the Catalyst Fund. Thank you for your time and for having this knowledge and experience with us.

Zamzam Juma Khamis (08:33):

Thank you.

Outro (08:40):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart Innovate the Future podcast episode, please subscribe and share our episodes on social media. A special thanks to the fellows that volunteered their time in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda who help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and Fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Cooperation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Shelly Steffler, HerStart Communications Fellow in Ghana, speaks with Musah Mariama Wunnan, founder of Mari NutriWorld – a social enterprise that produces pumpkin seeds, peanuts and peanut butter to reduce child malnutrition in northern Ghana. Mariama discusses her goal of improving children's health and unemployment in her community and how YCI's HerStart program helped her build her business.

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Intro (00:04):

Shelly Steffler (01:03):

Hello everyone, my name is Shelly Steffler and I'm a Communications Fellow with Youth Challenge International's, HerStart program in Ghana. Today I'm speaking with Musa Mariama about her business, NutriWorld. Mariama is a participant in HerStart's Grow Your Social Venture program. The program helps young women entrepreneurs to grow their social and environmental impact through business skills, coaching, mentorship and training. Mariama is also a recipient of HerStart's Catalyst Fund. This funding provides women-led ventures with critical funding that can help them thrive. Mariama produces and sells peanuts, groundnut paste, oil and nut powder. She sources the peanuts from her parents' farm. She starts by sorting and drying the peanuts. Then she roasts them, peels the nuts, re-sorts them and adds more salt. The process takes her 48 hours. She's hired a single mother, a saleswoman, and a driver to help her. Mariama and I are speaking today at the HerStart office in Tamale, Ghana.

Shelly Steffler (02:03):

What motivated you to start the business?

Musah Mariama (02:05):

Yes, actually, I initially I used to work under somebody, but I got to realize that the society or my community really needs a lot. That's malnutrition and malnutrition is something that I really face in my community. I used to teach young children and then comparing the young children to other people or other children in the southern part of the country, you realize that the northern region is the region that is having the highest rate of malnutrition, more nutritional challenges. So what motivated me to get into this is that, Mariama, why don't you start something that is going to also help with the malnutrition, even if it's not going to solve it or if it's not going to erase it completely, but it's going to reduce the rate at which it's growing. So therefore I thought of using peanuts, pumpkin seeds, and then the fruits that is mostly found here to come up with a product that is very nutritious and then that can easily boost up the growth in children and then even the grownups. Yes, it's very good for everybody.

Shelly Steffler (03:23):

How has HerStart helped you with your business?

Musah Mariama (03:26):

Yes. As they say, the journey of a thousand miles starts with a step. Yes, I think YCI has been my first step and then YCI has really done a very great impact with regards to my business. If I should say, initially I have the idea, but then how to bring it into reality, YCI has been able to make sure that my idea is put into reality. And then currently I'm so happy about what YCI has done for me.

Shelly Steffler (03:59):

What has the Catalyst Fund allowed you to do?

Musah Mariama (04:03):

Yeah, the Catalyst Fund has really helped me to do a lot because I would say my raw materials, my equipment that is my roasting machine, my grinding machine, my raw materials, my packaging and everything that has to do with my business. The Catalyst Fund really helped me to start up with this.

Shelly Steffler (04:26):

What impact does your business have now?

Musah Mariama (04:29):

Actually, my business is really doing more good than harm, if I should say. My business is really helping with the malnutritional issue I'm talking of. As we all know these raw materials I just mentioned, the peanuts, the pumpkin seeds, these are loaded with nutrients and then it is very good for kids and everybody. So I think my products is really helping children and everybody in my community with malnutritional challenges. And then I think my business idea is also helping with unemployment issues because I've been able to have two ladies, one who is a single mother with four kids and then a guy who is helping with delivery. So I think the impact my business is doing is helping young children with malnutritional challenges and also trying to help with unemployment issue in my community.

Shelly Steffler (05:34):

How did you feel when you started your business?

Musah Mariama (05:37):

Oh, actually it wasn't easy. It wasn't easy. When I started my business a lot of issues came in. People were like Mariama, you are a girl, most of the time ladies are not able to go through with regards to the beliefs we have. When I started my business, actually it wasn't all that easy, but I feel I really have something I want to achieve and then I should keep the ball rolling.

Shelly Steffler (06:06):

How did you feel when you sold your first product?

Musah Mariama (06:10):

I was very happy actually. Yes, I was very happy. I was like, yes, my business idea is really coming to be in reality. And then yes, the person who tasted my product initially was like, hey Mariama, your product is very nice. And I was so happy. I was so happy. Yes.

Shelly Steffler (06:28):

Who has supported you in your business?

Musah Mariama (06:30):

Oh, I will say my partner did his best, but I would applaud all the applause to my YCI facilitators. They really helped me with regards to my business idea. They really supported.

Shelly Steffler (06:43):

How did your family and friends react when you told them you wanted to be a social entrepreneur?

Musah Mariama (06:48):

Yeah, like I stated that it wasn't easy. Family members were like, hey Mariama, this thing you are doing is going to bring you harm. People will start to hate you. People would have lot of, but yes, I told myself that I can do it. It's not something that I can't, if men are able to do it in the community, I believe as a lady I can also do it. So yes, a whole lot of, I'll say about 60-70% were just discouragements. But yes, with the few people around who were like, Mari, you can do it. My facilitators will say, you can do it. Yes, I believe it was really a very good time.

Shelly Steffler (07:37):

And how do your family and friends feel now about your business?

Musah Mariama (07:40):

Yeah, they're like, Mari, hey, you're really making it. You're really making it. We never thought you can do it. Keep it up, keep it. I think people are now even encouraging me, those who were like, Mari, you can't do it, they're now like, wow, we really didn't believe you can do it, but now we can see that you are really good and then you can go with it.

Shelly Steffler (08:04):

What would you say to other young women who wanted to be social entrepreneurs in Ghana?

Musah Mariama (08:08):

I would like to tell them that it's really good. And then the society of Ghana really owes us a lot. And then every young girl growing up in Ghana, she'll try to make a change in her community where she lives, and then try to make a change.

Shelly Steffler (08:29):

What does it mean to you to be a social entrepreneur in Ghana?

Musah Mariama (08:34):

Oh, I would say it really means a lot to me. I would say as a young girl growing up, it's not that easy, but it really means a lot growing up in Ghana and then starting up a business to also help your nation. Yes, I would say it really means a lot to me. It really means a very a lot to me.

Shelly Steffler (09:00):

What are your future goals for your business?

Musah Mariama (09:03):

Ooh, I really have goals that I think is attainable and achievable. I think within two to three years to come, I have to be able to employ if not more than hundred, but about 50% of young girls in my community who are school dropouts. Or maybe who dropped out of school because of teenage pregnancies and other financial challenges. Not only girls, but yes, I think I have to be able to employ people to work under me. And then also to not only work, but also learning about the health benefits of the foods around us, the importance of solving community challenges. I think I have to be able to do that. And I think currently I'm working on giving out my products to children, hospitals, to give out to children who are malnourished, to be able to see the outcome of my products.

Shelly Steffler (10:14):

Thank you so much for your time.

Musah Mariama (10:16):

I'm really grateful.

Outro (10:23):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart Innovate the Future podcast episode, please subscribe and share our episodes on social media. A special thanks to the fellows that volunteered their time in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda who help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and Fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Cooperation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Rajeshwari Sriram, HerStart Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Fellow in Kampala, Uganda, speaks with Sabano Scovia, founder of Gracious Chalk – a social enterprise that aims to provide underprivileged rural and urban schools with learning materials. Sabano discusses her passion for quality education, her chalk-making process and how YCI's HerStart program and Catalyst Fund helped her build her business.

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Intro (00:04):

Rajeshwari Sriram (01:03):

Hello, my name is Rajeshwari and I am the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Fellow with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Kampala, Uganda. Today I am speaking to Sabano Scovia about her chalk making business called Gracious Chalk. Sabano is a participant in the HerStart Grow Your Social Venture program. This program helps young women entrepreneurs grow their social and environmental impact through business skills, coaching, mentorship and training. Sabano is also a recipient of HerStart's Catalyst fund. The funding provides women-led ventures with critical seed funding that can help them thrive. Sabano and I are speaking today at The Innovation Village, one of Youth Challenge International's partner organizations in Uganda. The first question I asked Sabano is about how she makes her chalk.

Sabano Scovia (01:52):

First of all, there is two types of chalk. There is white chalk and coloured chalk. White chalk, it has its powder called POP. You use water, paraffin and the machine. And even calcium. When you get that powder together with calcium you mix with water, you pour in the machine. After pouring in the machine, you have to wait for 20-15 minutes. The chalk would have dried, then you remove. So currently the machine I'm using, it is producing 400 pieces. For coloured chalk, of course you have to put colours, we have green, pink, yellow, red, all colours. The colours you can afford at the moment.

Rajeshwari Sriram (03:00):

Where do you get the materials to make the chalk?

Sabano Scovia (03:04):

I buy materials from town, from capital city Kampala. Then materials like colour, powder, for them I have to get them from town. But paraffin, cooking oil, I can get them around my place because they're everywhere.

Rajeshwari Sriram (03:24):

Who do you sell the chalk to?

Speaker 3 (03:26):

I sell the chalk to schools in urban areas and rural areas. Mostly my target is rural areas, but even my neighbours, I can supply to them because some of them have liked my product.

Rajeshwari Sriram (03:42):

What motivated you to start your social enterprise?

Sabano Scovia (03:47):

What motivated me was the state of education in the village. They lack learning materials and some of them is chalk, which is the primary learning materials. That's why I decided so that at least the education system so that these learners in rural areas could be able to compete with these ones in urban areas. You know, rural areas they far from town and it costs. So I decided at least I could extend those services near them. I could at least they could be able to access chalk without walking long distances. When I did my research, I was told even the chalk they're using has dust, and this dust makes them fall sick. So I decided to make them the one which has no dust, like this one. So I wanted to ease the accessibility, to improve on the education system, affordable. And this box is affordable, the way I'm selling it compared to the way they've been sold. So that's why I decided at least to make chalk.

Rajeshwari Sriram (05:04):

Why is education important to you?

Sabano Scovia (05:07):

Education is important to me because without education I could not be speaking. I could not be communicating to you. Because now which language, we could be using English which we learn from schools. At home, we use our mother tongue, we use our local language and you know, for us in Uganda here, there are many tribes, different tribes, so it makes communication easier. Even education will make you get skills, how to use this computer, other skills which you need to know.

Rajeshwari Sriram (05:52):

How did you get involved with the HerStart program?

Sabano Scovia (05:57):

Well, I was there in my community. That is [inaudible], the neighbour of mine came passing, mobilizing people. So she found me. She requested me, she said, come we go, there is some training we are going for. So they told us an entrepreneur is a person who takes a risk to start a business. A social entrepreneur is a person who tries to solve the problem in the community. So they said each one should do what? What is the problem in your community? So me, I decided to choose education because education is for everyone.

Rajeshwari Sriram (06:47):

How has the Catalyst Fund helped you with Gracious Chalk?

Sabano Scovia (06:51):

It has helped me to get that machine, as I've said previously to brand my products and get this packaging. It has helped me to get market around because with that Catalyst Fund, I remember there was a request of transport. I've been using that transport to go the market, to market to people. So it has helped me, at least I've made a final product, which can be sold as you see it here.

Rajeshwari Sriram (07:26):

What challenges did you face when you started your business?

Sabano Scovia (07:30):

One challenge was space. This space is small. Another challenge is the market right now. You know, when you are using public transport, it is costly than using your own. At least if I had a motorcycle, you just fuel up, then you go to the market, you go for marketing, you go for selling. But now it is, it is now becoming costly.

Rajeshwari Sriram (08:00):

How has your business grown since you first started Gracious Chalk?

Sabano Scovia (08:05):

My business has grown to the level that I can also sell and get money. I first bought a machine which makes 250 pieces. It was rough. Again, I got the one which makes 100 pieces. It could make rough and big, big.

Rajeshwari Sriram (08:29):

What are your future goals for your business?

Sabano Scovia (08:32):

I see my business, in the next two years I see myself covering many regions. Because my target region is east, then central. In the next two years, I want to cover those first east and central. Another thing, I want to get a space, as in like a big space so that I'll be able to produce enough that even that very space where I can be training people. Because where I am, I can't train 10 people, five people, but my space is now small. But I see in the future I need to enlarge my business and I want to be supplying to shops also, these wholesale and retail shops. I want to, in the future, be supplying to them so that at least I will reduce walking.

Rajeshwari Sriram (09:52):

What message do you have for other women who are thinking of starting their own business?

Sabano Scovia (09:59):

The message I give to those women who are thinking to to start their own business is first of all, they have to first think of the SDGs, to think of the problems facing their community, to think of their customers, to think of which business, and the customers and what are they going to improve. Another thing, encouraging them. You know, when you are starting, you fear, you know, it is hard to start generally, but I'm encouraging them. Take courage to start. Because if you start, you find yourself forward. You find yourself going forward.

Rajeshwari Sriram (10:57):

Thank you so much Sabano for spending the time with me to talk about your business. I'm excited to see it grow.

Outro (11:10):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with the positive impact for all. If you enjoy this HerStart Innovate the Future podcast episode, please subscribe and share our episodes on social media. A special thanks to the fellows that volunteered their time in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda, who help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Cooperation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Danielle Serge, HerStart Program & Partnerships Fellow in Tanzania, speaks with Hadia Mbarouk Saleh, founder of Khamasa Lishe – a social enterprise that creates nutritional powder for pregnant women and young children. Hadia discusses her goal of improving poor nutrition in her community and how YCI's HerStart program supported her entrepreneurship journey.

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Intro (00:04):

Welcome to Youth Challenge International's HerStart HerStory Podcast Series. Youth Challenge International, or YCI, launched the HerStart Innovate the Future Program in 2020 as part of our initiative to advance women's equality globally. Our goal is to provide 10,000 women in Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda with the resources and support they need to successfully launch and grow their social businesses. We are sharing real stories of young women who are leading change in their communities. YCI's HerStart Innovate The Future Program is funded in part by the Government of Canada to progress Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

Danielle Serge (01:02):

Hello, my name is Danielle Serge and I'm a Program and Partnership Fellow with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Today I am sitting with Hadia in her home, asante sana for inviting us, and we're going to be discussing Khamasa Lishe products. Hadia is in the GYSV program, Grow Your Social Venture, and she's also a recipient of the Catalyst Fund.

Jessica Zapata (01:29):

This is Jessica and today I'm here with Ilham and we are going to translate the interview for Hadia.

Danielle Serge (01:36):

So would you start by sharing with us your full name, job, and occupation?

Hadia Mbarouk Saleh (01:44):

My name is Hadia Mbarouk Saleh, I am 31 years old, and I am working as a volunteer health worker in my community and now I have this work of making the nutrients powder.

Danielle Serge (01:59):

Could you share a little bit about what your business is?

Hadia Mbarouk Saleh (02:04):

My business is to make the nutrients powder, which involves after being trained about entrepreneurship by looking at the challenge of my community that faces pregnant women and children within five years.

Danielle Serge (02:21):

So why did you start this business?

Hadia Mbarouk Saleh (02:27):

I started this business after getting the HerStart training that was facilitated by madam Nema and Rahma. There, I got to come up with this business idea. Since I am a community health worker, in the place where I go to provide the health services, there is a problem that is a challenge in the community that lacks nutrients. That is where I come up with an idea of creating the nutrients powder. The government always sounds their voice that there is poor nutrition to pregnant women and children under five years and the World Health Organization fights against the poor nutrition for children and pregnant women.

Danielle Serge (03:13):

Can you share a little bit about how your business operates on the day-to-day?

Hadia Mbarouk Saleh (03:19):

I operate my day-to-day business by supplying my products. I also found a youth who helps me to supply too. However, at the healthcare unit where I provide the services, I sell these products and even at home I sell to the individuals. And I also supply my products from Zanzibar from Unguja to Pemba.

Danielle Serge (03:43):

And would you mind sharing with us how you create your products?

Hadia Mbarouk Saleh (03:48):

I create my products by buying the various grains including maize, millets, and soybeans together with groundnuts where I crack, clean and dry them and grind them in a machine. After that, I finally make a full package for the nutrients powder with the stickers.

Danielle Serge (04:09):

Would you share with us some of the challenges you are facing? This could be personal, family or community challenges.

Hadia Mbarouk Saleh (04:17):

The challenge that I face is there is no specific place for putting my business products, like a shop, where I spend much time to supply the products and I leave my family at home. Another challenge is about grinding machine where it got an electric shock and burned. So these are the challenges that face my business.

Danielle Serge (04:44):

How has HerStart helped you reach your personal and professional goals?

Hadia Mbarouk Saleh (04:49):

HerStart helped me to reach my goals. First, I didn't have education on entrepreneurship skills, but after getting education from HerStart, I empowered myself to make the nutrients products. And also helped me more by empowering me through giving the grants so that I can continue with this project of making the nutrients powder.

Danielle Serge (05:13):

What accomplishments are you most proud of so far on your journey?

Hadia Mbarouk Saleh (05:17):

My accomplishments that I'm proud of is to have my own business that helps to earn income that I can accommodate for my life together with my family. In the case of educational accomplishment, it is to gain the entrepreneurship skills by managing it and creating my business, which is nutrients powder.

Danielle Serge (05:40):

Would you share with us which individuals played a role? For example, any mentors that really stuck out to you?

Hadia Mbarouk Saleh (05:46):

The people that support my business are, firstly, my husband who supported me and didn't disappoint me til today. I continue with my business from the first two weeks to two months that we have been told to start our business before being granted. So he gave me the capital to start my business til I get the grants to continue with the business. Therefore, that was a person who supported me til today. I didn't give up and I completed two to six months and he still supports me so that I can continue with my business.

Danielle Serge (06:24):

And how do you want to expand and grow your business? What do you envision for the future?

Hadia Mbarouk Saleh (06:31):

I have big expectations to expand my business by getting a specific shop to supply my nutrient products. Also to get more education on making different nutritious food, in which a person who doesn't want nutrient powder can use those nutritious food to solve the same problem of poor nutrition. However, my vision for the next two years, where my business will grow by getting more customers, is to own various business of making nutritious food, and become a popular person of making nutritious food, and gain more income from people through my success.

Danielle Serge (07:16):

Do you have anything else you want to share or anything else you want to add?

Hadia Mbarouk Saleh (07:23):

A big thanks should go to HerStart who helped me gain education, as well as by granting me funds til today to continue my business. Also, I advise my fellow women not to be dependent on their husbands to help them or not to wait for the government to employ them. If they hear about an opportunity in any NGOs or any area, they should show up to empower themselves as we have been empowered.

Danielle Serge (07:55):

Thank you so much. We are so grateful for your time and sitting with us and learning about your business and where it's about to go. And we're so excited to follow your journey. Asante.

Outro (08:11):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart Innovate the Future podcast episode, please subscribe and share our episodes on social media. A special thanks to the fellows that volunteer their time in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda, who help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Corporation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Sheilagh Newland, HerStart Communications Fellow in Tamale, Ghana, speaks with Mary Abapale, founder of REVIVE Enterprise – an innovative social business focused on producing low-cholesterol moringa oils to promote healthy lifestyles in her community. Mary discusses how her business supports local moringa farmers and tackles health issues in her community and how YCI's HerStart program supported her entrepreneurship journey.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:04):

Welcome to Youth Challenge International's HerStart HerStory Podcast Series. Youth Challenge International, or YCI, launched the HerStart Innovate the Future Program in 2020 as part of our initiative to advance women's equality globally. Our goal is to provide 10,000 women in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda with the resources and supports they need to successfully launch and grow their social businesses. We are sharing real stories of young women who are leading change in their communities. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future Program is funded in part by the Government of Canada to progress Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

Sheilagh Newland (01:03):

Hello everyone, my name is Sheila Newland and I'm a Communications Fellow with Youth Challenge International's, HerStart program in Ghana. Today I'm speaking to Mary about her social enterprise, the REVIVE Enterprise where she produces and sells low cholesterol moringa oil. Mary is a participant in the HerStart Grow Your Social Venture program. This program helps young women entrepreneurs to grow their social and environmental impact through business skills, coaching, mentorship, and training. Mary is also a recipient of HerStart's Catalyst Fund. The funding provides women-led ventures with critical funding that can help them thrive. Mary and I are speaking today from the YCI office here in Tamale, Ghana. Thank you Mary for joining us today. Could you please introduce yourself and your business?

Mary Abapale (01:54):

Okay. My name is Mary, a student of UTS Tamale campus, CEO of the REVIVE Enterprise. The REVIVE Enterprise is in to produce moringa oil using moringa leaves and the seeds. With the seed we extract the oil from the seeds, but with the leaves we use the already existing oil to produce another oil with the aim of using the leaves to reduce their cholesterol level in the existing oil.

Sheilagh Newland (02:25):

I am just wondering, what inspired the name The REVIVE Enterprise?

Mary Abapale (02:30):

With the aim of using moringa to produce oil is to enhance in some health conditions and the name REVIVE is to strengthen, to bring back. So as a result of reducing or managing the particular diseases or any other sickness, we are strengthen lives like that. We are are bringing back life. So that came out the name the REVIVE Enterprise.

Sheilagh Newland (03:04):

What motivated you to start the REVIVE Enterprise?

Mary Abapale (03:08):

The motivation behind this enterprise is that I've realized most people are suffering from so many diseases, so many sickness and they have become health conscious as a result of that. But what will help them to ensure that consciousness in their health? So I came up with the idea of producing the cooking oil that will help them be health conscious and also help them manage their health conditions.

Sheilagh Newland (03:38):

Is there any diseases or health conditions that you're focused on?

Mary Abapale (03:43):

Yes, I'm focused on heart diseases. The moringa helps to reduce heart diseases. It also helps in reducing cholesterol level and many other diseases.

Sheilagh Newland (04:02):

Why is this important to you?

Mary Abapale (04:05):

It is important to me because the health of individual, the life of individual is important to the whole nation. When when someone is at a good health condition, the person help to bring out good things that will help the nation. But when someone is sick, the person wastes much money in treating themselves and as a result of that, it brings down the growth and development of individual.

Sheilagh Newland (04:36):

With the moringa seeds, where do you get them?

Mary Abapale (04:39):

I get, my moringa seeds from farmers. People are into moringa farming, so I contact them and people also sell and buy from the farmers to sell. So I contact them to buy from.

Sheilagh Newland (04:54):

And how do you lower cholesterol levels in the oil?

Mary Abapale (04:58):

I lower the cholesterol level in the oil by mixing the moringa leaves with the moringa, with the existing oil. With that it reduces the cholesterol level. Then when I mix, I apply some heat to it for it to be reduced.

Sheilagh Newland (05:17):

So the actual process of applying heat and extracting it, how do you do that? What is the process of making the oil?

Mary Abapale (05:26):

With the help of a machine. With that, you just need to crack your seeds, remove the nuts from it. Then you put it inside the machine to extract for you. But with the leaves, that one is manual, so that is where you have to grind your leaves. After they are dried, then you measure the quantity that will be suitable for the reduction of the cholesterol in the existing oil.

Sheilagh Newland (05:56):

And how long does this process typically take?

Mary Abapale (06:00):

It takes about 20 to 25 minutes.

Sheilagh Newland (06:04):

I was just wondering a little bit more about your process of making the oil. Where do you work from? Do you work from home? Do you have a shop?

Mary Abapale (06:14):

I work from home where I stay. That is where I do the business.

Sheilagh Newland (06:22):

Do you work alone? Do you have any employees?

Mary Abapale (06:25):

I don't have employees yet, but I know with time as the business grows, I'll need people to work with me.

Sheilagh Newland (06:33):

And who is your target customer?

Mary Abapale (06:38):

My target customers are people that are health conscious, women and everybody. Everybody needs to taste it. Everybody needs to enjoy from my product.

Sheilagh Newland (06:52):

Do you think you could help people outside of Ghana improve their health with this product?

Mary Abapale (06:58):

Yes, it can help people outside in any part of the world because it's not only Ghanaians that are suffering from diseases. It's not only Ghanaians that are, um, consuming foods they were not supposed to. So I think it'll help.

Sheilagh Newland (07:18):

I heard that you participated in an entrepreneurship competition. Could you tell me a little bit more about that?

Mary Abapale (07:25):

I participated in BIIC competition, which is always usually organized by UGS every year and I've experienced a lot from it. And I think the training I had from the Catalyst Fund helped me to apply for that competition and I was able to reach the finals.

Sheilagh Newland (07:53):

What was your biggest takeaway from the competition?

Sheilagh Newland (07:57):

My biggest takeaway is that I came up with a different idea that links with moringa. I'm coming up with the idea of producing moringa tea bags. The moringa powder, I put it in a tea bag with some other ingredients, then it becomes a tea.

Sheilagh Newland (08:18):

That's really cool. Could you tell me what a green enterprise and social enterprise means to you?

Mary Abapale (08:27):

To my understanding, social enterprise is about bringing a business into existence that will help the individual in the society, but not only you, but others should profit from it.

Sheilagh Newland (08:42):

What impacts have you seen with your own enterprise?

Mary Abapale (08:46):

The impact I've seen with my own enterprise is that it has helped the health conscious people to get what they really want to eat in the society, which will help them in their health conditions

Sheilagh Newland (09:00):

Going forward, what impacts do you hope to see?

Mary Abapale (09:04):

The impact I hope to see is for my products not to be benefited by only Ghanaians, but the whole world at large.

Sheilagh Newland (09:15):

What challenges have you faced since starting your business?

Mary Abapale (09:19):

There are so many challenges. Sometimes some people don't understand the benefits of moringa and you need to take some time to explain to them, to understand it before they patronize it. And sometimes too the price of the product drives people away from buying it even though they wanted to buy, but because they can't afford to pay is something.

Sheilagh Newland (09:49):

How has HerStart helped you on your journey? How has the Catalyst Fund and the trainings helped you?

Mary Abapale (09:58):

It has helped me by teaching me how to go about business. At first, I used to think you just get up and start anything, but I've realized that you have, when you have the idea, you have to know how to manage it well so that your business can be sustained. And with the Catalyst Fund, I was able to start the business. I was just working with the idea without funds to start, but with the Catalyst Fund, I was able to bring it into reality.

Sheilagh Newland (10:32):

What has been your favourite part of this experience?

Mary Abapale (10:36):

My favourite part of this experience is the trainings after the fund because I've realized that taking the money, even if they leave me with the money, I'll not be able to do anything with it. But with the training, it has helped me to know how to manage the business, keeping records and other things, marketing the product.

Sheilagh Newland (11:02):

Long term, what do you hope to see happen with the REVIVE Enterprise?

Mary Abapale (11:07):

I hope to see REVIVE Enterprise grow big, not only in Ghana, but the product should reach the whole world for everyone.

Sheilagh Newland (11:21):

Do you have any plans on how you hope to expand your business?

Mary Abapale (11:26):

Okay. I'm planning on registering with Food and Drugs Board, which will help me advertise the business and also it'll help to import when people from outside Ghana see the advertisement and they need it.

Sheilagh Newland (11:43):

Well, thank you so much for joining us today. Do you have any final comments that you would like to share?

Mary Abapale (11:51):

I'd like to say this program shouldn't come to an end because it'll really help young ladies like me, who also have their ideas but are finding it difficult to bring it into reality. Thank you.

Sheilagh Newland (12:08):

Thank you.

Outro (12:15):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart Innovate the Future podcast episode, please subscribe and share our episodes on social media. A special thanks to the fellows that volunteered their time in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda to help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Cooperation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Danielle Serge, HerStart Programs and Partnership Fellow in Tanzania, speaks with Mariam Mussa Haji, founder of Muzne Product – a social enterprise that makes nutritional products and powder. Mariam discusses her goal of improving health and nutritional deficiency in her community and how YCI's HerStart program helped her journey to becoming a social entrepreneur.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:04):

Welcome to Youth Challenge International's HerStart HerStory Podcast Series. Youth Challenge International, or YCI, launched the HerStart Innovate the Future Program in 2020 as part of our initiative to advance women's equality globally. Our goal is to provide 10,000 women in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda with the resources and support they need to successfully launch and grow their social businesses. We are sharing real stories of young women who are leading change in their communities. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future Program is funded in part by the Government of Canada to progress Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

Danielle Serge (01:03):

Hello, my name is Danielle Serge and I'm a Program and Partnership Fellow with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Tanzania. Today I'm speaking to Mariam about Muzne Products. Mariam is a participant in the HerStart Grow Your Social Venture program. Miriam is also a recipient of the HerStart Catalyst Fund. This funding provides women-led ventures with critical seed funding that can help them thrive their businesses. Today we are meeting with Mariam in her home, which is also where she runs her business. So Mariam, can you tell me your full name, age, and occupation?

Mariam Mussa Haji (01:40):

I go by the name Mariam Mussa Haji and I am 29 years old. I am also an entrepreneur.

Danielle Serge (01:48):

Mariam, can you please tell us what your business is?

Mariam Mussa Haji (01:52):

My business is called Muzne Products, and this is a business that makes nutritional products such as nutritional powder, targeting people based on age groups and mostly for babies. But we also make fruits that can be consumed by all age groups, including all the people. We also make fresh juice using fruits that can be sourced locally.

Danielle Serge (02:19):

Wonderful. And why did you start this business and where did you get this business idea from?

Mariam Mussa Haji (02:27):

Muzne Product is idea of making diet and supplements came as a result of seeing people around my community are nutritionally deficient. But also looking at the policy of the revolutionary government of Zanzibar wishes to see its citizens with better health. This is when I decided to embark on this business idea. For instance, with powder or diet supplements, we have children from the age of six months old. Normally they cannot consume heavy food stuffs. So children from this age up to five years, we have created a product special for just this group alone. There are also pregnant women who have just given birth and they are not healthy enough to even breast feed, so we have special products for this group. But even special groups of people living with AIDS and people with drug addiction; someone with the drug addiction, we understand that most of the time they are not healthy. So I have also taken this group into consideration. When it comes to fruits, we see that a lot of people in my community lack awareness on proper diet because we tend to eat only one type of food and we find ourselves welcoming all sorts of illnesses. Anyone that comes into my shop, they will find fruits, but can also find fresh juice that has a lot of nutritional benefits.

Danielle Serge (04:06):

Can you share with us how your business operates on the day-to-day?

Mariam Mussa Haji (04:12):

Normally, on daily basis, my business tries to reach the target customers wherever they are within the vicinity of Zanzibar Town. But because at the moment I do not have a permanent store or shop, I have also employed someone who helps to make deliveries. Also through social media, I have accounts such as Instagram, Facebook, but I also use data section on WhatsApp to attract more customers. I then take my grains to the milling machine. After milling, I head back home with the nutritional powder.

Danielle Serge (04:50):

And how do you create your products?

Mariam Mussa Haji (04:54):

I prepare my grains first, cleaning them so that they are in its cleanest form. Once I have cleaned them, I spread them on a mat exposing them to natural sunlight in order to dry up. I use my backyard to avoid any kind of insects and dust that could destroy my product. I then take my grains to a milling machine. Immediately, everything is milled and mixed together. I head home with a powder for the next step, which is removing all kinds of residues that are visible because sometimes the machine fails to mill grains well. As I mentioned earlier, I target kids from the age of six months, so it is crucial for me to remove all kinds of residues that could pose a negative impact on their digestion. After that, I start packaging the powder using a nice paper package, while at the same time using a weighing scale. Since I sell my products in two packages, a quarter package and a half kilogram, and the only way I can be precise is through the use of weighing scale. When it comes to fruits, I normally source them from the farmers locally by visiting their farms, which brings my production cost down. After purchasing them, I bring fruits to my house where I wash them with water and prepare my bowl special for packing fruits and pack them ready to eat. But how exactly do I reach my customers? For this group of customers, I have session where they can reach me and buy fruits, but for those who prefer delivery, I charge them extra amount to cover for their delivery. Actually a lot of my customers buying fruits prefer a delivery.

Danielle Serge (06:54):

So what are some of the challenges you are facing with your business?

Mariam Mussa Haji (07:00):

There are several challenges in my business, but among them is getting a sustainable market. There is a lot of uncertainties in my market. When I get out to look for markets, the people I interact with say no without taking a look or knowing the benefits that come within it. But also getting registration of the business from the government is also a major challenge. There are some requirements that are really difficult for an upcoming entrepreneur to meet. You might be asked to have physical premises that has had operation for years and have essential services such as running water and washrooms. You find that for an entrepreneur who is just starting, it becomes a major challenge. There is also a challenge such as transport, to ensure that my customers receive my products. Tomorrow you could be told that the price of petrol has gone up, and this affects my market because the price goes up and customers opt to move to different vendors.

Danielle Serge (08:13):

How has HerStart helped you and your personal and professional goals?

Mariam Mussa Haji (08:19):

HerStart has been able to help me in my personal goals. I had goals to employ myself, as opposed to being employed by someone. Now I am happy that I can confidently say that I have been able to employ myself, but HerStart has also empowered me to be more confident. At the moment, if any person ask me questions regarding entrepreneurship, I will not feel challenged because I can respond to their questions. Most importantly, HerStart has provided me with enough knowledge to understand the building blocks of social enterprises and later on giving a grant to start up my business.

Danielle Serge (09:04):

So what accomplishments are you most proud of personally, professionally and educationally so far?

Mariam Mussa Haji (09:11):

In terms of accomplishments, I would say I have accomplished my personal goals. I am a parent and I have family that depends on me, and now I can help my family and run a household. Also, in terms of accomplishments, I'm proud of my business. I would say right now if you mention the name Muzne Products to the revolutionary government of Zanzibar under the Ministry of Investment, they are aware of my business and have been called a couple of times in many forums to showcase my business as well as learning more about entrepreneurship.

Danielle Serge (09:51):

Thank you. So which individuals played a role in your personal growth and how have they helped you along the way?

Mariam Mussa Haji (09:59):

Some of the individuals that have played an essential role for my personal growth. I would say family. And when I say family, I'm referring to my husband. He has really been helpful because based on our religion, a lot of men do not allow women to progress in terms of learning or even taking vocational skills. My husband has been at the forefront to allow me to pursue my dreams and even the times I have given up, he has always been there to give me advice and encourage me to continue to pursue my goals. Another group of people that have been fundamental in my growth is my teacher in the HerStart project. These individuals have provided me with good knowledge on the kind of business that I needed to do, ensuring that it is a social business and at the same time making profit.

Danielle Serge (11:00):

So how do you wish to expand and grow your business? What do you envision for the future of your business?

Mariam Mussa Haji (11:06):

I hope to grow my business. First, I would like to have a space where I can permanently conduct my business, but I also have to employ three more youth that can help me conduct my business. I envision to be a good example of woman that has been able to employ herself and been able to lift others and hopefully one day I can build a factory that will be dedicated to produce nutritional products of various kinds.

Danielle Serge (11:40):

Thank you so much Mariam, for your time. Is there anything else you want to share? Do you have any words of wisdom for other women social entrepreneurs?

Mariam Mussa Haji (11:50):

Firstly, I would like to give my appreciation to Youth Challenge International for taking the responsibility of empowering youth women, but I also have a piece of advice to young women. We should not look to ourselves as individuals that cannot succeed, just because we tried once and failed. We need to be strong and look for trainings and information to the ones that have gone through the business for support, so that they can reduce rate of dependency in the society.

Danielle Serge (12:27):

Thank you for speaking with us today, Mariam. So looking forward to where your business goes in the future and all the impact you'll make. Thank you Illham for translating Mariam's words and we acknowledge that the challenge of translating sometimes as meaning can be lost. So thank you.

Outro (12:52):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart Innovate the Future podcast episode, please subscribe and share our episodes on social media. A special thanks to the fellows that volunteered their time in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda who help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Cooperation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Sheilagh Newland, HerStart Communications Fellow in Tamale, Ghana, speaks with Sahada Muzaa, founder of Muzaa Enterprise – a social business focused on empowering young girls and women by teaching them to make soap. Sahada shares her goal of reducing youth unemployment in her community and how YCI's HerStart program supported her to start her business.

Read Transcript

Introduction (00:04):

Welcome to Youth Challenge International's HerStart HerStory podcast series. Youth Challenge International, or YCI, launched the HerStart Innovate the Future Program in 2020 as part of our initiative to advance women's equality globally. Our goal is to provide 10,000 women in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda with the resources and supports they need to successfully launch and grow their social businesses. We are sharing real stories of young women who are leading change in their communities. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future Program is funded in part by the Government of Canada to progress Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

Sheilagh Newland (01:03):

Hello everyone, my name is Sheilagh Newland and I'm a Communications Fellow with Youth Challenge International's, HerStart program in Ghana. Today I'm speaking to Sahada about her business where she produces soap and empowers young women in her community. Sahada is a participant in the HerStart Grow Your Social Venture program. This program helps young women entrepreneurs to grow their social and environmental impact through business skills, coaching, mentorship and training. Sahada is also a recipient of HerStart's Catalyst Fund. The funding provides women-led ventures with critical funding that can help them thrive. Sahada and I are speaking today from the YCI office here in Tamale, Ghana. Could you start by introducing yourself and describing your business?

Sahada Muzaa (01:48):

I'm Muzaa Sahada, I'm into soap making, and my business name is Muzaa Sahada Enterprise. I'm making soap, like bar soap and then liquid soap and then shower gel. And we also have a local soap that we call Asthma Blue.

Sheilagh Newland (02:12):

What motivated you to start selling soap?

Sahada Muzaa (02:16):

I did my own research. I went to my community. I got to realize that if I go into making soup, it can help me and then help my community. It can even help my family.

Sheilagh Newland (02:34):

How did you do this research? Did you just talk to community members?

Sahada Muzaa (02:39):

So I started from my house asking my neighbours like, in our community, what challenge are we facing? And then it was like youth unemployment, especially we the young women, especially those who are under 17 and above. Some are not going to school, so what business do they think they can do? And they say, oh we want a business, like a place that you can go and sell, get your profit, and then you send it back. That is what we want. And then, it was one woman who told me that, look, let's do soap business because soap during raining season time, we use soap, dry season time, we use soap. There is no time that we don't use soap. Every time we use soap to bath, we wash our clothings, we wash our bowl. So let's, if you are willing to help us, you should be doing soap business. So that is where I now got my business idea.

Sheilagh Newland (04:00):

You mentioned about the importance of empowering young girls in your community. Why is this important to you?

Sahada Muzaa (04:08):

It's very, very important to me because me in particular, I didn't go to school actually, they sent me to school, but I dropped out in primary level. And I'm facing that challenge a lot. So that's why I want to help those who are not able to do anything.

Sheilagh Newland (04:36):

How are you empowering them through your business?

Speaker 3 (04:41):

For now, I have two ladies that I'm training them. My business is supporting them a lot because in the morning or in a daily when they wake up, they know that they have a place to go. They won't sit at home like that. They know that I have to go. I have to go to the shop and do business for now. In the morning they can get breakfast for themselves. Even in the afternoon and in the evening too, I'm very sure that they can feed themselves. So I started from feeding them through my soap making and like first when they are hungry and they are not able to afford unless they go and beg someone. So now they don't do like that again. We are doing small, small.

Sahada Muzaa (05:41):

Going back to the soap, what materials do you use to create the soap?

Sahada Muzaa (05:48):

I use palm oil and then palm kernel oil. You can also use coconut oil. You can also use shea butter.

Sheilagh Newland (05:57):

Where do you get these materials from?

Sahada Muzaa (06:00):

I buy it in Tamale here.

Sheilagh Newland (06:02):

Could you tell me or take me through the process of how you create the soap?

Sahada Muzaa (06:08):

Before you make up your mind, like you want to do bar soap, you should make sure that you have caustic soda and then also makes sure that you have your oil, like palm oil and then palm kernel oil. You should have those two because it goes together and then have the bowl that you are going to mix it inside. And then you have your stirring stick that you use to stir it. And then you should also have your mold after mixing it where you are going to pour it before you can then cut it.

Sheilagh Newland (06:46):

And with your soap, who is your targeted customer?

Sahada Muzaa (06:50):

My target customers are students and then women. Actually, I'm targeting everyone because I know everybody's washing their clothing.

Sheilagh Newland (07:06):

What challenges have you faced since starting your business?

Sahada Muzaa (07:10):

I face a lot of challenges. The prices keep increasing and like as a beginner, like me in the market, we have Kin soap company, we have Jamal company, we have this company their soap name is Easy. They are in the market for a long time and people have gotten used to their products and I'm just a beginner.

Sheilagh Newland (07:44):

How has this program, HerStart, how has it helped you on your journey?

Sahada Muzaa (07:50):

It has helped me a lot because I wasn't doing anything. I was just in the house, but now thanks to this program, I can now do anything that I want. Now. I have my own shop. I have my shop at, uh, Lamashegu Market. This business now that I'm into, I'm not stopping. Nothing is going to make me stop. This business is going to be my family business because my children will come and join. So in my community, especially my community.

Sheilagh Newland (08:32):

My last question is, what advice would you give to a young girl in your community that dreams of creating her own social enterprise?

Sahada Muzaa (08:40):

The only advice that I can give is they shouldn't give up. They should never think about giving up whatever they made up their mind or their intention to do. And they know that something good will come out of it. They shouldn't stop. They should keep pushing, keep pushing. Even if it has to go to the extent that they should go and look for help, they should go because as I'm speaking now, I will be happy. Like someone will just come and say, "oh, madam Sahada please will you allow me to come and join you". I'll be much happier to help that kind of person. When you make up your mind and then intention, you can achieve what you want. Just like me, I have achieved what I want because there's no way that I will stop this business. There's no way. Because I wasn't thinking like having my own thousand Ghana cedis, neither to talk of having my own shop or having an idea, even I didn't know what they were using to make soap. Now I know.

Sheilagh Newland (09:56):

Amazing. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Outro (10:06):

In this episode, Kristine Vanderahe, HerStart Programs and Partnership Fellow in Uganda, speaks with Natasha Ruth, founder of Dhaiffe Solutions – a social enterprise that makes reusable sanitary napkins. Natasha discusses her goal of improving menstrual health and solving period poverty for young women and girls in her community.

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Intro (00:04):

Kristine Vanderahe (01:02):

Hello everyone, my name is Kristine and I'm a Programs and Partnerships Fellow with Youth Challenge International's, HerStart program in Uganda. Today I am speaking to Natasha about her business Dhaiffe Pads. Natasha is a participant in the HerStart Grow Your Social Venture program. This program helps young women entrepreneurs to grow their social and environmental impact through business skills, coaching, mentorship, and training. Natasha is also recipient of HerStart's Catalyst Fund. The funding provides women-led ventures with critical funding that can help them thrive. Hi Natasha, thank you so much for joining me today. To get started, would you mind introducing yourself and telling me a little bit about your business?

Natasha Ruth (01:46):

Hi Kristine. Thank you for hosting me. My name is Natasha Ruth. I'm 24 years old. I'm a Ugandan from Kamwokya. I'm a married woman with one boy. I grew up from Terego District with my grandma. My business, Dhaiffe Solutions is solving the problem of period poverty and poor menstruating women and girls and in both rural and urban areas, especially in slum communities, and I'm passionate about menstrual hygiene management and supporting the girls to stay in school.

Kristine Vanderahe (02:41):

I really like the name of your business, Dhaiffe Pads. Does it have a special meaning?

Natasha Ruth (02:46):

Yes, of course it has. Dhaiffe means "ours", our pad, our solution. I wanted me and you, Kristine, and everyone out there to own the problem, to own the solution, and then to own the products. Yeah. I wanted me and you to feel that what we are doing belongs to us.

Kristine Vanderahe (03:11):

Where did the inspiration for this business come from?

Natasha Ruth (03:14):

When my mom and dad, they separated, my mom decided to go with us to Terego District. That's where she was born. She left me with my grandmom. She left him there with my grandmom, so while in the village. I had challenges with my education due to lack of sanitary towels and my grandmother could not afford to buy sanitary towels. Well, at school she saw she could cut her Gomesi, and the bedsheet, we could use that to pad ourselves. So when you lose it, you would not go to school. And this made me miss lessons. I could take a week without going to school. It became so hard that I missed exams and repeated a class. My cousins also dropped out of schools and got married because their parents, they could not afford to provide for them sanitary pads. And even at the moment, many girls drop out of schools, when you ask them, this is what they say: "It's better to be pregnant, to become pregnant than suffering with periods". You can imagine a young girl, to tell you that it's better to become pregnant than suffering a period poverty. So we need to change the mindset of our young girls. Yeah. Some of them also, they use unhygenic materials like, mattress, banana fibers and book papers. One day I also used old newpapers to pad myself. And we do that because we don't have the knowledge. We don't know what what will come through it after using it. So when I saw that this problem was continuous and affecting us people, I thought about a solution. I thought about providing for them something affordable, long lasting, eco-friendly. That's why I came up with Dhaiffe resuable sanitary pads because I knew my people cannot afford to buy sanitary towels and we needed to bring for them something which is affordable and long lasting.

Kristine Vanderahe (06:26):

After coming up with this business and deciding to become a social entrepreneur, can you tell me a little bit about how you got started?

Natasha Ruth (06:35):

At first I came up with the name, the name Dhaiffe and the logo, you know, on our logo we use a moon. In our local language, when you are in period, we say that 'mwezi'. Mwezi means moon. Yeah, we came up with the local because I was sure that what I had started would last forever. After that, I asked my husband to help me with 100,000 shillings, that's Uganda money. He gave it to me. I had someone already started making reusable sanitary pads. I approached her and bought some pads. I came back and put my logo. I started moving around and telling people that I'm Natasha Ruth, I'm making resusable sanitary pads from Kamwokya because of A, B, C, D, period poverty. Yes. And the good thing that I started moving around, people they bought the pads. I felt so good and it gives me the strength to continue. When my husband saw me that I was serious on what I'm doing, he bought me a sewing machine. Well he bought me a sewing machine to use to start sewing the reusable pads.

Kristine Vanderahe (08:21):

After facing all of these challenges, how did the Catalyst Fund help with your business?

Natasha Ruth (08:28):

The Catalyst Fund came in the right time. The owner of the machine, she called me. She wanted to take away her machine cause she had the customers and she needed to use her machine. So I gave back the machine to her. In between there, since I was making pads and I had nothing to use, three to four days I received money from Catalyst Fund. Immediately I was like, God, you have answered me. I went in the town. I bought two machines and some materials from cotton, the material we used to make reusable sanitary pads and some of the equipment, snap buttons, snap machines. Yeah, it helped me.

Kristine Vanderahe (09:19):

Can you tell us a little bit about where your business is now?

Natasha Ruth (09:23):

Yeah. So far we have sold 400 pads. Remember we started last year in October, 2021, but right now we have sold 400 reusable pads. We have trained 10 people who are also doing their own businesses. Recently we organized a concert in [inaudible] and I wanted money to buy for school-going girls pads and I will be the supplier. I'm so excited. I'm waiting. I'm going to be the supplier. People within the community right now, they know our product and they are using it. Women are using our product. This gives me strength to move on. Leaders in the community also consider me because of my social enterprise. I have participated in exhibitions, even also been on radio stations in Jinja and even in Kampala.

Kristine Vanderahe (10:41):

Your product is focused on women and girls. Was having a female-centered product important to you?

Natasha Ruth (10:48):

Yeah, it makes sense because, I'm passionate about menstrual hygiene management and even as a woman, I know what other women go through.

Kristine Vanderahe (11:01):

So where do you see Dhaiffe Pads in the future? What would you like to accomplish in the next three years?

Natasha Ruth (11:08):

Dhaiffe Pads will be in schools, especially in [inaudible] and in Terego plus small shops. Why am I saying that? In Terego District is where I grew up from and I know exactly what young girls are going through. In Terego there is a young girl, she's a grandmom, At our age! In [inaudible] is where I come from. So I believe in three years our products will be there.

Kristine Vanderahe (11:42):

After going through this journey, what message do you have for the HerStart and YCI team?

Natasha Ruth (11:49):

Before getting the Catalyst Fund, a team from YCI, Youth Challenge International, they trained me, they mentored me and eventually gave me money to add to my business. I thank people from HerStart. I thank you so much for bringing my idea to reality and I thank them. I thank them for supporting women in other countries. It's so great and what I can promise, I will not let you down. That dream you brought to reality will not die. Thank you for supporting Dhaiffe Solutions. May the all mighty God bless you.

Kristine Vanderahe (12:41):

Thank you so much, Natasha, for taking the time to speak with us today and share your story. It's been a pleasure listening to you.

Natasha Ruth (12:48):

Thank you.

Outro (12:55):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart Innovate the Future podcast episode, please subscribe and share our episodes on social media. A special thanks to the fellows that volunteered their time in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda who help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Cooperation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Qudsia Alvi, HerStart Gender Equality Fellow in Tanzania, speaks with Aisha Baker Makungu, founder of Isha Product - an enterprise that creates beauty and hygiene products from seaweed including soaps, lotions and shampoos. Aisha discusses her future goals for her business and how YCI's HerStart program empowered her to become a social entrepreneur.

This episode was conducted in Swahili and the English voiceover is provided by Ilham Haji.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:04):

Qudsia Alvi (01:02):

Hello, my name's Qudsia and I'm a Gender Equality Fellow working for Youth Challenge International in Tanzania, Zanzibar. As part of the HerStory podcast series, today I'm going to be interviewing Aisha of Isha Products, who is a HerStart Catalyst Fund recipient.

Ilham Haji (01:20):

My name is Ilham Haji, I am a Program and Volunteer Support at Youth Challenge International Zanzibar, Tanzania. I would like to translate Aisha's answers from Swahili to English language during her podcast.

Qudsia Alvi (01:37):

Hello Aisha and thank you so much for joining me. Would you mind introducing yourself and telling me your full name, age, and occupation?

Aisha Baker Makungu (01:48):

My name is Aisha Baker Makungu. I am 29 years old. I cultivate seaweed and process it.

Qudsia Alvi (01:55):

So Aisha, would you mind telling me a little bit about your business and what it is that you do?

Aisha Baker Makungu (02:02):

My business is to cultivate seaweed and process it for making different products such as soaps, lotions, shampoo, and vicks.

Qudsia Alvi (02:12):

So Aisha, would you mind telling me a little bit about where you got the idea behind your business and what inspired you to start this particular business?

Aisha Baker Makungu (02:24):

I started this business after seeing a lot of seaweeds around my community and we do not benefit from it and we sell it at a very low price. Therefore, I got an inspiration of using the seaweeds, making different products, and selling them to the villages to earn a profit.

Qudsia Alvi (02:46):

Thank you so much for sharing that. So when it comes to day-to-day business operations, would you mind sharing with us how your business operates on a day-to-day basis?

Aisha Baker Makungu (02:59):

I operate my business by producing all the products from my shop and showcase all the products from here. I also use social media to post my products, including WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. However, I supply my products through different shops and there are some people who call me to place their orders and I do deliver it to them. That's how I operate my day-to-day business.

Qudsia Alvi (03:31):

So would you mind telling me a little bit about how you create your products, how you go about making Isha Products, and how you deliver them to your target audience?

Aisha Baker Makungu (03:45):

I create my products by using various natural and organic materials. For instance, when creating soaps, I use coconut oil, seaweed, and caustic oil. In the case of a scrub, I use seaweed, sandalwood and oil. However, in case of hair oil, I use fresh and clean coconut, seaweed, and black carraway seeds. Therefore, I use natural and organic materials. I get the customers by posting the product through the social medias and also supplying them at their convenient location.

Qudsia Alvi (04:27):

So Aisha, would you mind sharing with me some of the challenges that you are facing or may have faced when getting started? And as part of these challenges, would you mind giving examples of any personal, family, or community challenges that you faced or are still facing?

Aisha Baker Makungu (04:47):

The challenges that I face, firstly is the lack of awareness within my community regarding seaweed. The villages are not yet aware about the seaweed. They don't even know the benefits of it, and when you make the products, they ignore them. To the side of the government, there are many and higher taxes. Whatever you go to register the product, it needs a lot of money for only one product. So if you want to register the products, it will cost a lot of money, at the end it takes you a step back, and you get discouraged as it eats on your capital. Another challenge that I face is the lack of cutting machine for my soap, that would give my soap a great shape to attract the customers. At the moment, I use a small tool to cut the soap with my hands, which allows the soap to not have the physical outlook to attract the customers.

Qudsia Alvi (05:47):

So when it comes to personal and professional goals and how HerStart has helped you, Aisha, would you mind telling me any specific personal or professional goals that HerStart has helped you reach?

Aisha Baker Makungu (06:02):

HerStart helped me feel empowered. I can take many orders and do them since I got the funds. Also, it helped me to become more confident and stand freely in front of people and talk about my business and the products that I produce.

Qudsia Alvi (06:23):

Aisha, could you tell me what accomplishments you're most proud of? Whether it's personal, professional, or educational.

Aisha Baker Makungu (06:33):

The accomplishment that I'm proud of, firstly, I know how to run the business. I also understand the difference between the normal and social businesses. I'm so proud of owning my business, which allows me to get a high income without depending on anyone and helping my family. That is what I am most proud of.

Qudsia Alvi (06:59):

Which individuals in your life played a really important role in your personal growth? And can you describe how they helped you?

Aisha Baker Makungu (07:09):

My family played a great role to help me because before joining the program I was quite unsure whether it was the right decision to take or not, but they were the ones who inspired me to go and wished me success. Also, the shop owners that place the orders motivated me, as I would take my products to their shop and they would help me sell them to their customer base.

Qudsia Alvi (07:39):

So Aisha, how do you wish to expand or grow your business, and what do you envision for the future of Isha Products?

Aisha Baker Makungu (07:48):

I envision to own the large area with machines for processing the seaweed products and to provide the seaweed education to all people who are in need of knowing it. So that the seaweed can be known everywhere and all products to be supplied everywhere around the world. I would sell my products outside Zanzibar and rich places.

Qudsia Alvi (08:14):

Is there anything else that you would like to share with us, Aisha?

Aisha Baker Makungu (08:19):

I want to thank HerStart for their help and for empowering us. It should not be the end. They should keep on helping us since we are in need of their help and we need more education on improving our businesses since it's HerStart that helped us launch our businesses. I urge them to continue providing support even as we come to an end of the third phase of the program. They should help us until our business grow and in position to help others.

Qudsia Alvi (08:51):

Thank you so much for your time today, Aisha. We really appreciate that you sat down to speak with us about your business and your experience with HerStart. We wish you the best and hope that your business grows and becomes even more successful and that you continue to inspire young women in your community and across Zanzibar. Thank you.

Outro (09:17):

In this episode, Isabel Atugonza, Youth Challenge International's Knowledge and Learning Manager in Uganda, speaks with Nankinga Viola Kukiriza, founder of V&E Organics - a green enterprise that makes organic fertilizer from manure to provide a better, alternative product to artificial fertilizers. Viola discusses her passion for gardening and the environment and how YCI's HerStart program empowered her to become a social entrepreneur.

This episode was conducted in Luganda and the English voiceover is provided by Isabel Atugonza.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:04):

Isabel Atugonza (01:02):

My name is Isabel Atugonza and I'm the Knowledge and Learning Manager with Youth Challenge International's HerStart program in Uganda. Today I am speaking to Nankinga Viola Kukiriza about V&E Organics. Viola is a participant in the HerStart Grow Your Social Venture Program. This program helps young women entrepreneurs grow their social and environmental impact through business skills, coaching, mentorship and training. Viola is also recipient of the HerStart Catalyst Fund. The funding provides women-led ventures with critical seed funding that can help them thrive. Viola and I are speaking today on the partner premises SINA, located in Mpigi, Uganda. The interview was conducted in Luganda and translated into English. You hear the voice of myself, Isabel Atugonza reading the translation. Thank you so much for taking time to sit down and have this conversation with me. Who is Viola to someone who doesn't know her?

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (02:07):

My name is Nankinga Viola Kukirizae. I am a 32 year old Ugandan from Mpigi District. I am a married woman and a mother of two handsome boys. I am a social entrepreneur and founder of V&E Organics. We make both powdered and liquid organic manure. We also train people on farming in small spaces to grow their own urban organic vegetables within their backyards. I love farming because I always look forward to watching plants blossom as a result of using organic manure.

Isabel Atugonza (02:43):

Why V&E Organics?

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (02:48):

Upon joining the HerStart program, we were told that we would receive skills and knowledge to grow or start a social enterprise. I wanted to learn hair dressing and chicken rearing. This is when I learned about social entrepreneurship and how it would help the community that I came from. I easily related with my experience growing up where people put in a lot of efforts to grow crops but always got poor yields. Those who could afford artificial fertilizers would make profits but didn't know its impact on the soil. I remember how we used to make the compost manure and I made research on how I could improve on my product and that is when I came up with V&E Organics that is aimed at improving the soil quality and enabling people growing nutritious crops in their backyards.

Isabel Atugonza (03:46):

You have talked about the HerStart program. How did you get to hear about this project?

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (03:54):

I learned about the HerStart program when the HerStart staff were doing door-to-door outreaches. Through referrals from my friends, they reached out to me and gave a brief description about the program, which sparked my interest to participate.

Isabel Atugonza (04:11):

What have you been able to learn in this program?

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (04:16):

I have learned a lot from this project. I have grown my confidence and I can now believe in myself in leading people. I now believe I'm able to do a business and that it will succeed. I have also learned that we can have businesses that benefit both the community and the environment.

Isabel Atugonza (04:37):

Thank you so much, Viola. You have been one of our participants who have gotten the Catalyst Fund and we are thankful to see you take on this journey. I would really want to know how the Catalyst Fund has created an impact in your life and in your business.

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (04:55):

After gaining the knowledge and social entrepreneurship and getting this business idea, I was able to produce samples of some organic manure for prototyping. However, I didn't have the capacity to start production. Since people love the product, with the Catalyst Fund I have been able to increase my production and reach out to more customers within my community and people have been referring my products to other people, which has created market for me.

Isabel Atugonza (05:25):

Still talking about V&E Organics. I know it has been such a great journey for you and I would love to know how this journey has been.

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (05:38):

It has been quite a challenging journey. I didn't have resources to meet the market demands. With the Catalyst Fund, I was able to start production and created a demo garden that I used to showcase my products. This has sparked people's interests who have small spaces and they intend to do farming within their homes. I have also started packaging my products and reaching out to more people.

Isabel Atugonza (06:08):

We know that culture has played a very big role in women businesses in Uganda and if you could kindly tell us what it has been for you to be a female entrepreneur in your community.

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (06:26):

It feels good being an entrepreneur. I have become a good example to other women who wish to start businesses. The challenges are first have been managing operations as some activities are heavy to manage. I saw this as a blessing in disguise to employ more people who have been able earn living a from the payments that we make.

Isabel Atugonza (06:52):

You're talking about people whom you've impacted. We would want to know what kind of impact your business is creating in the community you're coming from.

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (07:06):

I have created business opportunities for people who collect raw materials for me. We have people who collect water, animal wastes and plant wastes. We also have people whom I work with in making this manure. Without forgetting those who to do marketing our products to different people in the communities

Isabel Atugonza (07:31):

It has been six months since you started V&E Organics. Do you feel that your business is successful?

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (07:41):

Definitely. In these six months, I have been able to package and market my products. We have been able to reach out to over 40 customers. This means that 40 people are now conserving the soil quality and producing organic products.

Isabel Atugonza (08:01):

That sounds interesting and we are talking about the future. What does your future look like for your business? Where do you see your business in three years to come?

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (08:14):

In three years to come, I see my business having more customers as the customer base will be growing. My organic products will have impacted people's lives and I see myself widening my product range as customers are already requesting for pesticides that are organic.

Isabel Atugonza (08:35):

You talked about your business creating change in the community that you're coming from. I have heard you talking about soil quality improving. I would want to know more about what your business is contributing towards the climate change of Uganda and the community where you're coming from.

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (09:01):

Our organic manure uses organic products that are decomposed. Therefore, they do not have any negative impact on peoples' lives. People never pay attention to the side effects of artificial manure. While, growing up we would eat mangoes all time, but currently they need to be spread with artificial fertilizers for them to have good quality. I believe all this is a negative impact of that artifical fertilizers that people have been using. It has affected the soil quality and people aren't able to produce products unless they use fertilizers. With the use of V&E Organics, when people have embraced the product, I believe we shall be improving the soil quality and this will also impact on the climate. I look forward to having the soil quality improved in the communities that we are serving.

Isabel Atugonza (09:55):

You are a married woman and a mother of two young children and you're also embarking on this journey of social entrepreneurship. What could be some of the challenges you're facing as a woman in this business?

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (10:15):

Between family and business has been a challenge. However, my goal to grow this business keeps pushing me to work harder.

Isabel Atugonza (10:25):

Do you get any kind of support from your spouse?

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (10:31):

My husband believes in me. He supported me to participate in the HerStart project and has motivated me to take crucial steps in my business. Without his support, it would've been very hard for me to carry on. The fact that we have children who are still staying at home.

Isabel Atugonza (10:51):

What message do you have for young women in your community? We have seen a lot of young women who choose to depend on their spouses for source of income.

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (11:04):

We can always start with the resources that are available without counting on our husbands. I grew up with only my dad because my mother left us due to financial constraints. This is something I do not wish to see any child going through. They can use resources around them to create a living. They can work on weaving and and recycling products within their communities.

Isabel Atugonza (11:30):

Would you really recommend our HerStart program to other women there?

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (11:35):

Being able to grow in the HerStart has made it interesting, as women always reach out to me wondering how they can join the program. My confidence has increased and I have been empowered to support my family and community. People seeing this always reach out and I always recommend them to participate in this program.

Isabel Atugonza (11:55):

Thank you so much Viola. As we are concluding, I would want you to tell the international community what would you want them to know?

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (12:07):

This project has supported women whose dreams and businesses would not come to life without the support of this project. I would never have thought about my business without this project. We appreciate your support and thank you for believing in us.

Isabel Atugonza (12:23):

Thank you so much Viola. It was nice sitting and having this conversation with you and wish you the best on your journey ahead.

Nankinga Viola Kukiriza (12:29):

Okay.

Outro (12:36):

In this episode, Patience Azukuzia, HerStart Communications and Training Fellow in Ghana, speaks with Zahara Tamimu, founder of Zahara Fashion and Designs – a business that creates clothing items and bag accessories using recycled materials. Zahara discusses her goal of employing young women and people with disabilities, as well as how YCI’s HerStart program inspired her to create an innovative social enterprise that positively impacts her community and the environment.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:05):

Hi everyone, welcome to Youth Challenge International's HerStart HerStory podcast series. YCI launched the HerStart Innovate the Future program in 2020 as part of our initiative to advance women's equality globally. Our goal is bold - support 10,000 young women in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda to become social entrepreneurs by 2027. We'll be sharing real stories from the program and speaking with the young women who are shaping a social entrepreneurship ecosystem and leading change in their communities. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future program is funded in part by the Government of Canada to progress Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Each HerStory episode has been produced with the help from fellows who have volunteered to share and gain skills to support implementing the HerStart program. For most fellows, this was their first interviewing experience. It was an opportunity to step outside their comfort zone and learn about the podcasting experience, which is new to many of us. You can join us and learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

Benedict Lucas (01:35):

Hi everyone, my name is Benedict Lucas and I am the Communication and Training Fellow with YCI. Today I'm chatting with Munira Foum Juma about the innovation enterprise.

Munira Foum Juma (01:54):

My name is Munira Foum Juma from Gulioni. I was born in 1990 at <inaudible> Hospital. I completed my primary education at <inaudible> Primary School and I attended secondary education at <inaudible> Secondary School and I was unable to continue with my studies. I had to get married, but after getting married, the life was very difficult. I was selling porridge, I sold porridge for a period of two years. Then one of my friends told me to join a group of members building the nation. So I chose to join under Ministry of Health at <inaudible> Hospital and until now, I have been selected to be a health promoting member in my village. In 2019, I joined a youth club called Afro Cooperation who are security workers doing farming, growing local tea and producing fruit. I have started a social business of collecting waste and it's operating until now. The innovation in my business is collecting waste from the whole community and the waste is being recycled.

Benedict Lucas (03:48):

Do you have someone or an experience that drew you to start your own enterprise?

Munira Foum Juma (04:03):

Okay, the thing that motivated me to do the business is seeing other villages cleaning their communities and how clean they were. So it's motivated me to do the same in my community as well.

Benedict Lucas (04:19):

How did you come up with this idea?

Munira Foum Juma (04:22):

I had this idea but I had not put it into action, but through HerStart that's when I realized and started action upon my idea.

Benedict Lucas (04:37):

Did anyone help you start your business venture or inspire you to do so?

Munira Foum Juma (04:48):

The HerStart facilitators have helped me a lot to grow my ideas and the chairperson from my community who also values the sanitation.

Benedict Lucas (05:02):

What is your plan for your business?

Munira Foum Juma (05:06):

My plan is to have a big company dealing with sanitation and waste management and to produce manure from waste so that will create employment for youth in my community.

Benedict Lucas (05:30):

Who do you want your business to benefit?

Munira Foum Juma (05:37):

The beneficiaries of my social enterprise are, first, the children because they will have a clean environment for playing. Then, youth will get employment and the community at large also will benefit since waste will properly be collected instead of dumping it anywhere, anyhow. Since we're gathering the waste, the environment will be clean.

Benedict Lucas (06:06):

What aspects of your business have come easily to you?

Munira Foum Juma (06:17):

What's come easy in my business is youth workers because before I was not sure that I would be able to persuade youth to get work in waste collection, but since most of them refuse. Fortunately there was a big turnout at that, I was not even able to manage that at the start. So I selected a few of them, interviewed them and selected only 12 youth because of funds. I want to expand that but because I have not enough funds, so I started with those 12.

Benedict Lucas (07:06):

What is the biggest challenge you have faced so far in starting your business?

Munira Foum Juma (07:14):

The challenge I'm facing is some people are refusing to pay for the waste collection from their home, but I'm very grateful most of them have accepted. And the challenge of where to store the waste since we are making manure from it. The other challenge is there are still many youth that are jobless and I can employ only 12. Many of them would like to join us, but we can't afford them with limited funds. Also, another challenge is insufficient equipment.

Benedict Lucas (08:08):

Have you found any other outside factors to be particularly difficult with starting your business, whether that be the pandemic or other competitors in your area?

Munira Foum Juma (08:26):

Other factors affecting my business? The rain because it's making it difficult since it's wet, the waste is making it difficult during collection. And also the competition among others, for example, bigger because bigger is the big company that collects waste. The COVID pandemic has greatly affected my business, yeah. As you know, it delayed income during Covid-19 and people were less motivated to pay and others were delayed.

Benedict Lucas (09:10):

So tell us a little about how you heard about the HerStart program and how you got involved.

Munira Foum Juma (09:25):

First I heard about HerStart when I was at training, the training about entrepreneurship organized by <inaudible> and she came, Madam Asha from ZTBI, and told us about this program. So she tell us, if we would want to be part of it, to go and get a form from ZTBI in Mbweni and we were among five of us to get forms, but very unfortunately, I was the only one who was selected. After that, we had a training of SSI for three days and I completed and then we interviewed and selected again for the eight weeks called SYSV training. So currently we are completing the training and I'm very grateful my idea has grown and I was able to start my social business.

Benedict Lucas (10:48):

What has stood out to you most with the HerStart program and what might you say to people who are interested in getting involved?

Munira Foum Juma (10:59):

What motivated me about HerStart is the Sustainable Development Goals and when I was thinking about my business, I concentrated on 13 goals. We talk about climate action. And another thing that HerStart has empowered many youth and those that will be ready and most of them have ideas of social businesses. Okay. Also through HerStart we were going to understand social enterprises and I'm very grateful for HerStart program and I call up on young fellow women to join HerStart so that they get empowered and they improve their knowledge also, like me.

Outro (12:07):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart HerStory podcast episode, please like and share our episodes on social media and be sure to tune in and subscribe next time on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favourite podcast. This series will continue to highlight how young women social entrepreneurs in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda are leading change in their communities. A special thanks as well to the fellows who volunteer to support the HerStart Innovate the Future program and help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Corporation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Benedict Lucas, HerStart Communications and Training Fellow in Tanzania, speaks with Munira Foum Juma, founder of Gulioni Green Line – a social enterprise that collects waste from over 300 households in Gulioni, Tanzania to create manure. Munira discusses her goal of keeping her community clean while employing local youth through her social enterprise and how YCI’s HerStart program supported and inspired Munira to launch her business.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:05):

Benedict Lucas (01:35):

Hi everyone, my name is Benedict Lucas and I am the Communication and Training Fellow with YCI. Today I'm chatting with Munira Foum Juma about the innovation enterprise.

Munira Foum Juma (01:54):

Benedict Lucas (03:48):

Do you have someone or an experience that drew you to start your own enterprise?

Munira Foum Juma (04:03):

Okay, the thing that motivated me to do the business is seeing other villages cleaning their communities and how clean they were. So it's motivated me to do the same in my community as well.

Benedict Lucas (04:19):

How did you come up with this idea?

Munira Foum Juma (04:22):

I had this idea but I had not put it into action, but through HerStart that's when I realized and started action upon my idea.

Benedict Lucas (04:37):

Did anyone help you start your business venture or inspire you to do so?

Munira Foum Juma (04:48):

The HerStart facilitators have helped me a lot to grow my ideas and the chairperson from my community who also values the sanitation.

Benedict Lucas (05:02):

What is your plan for your business?

Munira Foum Juma (05:06):

My plan is to have a big company dealing with sanitation and waste management and to produce manure from waste so that will create employment for youth in my community.

Benedict Lucas (05:30):

Who do you want your business to benefit?

Munira Foum Juma (05:37):

Benedict Lucas (06:06):

What aspects of your business have come easily to you?

Munira Foum Juma (06:17):

Benedict Lucas (07:06):

What is the biggest challenge you have faced so far in starting your business?

Munira Foum Juma (07:14):

Benedict Lucas (08:08):

Have you found any other outside factors to be particularly difficult with starting your business, whether that be the pandemic or other competitors in your area?

Munira Foum Juma (08:26):

Benedict Lucas (09:10):

So tell us a little about how you heard about the HerStart program and how you got involved.

Munira Foum Juma (09:25):

Benedict Lucas (10:48):

What has stood out to you most with the HerStart program and what might you say to people who are interested in getting involved?

Munira Foum Juma (10:59):

Outro (12:07):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart HerStory podcast episode, please like and share our episodes on social media and be sure to tune in and subscribe next time on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favourite podcast. This series will continue to highlight how young women social entrepreneurs in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda are leading change in their communities. A special thanks as well to the fellows who volunteer to support the HerStart Innovate the Future program and help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Corporation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Winnie Namirimu, HerStart Communications and Training Fellow in Uganda, speaks with Mary Hillary Nandudu, founder of Social Innovation on Wheels – a social enterprise that supports women to grow their own businesses. Mary discusses her goals of empowering women and girls in Uganda by building their digital literacy and English language skills, the challenges women entrepreneurs face in Uganda, and how YCI’s HerStart program helped her start her own social enterprise.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:04):

Winnie Namirimu (01:35):

Hi everyone, my name is Namirimu Winnie. I'm the Communications and Training Fellow with Youth Challenge International.

Mary Hillary Nandudu (01:44):

My name is Nandudu Mary Hillary, I'm from Mpigi in Uganda. Our social enterprise is called Social Innovation on Wheels. There are several problems that you're trying to solve. One of the problems is the poor education. Majority of the women in our society don't know how to read and write, which makes them not able to fit in the community of being employed. In our community, majority of the women and girls don't have access to empowering programs. So that makes them to be vulnerable, to be poor, and also making them to be subjects of domestic violence. And the other problem is the mindset of our society. They think we women not to do anything, like women are not supposed to study something that can help them in their life, women are supposed to be at home. So that made us to try into making our social enterprise. And what we're doing by that is we are empowering these women and girls aged between 15 to 35 years of age, that is through social innovation trainings, and also helping them realize their fullest potential as responsible citizens.

Winnie Namirimu (03:13):

Can you tell me a little bit about growing up in your country?

Mary Hillary Nandudu (03:17):

Well, growing up in Uganda, it's fun, but also it's challenging. Me, I was raised by a single mom. We are five kids, I'm the second born. But I grew up with people that love me, that's what I can say. And even when we have challenges still, they're always there.

Winnie Namirimu (03:41):

Tell me how it is to do business in Uganda.

Mary Hillary Nandudu (03:46):

The business atmosphere in Uganda, it's competitive. That's what I can say because people are doing similar businesses, but they're always competing to be outstanding among others. And also they have some, they have challenges that they're facing, but it depends on what kind of business you're operating because different businesses have different challenges that they're facing.

Winnie Namirimu (04:15):

Did you have anyone that inspired you to start a social enterprise?

Mary Hillary Nandudu (04:20):

Yes, and it was the HerStart program. When we were told to go out and do research about what problems are facing our communities, what problems are in the community, and what can we do for those problems. And also some other life challenges that I faced, me as a person.

Winnie Namirimu (04:42):

So is there anything that motivated you to start your social enterprise?

Mary Hillary Nandudu (04:48):

Yes, one of the things that motivated me was my growing up. I was raised by a single mom. So every day I used to see my mom struggle, trying to make, trying to find things for us, trying to for education, anything that you wanted. So that's one of the things that motivated me to do that, so I can empower other women. Beause right now, what I can say is, by that time, I didn't know if there were other people that were empowering when my mom was raising us. But here, right now, we can help out many different women. And we changed their lives.

Winnie Namirimu (05:34):

Mary is off to an amazing start with her social enterprise and is on an impactful journey to change women's lives and give them the tools they need for empowerment and financial independence. Though she is sparking change in her community, she too is still faced with barriers and challenges as a woman with a growing business.

Mary Hillary Nandudu (06:04):

One of the challenges, the negative mindset of the society. Why they think women we're not supposed to do business, women we're not supposed to do a social enterprise, women are opposed to stay at home. And also the negative attitude they give when you tell them like you own a social enterprise, they're like, "You, a young girl, how can you own a social enterprise?" like, "With years to come, it's going to fail, and you're going to collapse anytime just like that.” So that's one of the challenges. The other challenge it's like with the finance, the things that help us with running our social enterprise. Then lastly it's the confidence, cause I'm still trying out my level best to build my confidence. So that's also a challenge.

Winnie Namirimu (06:55):

Despite these challenges, Mary still has many plans for her business.

Mary Hillary Nandudu (07:03):

The plans that we have for our business, there are many plans. But one of the main plans, we want to fulfill the meaning of our name, Social Innovation on Wheels, whereby we want a bus that is containing everything that can help us through the trainings. And we reach out to these women in their communities where they don't have to come to our premises. It's a stretch to them. And by that, it also helps us to reduce our expenses. We want to benefit women aged between 15 to 35 years of age. That is with the whole country, with time, the whole country. But first of all, we just, we want to first concentrate with our community where we are living right now. Then also what we want to do, it's to want to help out more other women, to be able when they know how to use the smartphone, how can they make the internet beneficial to their life? These women, when you're training them, they're going to come up with social innovation ideas. They're going to turn them into business ideas. But through that process, you need to know how to read and write cause not everything they'll do it for you. You're the owner of that enterprise, you need to know how to read and write. So we're also trying, we're also planning for that and that's what we're doing.

Winnie Namirimu (08:32):

Okay. Are there any short term goals for your business so far?

Mary Hillary Nandudu (08:33):

Yes. We want to increase the number of participants that we have. Due to COVID, we have limited access number of participants. The number that we're targeting was not the number that we right now have. We had just begun and the government had restrictions, like had put restrictions that all businesses should close due to COVID.

Winnie Namirimu (08:56):

How about the long-term goals for the social enterprise?

Mary Hillary Nandudu (08:59):

The long-term goals is we want to make, we want to get a sustainable source of income. What I mean by that is right now, we are doing some mixed farming. We are growing some plants, we have passion fruit, some tomatoes then also groundnuts. So we grow those things and with time we're going to sell them. So that's what we're trying to do. And also, besides we're not going to be only depending on that farming for our social enterprise, we had two things that we we're planning to do. We wanted to make it like a visiting site, a premises whereby people can come and see what these women do. There are also these women that might fail to come up with the innovation ideas, but we can help them out with the normal businesses that they're running. So we help them out, create for them some market.

Winnie Namirimu (09:59):

So you have gone through most of the HerStart program. So throughout that whole process, what has stood out to you most with the HerStart program?

Mary Hillary Nandudu (10:11):

The thing that stood out it's that empowering of women, what they do mainly for the women, and also what they try to teach us. And one of the things that I say that stood out it's they help us realize it's important as women to be financially independent and also to discover what we like, what's our passion. What's your passion here as a person, and then how can you benefit from that passion that you have? Everyday they try to make you believe you're better person and every day you can do anything to better yourself. If you want something, you can do it. And you need to do something that you love.

Outro (11:03):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart HerStory podcast episode, please like and share our episodes on social media and be sure to tune in and subscribe next time on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favourite podcast. This series will continue to highlight how young women social entrepreneurs in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda are leading change in their communities. A special thanks as well to the fellows who volunteer to support the HerStart Innovate the Future program and help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Corporation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Winnie Namirimu, HerStart Communications and Training Fellow in Uganda, speaks with Carol Namirimu, founder of Sister Coral Foundation – a business that creates energy-saving cooking bags. Carol discusses her goals of reducing pollution and deforestation while providing skills training to women in her community through her social enterprise created in YCI’s HerStart program.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:05):

Winnie Namirimu (01:35):

Hi everyone, my name is Winnie Namirimu. I'm the Communications and Training Fellow with Youth Challenge International. Today I'm going to be chatting with Carol about her innovative social enterprise.

Carol Namirimu (01:51):

My name is Namirimu Carol and I come from Kampala District. We found around eight kids plus us who were 10 kids, but good enough, our aunt was able to take care of us. She was so hardworking. She taught us how to be hardworking because life wasn't easy, by then it's hard. But at least we tried our level best because as we were kind of old, she taught us how to work. So we would work with her in the restaurant where she works. So this made us so hardworking up to now. My business is called, my company is called Sister Carol Foundation Limited, that's where we are doing the fumba bags. A lot of women, a lot of people there are exposed to pollution. A lot of people are cutting trees, affecting their environment. So me, I started, I came up with this idea to reduce the pollution process, exposed to pollution for so many hours. Me, I grew up with a person, my auntie, who was exposed to pollution from morning to evening. She could wake up at four, light all the charcoal stove with firewood. This fire doesn't know when you're using it, there's a lot of smoke. So the more people use the firewood, the more we lose our trees, which affect our environment. So those are some of the problems I'm solving that if someone accesses that fumba bag, this fumba bag only needs someone to put food for five minutes on either gas, coil, charcoal stove, firewood for only five minutes. And you transfer to our fumba bag, you put it there, you tighten and find your food ready. You can also remove that for lunch. Keep your hand for supper. You find it, but it keeps food hot for good hours. So this enables us to reduce that deforestation taking place to get the charcoal, to get the firewood. It also reduces on that time and hours people are cooking, exposing our temperatures, our ozone layer to pollution.

Winnie Namirimu (04:33):

Tell me about the business atmosphere in the country. How do you find it to do business in Uganda?

Carol Namirimu (04:44):

How I find doing business in Uganda, first of all, Ugandan people support you. If you are producing what they want, if they get to know your product, they're so supportive, encouraging. And the competition, I can't leave out the competition, but it depends on which product you give people. So it also depends on how you advertise your product to reach your people.

Winnie Namirimu (05:13):

So how do you advertise your products?

Carol Namirimu (05:16):

I advertise using all my social media platforms. My friends also advertise, so through different people, I connect with different people, show my product, they also take it to another person. My customers who have been able to access my product, they also help me to advertise. A lot of people now I was able to be broadcasted on some local channel, so they also help me to advertise.

Winnie Namirimu (05:46):

Yes. Okay. So you talked about advertising through social media channels. Have you got any negative feedback or maybe a positive feedback on your products while advertising on social media?

Carol Namirimu (06:02):

Yes. I've gotten both of them. First of all, the positive comments, the positive feedbacks have been a lot. People give you advice because whenever people see something new in your product, someone gives you advice, "Can you do like this? Can you do like this?". So there's a way you build up your thing. Negative feedback I've been getting, people have been doubting, "How can a bag cook? Is it possible?". Because people, first of all, all of us, whenever you see a new product, something you're not used to, you have that doubt. But the more you get exposed to a product, you know how it works, you gain that trust.

Winnie Namirimu (06:47):

So do you have someone or maybe an experience that drew you to start your own social enterprise?

Carol Namirimu (06:55):

Yes. That was in our HerStart first session. Her social enterprise is about reusable pads. Her company is called Pads for Her. She was brought to give her experience and we got a chance. She's someone who grew up from the same area. So, so inspired by her story. So me, I looked at myself, I put myself in her shoes, we are from the same village. At least, she didn't even have some opportunities, for us we are able to be exposed to some opportunities. Why can't we also do a thing? So that's where I got my inspiration.

Winnie Namirimu (07:52):

So what is the innovative aspect of the fumba bags, how is that business idea innovative?

Carol Namirimu (08:00):

First of all, I'll talk about the material. The fumba bags, these bags are in existence, but me, my innovative aspect of my business, the material I use basically I use some clothes, those clothes they use to make flags. Then me I use sponge, that's what I put inside to help that bag retain that heat.

Winnie Namirimu (08:31):

So is there any challenge or what is the biggest challenge you've faced so far in starting your business?

Carol Namirimu (08:39):

The capital, because me, I'm a student. I'm at university. I don't work. So gathering the capital to start, it was not easy.

Winnie Namirimu (08:53):

So apart from capital, so do you have any plans for the business as for now?

Carol Namirimu (08:58):

Yes, I have. I plan to have a bigger place with good machines, because the more people get to know my product, the more orders I get. So you can't have one machine when people are getting to know your product and can have orders of 10. So you can't produce 10 bags with one machine, so you have to get more machines so that at least the people you work with can produce at least five bags in two days. And a bigger place because I'm working from my home. My home, when it trains, the whole compound is full of water. So when it rains we don't work.

Winnie Namirimu (09:40):

So what is the, who do you want your business to benefit? What is the target group?

Carol Namirimu (09:57):

My group are mothers, the vulnerable mothers because mostly mothers, our mothers, are the people who are exposed especially, the people who from morning, I can find a lady who cooks from morning to evening, just cooking, housewives, those people.

Winnie Namirimu (10:19):

So tell me about some of the short term goals of your business.

Carol Namirimu (10:26):

Of course, good machines. A good place which can accommodate at least like 30 people, but they're working. So I want a big place for the community, to gather people together. So we make it in case someone has 1000 bags to make and that place accommodate us such a place which can accommodate our store, where we can keep our staff. Then the next thing is machines. Good sewing machines. Material, because when you're buying quantities, the material is kind of cheap. But at this moment, the order which comes in is the material you buy, so buying at around 45, if you buy 100, at least you get a discount, a bigger one. So also to get to buy, to reach a buying.

Winnie Namirimu (11:34):

Do you get, these people who help you, do you get people that already have the skills of sewing or you first get people and train them and skill them on how to make, to help you?

Carol Namirimu (11:53):

This thing, our foundation, it also trains people. It's part of our project activities. These are our trained people who come from zero to something.

Winnie Namirimu (12:06):

So we've seen the short term goals of the business. How about the long term goals? Tell me more about them.

Carol Namirimu (12:14):

So my long term goal, I want at least 10 000 families access the fumba bag, it will help our temperatures to decrease at least two degrees Celsius.

Winnie Namirimu (12:47):

So tell me, specifically, how has HerStart helped you through this journey of social entrepreneurship?

Carol Namirimu (12:47):

First of all, before I joined HerStart, I had some business ideas, both social enterprise and other businesses. But when I entered HerStart I had many ideas. I came up with the idea to come up with something new. My teachers would challenge me. They tell me this and this, you can do this and this, how can this business help people, something like that. So I had that idea of fumba bags, I say, let me tell people about this. People will come because it helps me, helps my mothers, helps their community, helps our environment. So it was a good idea. So from the HerStart, that feedback I got from the HerStart teachers, that was my beginning.

Outro (13:55):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart HerStory podcast episode, please like and share our episodes on social media and be sure to tune in and subscribe next time on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favourite podcast. This series will continue to highlight how young women social entrepreneurs in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda are leading change in their communities. A special thanks as well to the fellows who volunteer to support the HerStart Innovate the Future program and help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Corporation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Grace Wumbei, HerStart Communications and Training Fellow in Ghana, speaks with Mariam Iddrisu, founder of Mariam Millinery and Fashion Design Centre – a business which creates locally-made fashion goods and transforms litter into bags and other items. Mariam discusses her goal of providing employment and skills to others in her community through her social enterprise and how YCI’s HerStart program helped her launch her business.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:05):

Grace Wumbei (01:36):

Hi everyone. My name is Grace Wumbei and I'm the Communications and Training Fellow with YCI Ghana team.

Mariam Iddrisu (01:47):

My name is Iddrisu Mariam. I'm from Ghana. I'm from upper west region where I'm settled in Tamale. I'm a seamstress. I sew for customers, but sometimes I buy the materials so we can sell it out. As of now what I'm doing is, I go the market, there are some dresses there, which some people don't like it in Ghana where you don't feel comfortable. So we went to the market and pick it, come and remove it and make it a dress that would make you comfortable. My childhood growing up in Ghana, I was in the village, so things wasn't good for us. When I was in class six, getting to form one, my father passed away and it left my mother alone. And she too, she was old. She cannot take care of me again from school, so that was why I stopped schooling. But she can't afford to take me to the senior high school due to some problems because I was with my brother. My brother was going to training college and then to go to senior high school. But because of financial problem, I had to drop, and he went to the training college.

Grace Wumbei (03:17):

So that means you stopped schooling at junior high school?

Mariam Iddrisu (03:20):

Yes.

Grace Wumbei (03:21):

Wow. Did you have someone or an experience that drew you to start your business?

Mariam Iddrisu (03:27):

What actually inspired me was that anytime I will see anybody wearing a dress and I would just imagine who it has been made by. So why not I also try to do something?

Grace Wumbei (03:40):

So did anyone help you start your business venture?

Mariam Iddrisu (03:44):

Yeah. The person who helped me was my husband, because when I finished the work, I shopped for everything he provided me with, so I would say he's the one who helped me.

Grace Wumbei (03:56):

What is the innovative aspect of your business?

Mariam Iddrisu (03:59):

The innovative aspect of my business is, you know, they come in the community, what they do is they sew for the customers. But what I want to do it sew and sell, because there are some things unless they order from outside Ghana, but now I want my business to make those so they can order from Ghana. And I can also make it myself and it will be made in Ghana, not from Turkey or any part of the country.

Grace Wumbei (04:32):

How did you come up with that idea?

Mariam Iddrisu (04:35):

How I come up with that? Yeah, it was like, me, I like learning on social media. So sometimes when I just entered YouTube or I'm on it, I would just be, if I see any tutorial for it. So sometimes when you follow and see that maybe they'll come pick a shirt and turn it into a dress, so that was where I also said that maybe if I also try this one that would be okay. When I started at first, it was moving very well, but later on everywhere now I just go here. Everybody's doing this. So then I guess I was doing small and now I was thinking about how I'm going to bring another one.

Grace Wumbei (05:28):

What motivated you to come into the business? Did you find a gap in what others who already in the field are doing that motivated you to come into the business to bring something innovative to solve that problem or that gap that is, or that thing that is lacking in their businesses?

Mariam Iddrisu (05:46):

Yeah, because when I started, you know, when it's just, you sew for your customer, I mean, I don't like sitting down for free, so anytime I'm not having work, but I have to get something to be busy on, because in my nature that's how I am. So when I see that this time the customers, around when the COVID started, there were no things to sew. So I just tried to get something, just to aim something for myself.

Grace Wumbei (06:23):

So what is your plan for your business now?

Mariam Iddrisu (06:26):

So my plan now is that how I would do to also solve some problem in my community. When I went there, things we choose our businesses to, I say that we're picking the rubbish. And we use it to make bags and purses, even laptop bags, and there are some things that I have to add to make the same kind of products, which I have not done yet. But with those that are just easy to do I have started it.

Grace Wumbei (07:01):

So how has COVID-19 affected your business plan?

Mariam Iddrisu (07:05):

COVID-19 really affected it because with my sewing, when COVID started, you can sit for the whole week, sometimes months. So till I just come out with this innovative thing, then when I started, when I started it at my side, I was the only person who was doing it. Even some people came to me to learn. I never charge, I just say I want to help. So I taught them how to do it. So people benefitted from me.

Grace Wumbei (07:34):

So who do you want your business to benefit?

Mariam Iddrisu (07:36):

First of all, I would say the community. The community will benefit and how the community will benefit, as I'm picking the rubbish from the community, there will not be rubbish around.

Grace Wumbei (07:53):

So what aspect of your business have come easily to you?

Mariam Iddrisu (07:57):

What comes easily is the rubbish, the picking of the rubbish, that one is easy. Where I'm keeping it, it's not enough. So when it's full, I have to stop there. But I'm hoping that if time goes and it grows, maybe if I get some support, I'll get a big storage. Because according to how I do my investigation, when I do research, some people are buying them. So if I have enough to keep them, I can sew for them and still get some to get something because you have to buy the maintenance and everything. And there are some equipment that I still needed for that.

Grace Wumbei (08:53):

So tell us a little bit about how you heard about the HerStart program and how you got involved.

Mariam Iddrisu (09:00):

I would say thanks to my husband because that day I was in the house. He told me that they are having a program that they want to help those who want to start a business or want to grow their business. So when I heard about them, they gave me one of the forms. So I got it from them and filled it. So after we filled it my husband said we'll dial it, you can check on the link, so we check on the link. So we give them form to them. So we filled it on the next week. So later when I was called for the interview the program at GTC office.

Grace Wumbei (09:56):

How has that helped you on your journey?

Mariam Iddrisu (10:00):

It has helped me a lot. I will say a lot because sometimes when I was doing the sewing the dresses, I always think, how will I do to also help my community? They're just there. And some of the children are there. They're going to school without schoolbags. But when I come to HerStart, I learned that if I use that, I can give it to those who are not having bags. If the business grows, I can help in employing some of those who are not having work to picking the rubbish for me. When they pick and come now, I just get something small for them.

Grace Wumbei (10:44):

That would be great to watch you do it. So have you found any other outside factors to be particularly difficult with starting your business, whether it's the coronavirus or your competitors. Any challenge or any difficulty?

Mariam Iddrisu (11:01):

No, with the business, they're innovative that I'm starting now. There's no competitors. But soon I know if I start how I want to go, if I start in the city, then I will get competitors. And I want to because if you compete you are also going to solve another problem. Because I know the rubbish, I cannot pick it all. But if someone also come out who will pick with me, that will help all of us to solve the problem in the community.

Grace Wumbei (11:33):

What are the long-term goals for your business?

Mariam Iddrisu (11:38):

I want to grow my business, then I'll be able to employ people and help others teach them how to also make their own money. Because if someone just come to me for help, and I give you money, you go, you spend the money to finish, but if I'm able to help the person on teaching the person, "oh, this how you do and make this, you also make money", that one, the person can take it and make a life out of it. But if you give the money, one week, the person will finish it. But my long term, I want to help those who want to learn. With the sewing, I want to help them and teach them how to sew, even their bags. If only one person, I will teach you.

Grace Wumbei (12:30):

So what has stood out to you most with the HerStart program and what might you say to people who are interested in getting involved?

Mariam Iddrisu (12:41):

That is to try and also come. Because for me when I got it and I got the link, even there's some are still going on the training. This one woman, I gave her the link. And she applied. And there are still some people I gave the link, some of them, I don't know whether they called. Because it helped. Because if you go through the training, maybe if you are not able to get the grant, you'll learn something. You'll learn something out of there.

Outro (13:21):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart HerStory podcast episode, please like and share our episodes on social media and be sure to tune in and subscribe next time on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favourite podcast. This series will continue to highlight how young women social entrepreneurs in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda are leading change in their communities. A special thanks as well to the fellows who volunteer to support the HerStart Innovate the Future program and help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Corporation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Benedict Lucas, HerStart Communications and Training Fellow in Tanzania, speaks with Mtumwa Khamis Omar, founder of IKRA Early Childhood Centre – a kindergarten centre that aims to improve children’s academic performance, reduce primary school dropouts and keep young children off the street in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Mtumwa discusses the goals and challenges of her business and how YCI’s HerStart program helped her grow her knowledge and skills to start her own social enterprise.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:05):

Emily McDonald (01:36):

Hello everyone and thank you for tuning into the HerStory podcast. My name is Emily and I am currently a Climate Action and Entrepreneurship Fellow currently in Ontario, but I get the amazing opportunity to work with the HerStart team in Ghana. So today on the show, I am sitting with Taylor Marlow and Ellen Martin. Taylor is the Program and Partnership lead at YCI and Ellen is the Director at SoJo. So to get us started, Ellen, for those who aren't familiar with Sojo, could you tell us a bit more about SoJo and what was your inspiration behind starting it?

Ellen Martin (02:08):

Yeah, thanks Emily. Happy to be here. So SoJo, we got started about seven years ago and we're really on a mission to unlock the potential of the next generation of social entrepreneurs globally. Uh, so the way that we do that is working in partnership with organizations like YCI, projects like HerStart to develop training and support programs for mostly young aspiring social entrepreneurs. So what inspired me to get started with SoJo, I really saw, you know, a lot of young people, um, kind of feeling a little bit helpless about, um, some of the issues that they were seeing in the world, but also very passionate about making the world a better place seeing improvement in their community, and so wanted to start Sojo as a platform to really provide those young people with passion, with the tools and resources that they need to turn that passion into action through social entrepreneurship.

Emily McDonald (03:19):

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think the one thing I've learned from working from this project is there's no shortage of young passionate people out there. So you'd already talked a little bit about working with other organizations, but what really stood out to you with working with the HerStart initiative and really create a positive impact for participants and their communities?

Ellen Martin (03:40):

What drew us to work on HerStart, I think is a couple of factors. Um, over the last several years we've been working with more targeted communities. Um, so women as a community of people, um, being one kind of focus and I'm quite passion about gender issues and working with young women so that was definitely a factor. I think we are also always really excited about projects that are supporting people and young people specifically, who are very close to the challenges in their communities that they're wanting to address. So HerStart's goal is to work with young women who, for various reasons in their lives potentially face significant barriers to employment or starting enterprises, but they are also, you know, very close to the kinds of challenges in their community that they wanna address through their enterprises.

Emily McDonald (04:42):

Yeah, absolutely, that like kind of lived experience, I think, is really important for when you're walking into any kind of situation that you wanna address. Speaking of HerStart, Taylor, would you like to tell us a bit more about what your role with the HerStart initiative is?

Taylor Marlow (04:57):

Yeah, so my role with HerStart is essentially overseeing the fellowship programs. So we have currently the Canadian e-fellowship program where Canadians are volunteering their time remotely for the program. And we have a national fellowship program in each country as well, so in Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana, there's local young people volunteering their time on the project as well. So overseeing those components and working with the staff and partners in each country to ensure those are successful and meaningfully integrated into the project.

Emily McDonald (05:33):

Yeah, it's been really kind of exciting for me as a fellow to certainly kind of be involved with the HerStart program. But one of the things that I would be interested to know is, I'm here as a cohort three iteration, but I'd be curious to know kind of what brought the HerStart project to life and kind of what factors were involved in turning this from an idea into an action and really what role do myself as a fellow and other fellows play in that.

Taylor Marlow (05:57):

Yeah. Great question. So essentially the program is part of the Volunteer Cooperation Program, so we're funded through that program stream within the Global Affairs Canada network. And yeah, the ultimate outcome that we're working towards in the whole program is to contribute to the economic and social wellbeing of marginalized and vulnerable people, particularly women and girls around the world. But, you know, as the name Volunteer Cooperation Program implies, we are working with volunteers as a key stakeholder in order to do that. So a big part of the program and a goal of the program is to provide meaningful opportunities for skilled Canadians and others to volunteer their time. So we have really, yeah, been working with volunteers at YCI for over 30 years in different programs. This includes EQWIP HUBs, which some people might have heard of before. We also have an Innovate ME internship program that's been running for a few years, and we've really learned from that experience how we can meaningfully engage volunteers in development work in other countries and engage them in the project in order to reach that ultimate outcome.

Emily McDonald (07:16):

Yeah, absolutely. And not only has it been kind of a great public engagement tool, but it's also a really incredible learning opportunity for anyone who's interested. One of the things that I find really interesting is that you're under kind of this umbrella of volunteer cooperation, but it's not called a volunteer program it's called a fellowship program. So I'd just be kind of curious why that title and why is that the case with YCI and the HerStart initiative?

Taylor Marlow (07:40):

Yeah, great question. So that's something that we had a lot of discussions around in the planning stages of the program early last year, but we decided to call it a fellowship program rather than a volunteer program in a really intentional way, because we wanted to highlight the importance of the participants, their personal and professional development that they would gain through their engagement with HerStart. So this involves things like really, you know, developing high-quality trainings and resources with subject matter experts, such as Ellen and the SoJo team, ensuring there are really meaningful placements with a focus on learning and development, and providing different networking opportunities so that throughout their placements, all of the fellows are able to become part of this global network of like-minded people who can support them beyond the length of their placements, that they'll be part of this community and network for years to come.

Taylor Marlow (08:41):

So, yeah, it's something that we did intentionally to try to attract the right people as well. We really want people who are bringing previous knowledge and skills to the table that they want to further apply and learn more about in these contexts and who will be really highly committed to their role in the program, since they do play a really key piece in the HerStart program. We wanted to make sure that we designed an offer for them, where they will be really committed and, yeah, work closely with us in order to reach our really ambitious goals in the HerStart project.

Emily McDonald (09:17):

Yeah, absolutely. And I think the thing that I have really loved about being a fellow myself is that through kind of this learning and development, you kind of get the chance to really make your fellowship your own in terms of what are the key learning goals that you want to achieve, which I think is really exciting for anyone who's looking for a really unique opportunity to engage with international development. So one of the things that's really stood out for me in this program is the really close ties that HerStart initiative has with local in-country organizations. So could you shed some insight onto why this program involves partnerships with those local organizations?

Ellen Martin (09:54):

I'm happy to jump in around this. I mean, from our perspective, partnerships with local organizations are absolutely essential to the overall program success and program model, but in the context of HerStart, you know, in particular, the local partners play a really important role in providing deep community connections. So when we're trying to engage women in a program like HerStart offers, really important that there's a strong understanding of the kind of social and cultural context with every specific community that the program is being implemented in. So local partners really bring networks with local leaders, deep relationships and that strong understanding of the dynamics of that community. You know, they also bring really interesting expertise, so each partner has kind of a different focus or skillset. Some organizations with a really strong gender focus and other organizations that, you know, have really interesting financing tools for entrepreneurs as part of their offerings.

Ellen Martin (11:11):

So this combination of really complementary skillsets helps augment the overall impact that HerStart can have, you know. And finally, of course, you know, local partnerships, I think play a really big role in the sustained impact of an initiative like HerStart. It's quite a dream in a way to have a seven-year project, you know, I think that's quite rare. But at the end of the day, it's the local partners who, you know, will take up and continue this work long beyond the end of the seven years we hope.

Taylor Marlow (11:48):

Yeah, and I'll jump in and just say, yeah, with their strong knowledge and experience in those different thematic areas of the program, like Ellen mentioned things like climate, gender, youth engagement, the experience and knowledge that they are bringing to the table is extremely helpful in supporting the other stakeholders in the program as well. So in HerStart, we're really trying to foster this cross-cultural exchange across different stakeholders, so staff, partners, fellows in Canada and in the other program countries, and really, yeah, utilizing their knowledge and experience to teach each other and support each other in this global community that are trying to tackle these really, really big topics and challenges.

Emily McDonald (12:35):

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, when chatting with our Gender Equality Fellow in Ghana, Gifty who lives in Ghana, she's from Ghana, she has a deep kind of understanding of those dynamics that both Ellen and Taylor, you were both mentioning, and one of the things that she did mention when it comes to some of these larger issues is the fact that within households, there is kind of this dominant patriarchal structure, especially when it comes to money. So when we're talking about economic empowerment as part of this project, and as part of this sustained impact, what are some things that you hope that this project is able to do in terms of tackling that power imbalance that exists in these homes? And what are some tangible steps to take in order to kind of get closer to that ultimate goal that HerStart has of equality and economic empowerment?

Ellen Martin (13:26):

Asking the tough questions, Emily <laugh> yeah, big questions <laugh> yeah. You know, some of the things that come to mind for me, there is this, you know, balanced approach between direct implementation, which is, you know, the delivery of a program, a training program to build the skills of aspiring entrepreneurs and the kind of systems-level changes that are required in order to achieve that ultimate impact goal. Certainly from a training perspective, you know, we're trying to integrate the inclusion of skills and attitudes and knowledge that go beyond really fundamental, like business skills to broader self-confidence, empowerment, even skills like negotiation and being able to be supported in decision-making. So trying to develop these like broader skills among participants is certainly one of the focuses. And we've been working through a process we've called the human-centered design lab with HerStart staff where some of the, kind of, key questions around how to engage more of those systems-level stakeholders, a lot of focus on how to meaningfully engage families and the men in women's lives in supporting their business journey and also supporting household responsibilities and really making space for young women to be able to fully participate and grow a business.

Ellen Martin (15:08):

Taylor, I'd love to hear what your perspective is on this as well.

Taylor Marlow (15:12):

Yeah, no, that was a really great start to that really difficult question. And like Ellen is saying, it's something that us as staff and, you know, with partners and fellows, we talk about all the time and are really, you know, trying to make space to have these open, honest conversations about these really challenging and complex systemic issues, and how can we maybe make a dent in them through this project over the course of the seven years? So, yeah, I think even just making room for these conversations with participants themselves as well is like a really big step, like making this space in these communities for women to be able to interact with one another and, you know, reflect on what types of support or what barriers they are facing and how they can learn and support each other I think is really important.

Taylor Marlow (16:09):

And something that we're already seeing come out of the program, which is pretty cool. So yeah, making space for role models and, you know, creating those communities of support like Ellen was saying. There are women of course, challenging patriarchy and overcoming these barriers or obstacles in each of these communities already. So, you know, identifying those women, bringing them to the table, empowering other women to also see how they could overcome these challenges is really important and something that HerStart is trying to do through the role of mentorship and peer-to-peer support within each cohort of participants that go through our programs. And where YCI and the program comes in is really providing that additional training, resources, money is a huge barrier, so providing the financial support that women might not be able to access and can obviously benefit from in order to achieve their goals and move their businesses forward.

Emily McDonald (17:12):

Yeah, and I think sometimes it's sometimes overlooked how important it is to kind of create that safe space to have those conversations, and for women especially to be able to form those relationships and friendships and role models that can be really, really important in these projects like this. The program is kind of quite early into the seven years, so when you both kind of reflect on the project so far, how have you seen women progress throughout the program? So kind of where they had started and where they are now.

Ellen Martin (17:45):

Mm-hmm <affirmative> yes, as you say, it's pretty early days, but I actually was just having a conversation with one of the Partnership and Training Coordinators in Uganda, and she was sharing her excitement at the fact that one of the people who just recently completed the Seed your Social Venture program, so that second program, she came back to a Sparking Social Innovation training, which is the first program, and shared that people in her community are referring to her now as a change-maker. And Lillian was just so proud of this kind of like full circle story. So for only, you know, being really a year, less than a year into actually delivering programs, those kinds of stories are yeah, really, really exciting.

Emily McDonald (18:38):

I am so excited to kind of see at the end of the seven years, what comes out of it, because I think the HerStart program is truly a testament to the importance of having that passion, those right tools and kind of anything is possible. The story of the change-maker also warms my heart, it's so fantastic to see the impact that these participants can have on their community. It's beautiful.

Ellen Martin (18:58):

Yeah, it really is. Yeah.

Emily McDonald (19:00):

So I think it's really clear from our conversation that we are individuals who are passionate about social justice and social entrepreneurship, but for those who are listening, for any one who's listening who also shares kind of some of those same passions, but may feel slightly overwhelmed with kind of tackling these large issues, like the climate crisis and the patriarchy and even issues around funding. I really think we talked about before, but the HerStart story is a testament that with a positive attitude and a lot of drive, success is very possible. So could you talk about some of the actionable steps someone could take to kind of start their journey of impact, whether that be on the local community or even global level?

Taylor Marlow (19:43):

Yeah, I mean, from a volunteer lens, they can definitely get involved in HerStart or similar programs in their communities. You know, there are are so many organizations using young people's energy, passion and commitment to these issues to take action, so I do encourage people to look into opportunities that match with their interests and passions. But yeah, it has been really incredible to see already how many people have been really excited by the HerStart program and have been involved in it, so already we've seen over 300 applications for the e-fellowship program alone. So we're only going into cohort four and we've only had, you know, 35 available positions, but we've seen 10 times the amount of applicants. So that tells me that yeah, people are really interested and really passionate about these topics and want to take action.

Taylor Marlow (20:43):

So seeking out those opportunities and, you know, getting involved in ways that work with your schedule and your availability and your interests, just seeing that that's entirely possible, I hope is a good first step. Really learning from people like you, Emily, who, you know, sought out this program and have really been dedicated to contribute your time and energy to it is something that's really motivating and inspiring for me as well, but I hope it makes it feel possible for other people. I know young people can often feel like, like you said, unsure of where to start or where to go, but I think there's more and more opportunities being created for young people to get involved in this sector and in this space, particularly during the pandemic, being able to get involved remotely has been something that's been really interesting for us to experiment with and learn from, you know, shifting what was supposed to be an in-person travel international placement program to a remote e-volunteering or e-fellowship program has been a really interesting journey for us to learn from how we can meaningfully engage Canadians who aren't able to travel for various reasons, whether their schedule or life situation doesn't allow it, but are still really passionate about these issues.

Taylor Marlow (22:08):

So that's something that's been really cool to see across, you know, all sectors really in all issues is how organizations and individuals are adapting to the conditions of the pandemic to get creative and how you can volunteer, you know, with a country like Ghana, like you are Emily, from your home in Canada has been really interesting to learn across the sector and something that I think we'll find ways to continue to do in meaningful ways in the future. So yeah, I'd say the first step is just realizing that there are those opportunities out there, if you put in the time and energy to search and find them and, you know, network with other people, LinkedIn is a great tool for that, like find out what is out there and how you can get involved from the comfort of your home. You don't always have to actually be able to travel in order to make a real difference on these issues.

Emily McDonald (23:04):

Yeah, absolutely. You don't even need to like necessarily put on jeans either, which can be a benefit of working from home. Uh, and yeah, I think, I mean, Taylor, you're totally right. For me, what has been so wonderful as a fellow of the HerStart program is just how much my eyes have been opened up to the opportunities, even beyond HerStart, just by connecting with other fellows, having those really interesting conversations. It's been really incredible to know kind of what opportunities even lay beyond the HerStart Fellowship. Thank you both so much for being on the show and on the podcast today and explaining your roles and some of the biggest challenges as well as kind of what are those steps that HerStart is taking for this initiative to become a success. We all want to see so many women succeed on their entrepreneurial endeavors and I think this project is an incredible step in the right direction.

Outro (24:01):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart HerStory podcast episode, please like and share our episodes on social media and be sure to tune in and subscribe next time on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favourite podcast. This series will continue to highlight how young women social entrepreneurs in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda are leading change in their communities. A special thanks as well to the fellows who volunteer to support the HerStart Innovate the Future program and help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Corporation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Winnie Namirimu, HerStart Communications and Training Fellow in Uganda, speaks with Jovia Birimuye, founder of Save More Briquettes – an innovative green business that produces briquettes for cooking as an alternative to charcoal made from wood to help reduce deforestation in her community in Mpigi, Uganda. They discuss Jovia’s goals for her enterprise and how YCI’s HerStart program helped grow Jovia’s environmental knowledge and confidence as a social entrepreneur.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:05):

Winnie Namirimu (01:35):

Hi everyone. My name is Namirimu Winnie. I'm the Communications and Training Fellow with Youth Challenge International and today I'm going to be chatting with Jovia about her green enterprise.

Jovia Birimuye (01:51):

I'm Birimuye Jovia with my partner, Namyonga Phiona. We are from Kalangala Mpigi District in the Central Region of Uganda. I grew up from the Central Region of Uganda in Chi Boga district. And growing up, we used to grow crops, we used to rear animals, domestic animals, like cows, goats. We used to be told stories Anglo in the evening at the fireplace. Our parents used to go for weddings. Growing up in Uganda is so interesting and I'm proud that I grew up from Uganda. Our green enterprise is all about making charcoal briquettes from plant and animal wastes. These plant wastes include peels and wastes like cow dung. I got this idea from the prolonged drought that was caused by deforestation. So I decided to bring this green enterprise to reduce the deforestation.

Winnie Namirimu (03:18):

What does a green enterprise mean to you?

Jovia Birimuye (03:22):

To me, a green enterprise is any business or business activity that is addressing any challenge facing the environment. This challenge include, there is pollution, air pollution, water pollution, such challenges facing the environment that any business that can reduce that those challenges is a green enterprise.

Winnie Namirimu (03:51):

Okay.

Jovia Birimuye (03:52):

Yeah.

Winnie Namirimu (03:52):

Most, most enterprises or maybe different ideas come out from different inspirations. So you as a person owning a green enterprise, do you have someone or maybe an experience that drew you to start your own enterprise?

Jovia Birimuye (04:10):

First of all, when I joined the HerStart program, we were told to make research about the problems in our community. But when I went back with my idea, I found someone's idea, which I picked interest and my partner Namyonga Phiona, her idea was stopping the deforestation that is causing the prolonged drought that farmers can't receive enough rainfall. So when I had that idea, I saw it so important to stop that, to stop the deforestation. So I joined her.

Winnie Namirimu (04:53):

You, as a person with a green enterprise, I understand you have passion for the environment. So can you tell me about where you got that passion for that environment from.

Jovia Birimuye (05:05):

One day, I wanted to eat some vegetables. So when I went to the market, they had no vegetables. So I asked everyone, "why?". They told me the prolonged drought, we can't grow vegetables. So I said, eh, this idea, when you put this idea into consideration and reimplement it with my partner, it shall decrease deforestation. Then farmers will be receiving enough rainfall and we will be growing vegetables.

Winnie Namirimu (05:41):

Can you tell me any challenge that you faced while choosing a green enterprise instead of these ordinary businesses?

Jovia Birimuye (05:50):

People think these businesses are for international people, for very educated people. They say, "eh, these people, that business is so expensive, those things are so expensive". So they choose not to buy from me and also challenge from other, the already market. The charcoal that is already on the market. That's a challenge because people choose not to buy from me. And even they don't respect the idea of saving the environment.

Winnie Namirimu (06:25):

So how do you deal with such challenges? For example, if someone decides to buy from another person, instead of you, how do you deal with such things?

Jovia Birimuye (06:35):

I try to explain to those people and some of them understand and they don't buy that banned charcoal and then they buy from me. So I try to explain to them and teach them the good thing of keeping the trees, of don't buying those charcoal because they cut trees. So some of them pick interest in my business, so they buy from us.

Winnie Namirimu (07:06):

We've seen COVID-19 affecting so many businesses, either social enterprises, green enterprises. So has COVID-19 affected your business plan?

Jovia Birimuye (07:18):

Yeah. Yeah, because COVID-19 has affected our business because the production declined because we used to supply schools, restaurants, hotels, and time reached when the schools you had, the schools were closed. So the production declined, our live-in resources, they declined. We lost some capable investors, our investors. So.

Winnie Namirimu (07:48):

During that, COVID-19 and the lockdown, how did the operation of the business change? Are there some things that changed?

Jovia Birimuye (07:57):

Yes. The number of production changed, even the number of customers. We could receive many customers but someone who told you, "Money, we don't have money". So, the level of earning, the income.

Winnie Namirimu (08:14):

Yeah. As you're helping the environment, you're also trying to help people. So if a person comes to buy from you, your products, and they bargained, do you accept, do you reduce the price for them? Or the price is strict?

Jovia Birimuye (08:33):

It depends. If someone is taking many briquettes, you can bargain. But if she or he is taking little, you can't bargain also that is the price that we put on those briquettes.

Winnie Namirimu (08:50):

Okay. I understand. So tell me about some of the short term goals for your business.

Jovia Birimuye (08:55):

First of all, we want to make a charcoal supply in Mpigi District. When we supply charcoal everywhere in Mpigi, the charcoal briquettes. Also we could like to provide some employment opportunities to people in Mpigi who collect raw materials for us, to support them.

Winnie Namirimu (09:20):

Okay. So since those are short term goals, have you tried to start working on them?

Jovia Birimuye (09:25):

Yeah, yeah.

Winnie Namirimu (09:26):

Tell me more about that.

Jovia Birimuye (09:27):

We have provided some people with opportunities like collecting the waste garbage - they bring to us, we buy from them. And also we have a number of people we supply with our charcoal briquettes in Mpigi.

Winnie Namirimu (09:42):

So how about the long term goals of your business?

Jovia Birimuye (09:44):

First of all, our long term goals, we want to see a strong green environment in Mpigi District. When everywhere you look, you see a green environment. And also we want in Mpigi District to have enough rainfall, a favourable climate for the Mpigi District people.

Winnie Namirimu (10:19):

Are there any specific people that you want your business to benefit?

Jovia Birimuye (10:24):

First of all, Mpigi farmers, farmers of Mpigi District. They will be receiving enough rainfall for their crops to grow. Yes.

Winnie Namirimu (10:38):

Apart from the farmers...

Jovia Birimuye (10:40):

The farmers, we have household of 18 to 60 years of age. Yes, we have schools, restaurants, hotels, yeah.

Winnie Namirimu (10:53):

Okay. It's really great to see that your business has positive impacts on the Earth and the environment. Okay, so after joining the HerStart program, the first time you joined it, did you see that this was really going to make your dream come true?

Jovia Birimuye (11:13):

Yeah. Yes. HerStart has supported us with knowledge, because we did not know that we have to care about our environment. So it has empowered us. It has given us knowledge. It has given us confidence to believe in ourselves that we can make it.

Winnie Namirimu (11:36):

Okay. That is really great. So if someone comes to you and they're interested in joining the HerStart program, what advice would you give them?

Jovia Birimuye (11:46):

I just advise them to quickly come and join the HerStart because it's so educative. It gives you knowledge. The HerStart program has empowered me to respect and appreciate my gender as a female, and also to appreciate the natural gift that God gave us - the environment.

Outro (12:17):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart HerStory podcast episode, please like and share our episodes on social media and be sure to tune in and subscribe next time on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favourite podcast. This series will continue to highlight how young women social entrepreneurs in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda are leading change in their communities. A special thanks as well to the fellows who volunteer to support the HerStart Innovate the Future program and help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Corporation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Grace Wumbei, HerStart Communications and Training Fellow in Ghana, speaks with Hamida Iddrisu, founder of Hammy Comfort Décor, an environmentally responsible business that produces products from plastic waste and learns about her involvement in YCI’s HerStart program. They discuss the challenges that Hamida has overcome as a woman entrepreneur with a disability in Ghana and the opportunities she can now offer other women with disabilities in her community.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:05):

Grace Wumbei (01:37):

Hi everyone. My name is Grace Wumbei and I'm the Communications and Training Fellow with YCI Ghana. I'm chatting with Hamida Iddrisu about her growth enterprise. A growth enterprise is a business that generates significant earnings that are put back into the business to further expand and grow. Madam Hamida Iddrisu, thank you for being here today to share your business story with us.

Hamida Iddrisu (02:05):

Thank you. You're welcome.

Grace Wumbei (02:08):

To start off today's episode. I'd like to get to know you. A lot of our listeners have never been to Ghana, so can you paint us a picture of what your day-to-day life is like here?

Hamida Iddrisu (02:24):

I grew up in a standard family. So my grandmother raised me because my mom and dad wasn't together as a result of death. My grandmother stood on her grounds to make sure I educated and I'm a university graduate, but unemployed. So I decided not to be sitting down doing nothing. As a person with disability, my day-to-day activity is not easy, but I'm trying my best because in every disability, there is ability. That is what I believe.

Hamida Iddrisu (03:19):

I decided to find something which does not involve hard labour. As I was thinking about what to do, then I came up with an idea of recycling plastic waste into home decor products. An example of my products are pillows, arm rests, back rests, foot rests, pregnancy pillows and furnitures for offices. And then I make my products dense, so that when you lie on it and you get up or wake up, then it goes back to the normal shape. I have two people who are disabled to help me in doing this so that they wouldn't end up on the street begging. That is what I'm doing currently and I hope to expand it in future.

Grace Wumbei (04:20):

Wow. Indeed. In every disability, there is surely an ability. I really admire everything you've said. Even though the beginning was sad, you didn't continue being sad, but you worked things out to become great. So you use plastic waste to make pillows. So how do you make them, do you cut them into small pieces or like, how do you turn plastic waste into shapes?

Hamida Iddrisu (04:47):

Yes. For now I don't have a shredder. So I do it with local women or like I said, some true persons with disability like me and now we are using scissors to cut them, yes, before we process them. But then we have to wash it because we are picking it from different places, some in the ... and others in the manufacturing the ... So when they come, they're dirty, unless you wash them with detergents and dry them to be clean before we shred them.

Grace Wumbei (05:33):

Wow. Today is the first time I'm actually hearing about using plastic waste to make pillows. That's an innovative way of keeping Ghana clean. Wow. So how was, what are some of the challenges you faced when you were in school with a disability?

Hamida Iddrisu (05:51):

Okay. The challenges I faced, though my disability is in multiple disability. I'm limping on my left leg and then I have essential tremor, my body shakes. So, like writing in class was not easy for me, but I didn't experience any discrimination, just maybe few students, but not all. Now I'm still looking for a job though, but I'm doing the business.

Grace Wumbei (06:28):

Wow. It's great to know you didn't experience any discrimination because sometimes discrimination actually is the one that causes more harm.

Grace Wumbei (06:45):

We've heard from some other entrepreneurs that there can be some barriers in starting a business as women in Ghana. What is your experience with this like?

Hamida Iddrisu (06:55):

Okay. Some barriers are somtimes family are like, "You're a woman, you cannot do this, you cannot do that", and then sometimes women are not supposed to go to certain places alone. Yeah, especially when you are delivering your product, some places you don't have to go alone, you have to give to a delivering person or you get somebody to accompany you to go and deliver it.

Grace Wumbei (07:27):

Have you found any other outside factors to be particularly difficult with starting your business, whether that be the pandemic or other competitors in your area?

Hamida Iddrisu (07:37):

Yeah, the difficulties I find my brother is collecting the waste. Yes, my own self movement is difficult for me and I don't have a means of movement to go so I think that's my challenge.

Grace Wumbei (07:59):

The challenge is how you get the raw product that is the plastic waste. Wow. So tell us about your good plans for your business. Do you have currently any employees?

Hamida Iddrisu (08:13):

Yeah, I have two. And the local women who are washing and shredding are five. And I hope to expand it in future, my future plan is to have a rehabilitation center to employ more disabled like myself in order for them to earn a living instead of being a burden to their family. And I have gotten a little support. That is the reason why I am here.

Grace Wumbei (08:40):

Okay. I'm curious about who your main target audience is and who your customers are. As of right now, who do you sell to?

Hamida Iddrisu (08:51):

I sell to hotels. The foot rests are used by offices. And friends and family, even households, they buy.

Grace Wumbei (09:11):

So how are you able to sell them? Like how do you get people to be aware of what you do and how do you sell them to them?

Hamida Iddrisu (09:17):

Through friends, like reference and then social media.

Grace Wumbei (09:25):

Okay. So would you like to open a store or sell your product in a store?

Hamida Iddrisu (09:30):

Yes, I would like to open a store. So that I can display my products very well. Because currently I'm doing it in the house.

Grace Wumbei (09:42):

So mainly washing everything, cutting and everything is done in the house as of now?

Hamida Iddrisu (09:49):

Yes, it's done in the house.

Grace Wumbei (09:52):

Okay. So how does the space you work out of right now work for you?

Hamida Iddrisu (09:59):

Actually, it's quite challenging. It's not easy. And where to keep the raw material is a challenge and our place is not enough like that.

Grace Wumbei (10:12):

So it means because of where you are right now, you're unable to produce in large quantities. You only do when someone needs it like an order?

Hamida Iddrisu (10:21):

Yeah, yes.

Grace Wumbei (10:23):

Okay. So what is your biggest cost right now?

Hamida Iddrisu (10:27):

My biggest cost is the production and the delivery. Yes, because when you are going to deliver to a client, you need to look for a delivering service and then the price is always high, so.

Grace Wumbei (10:45):

Okay. So what are your main goals? Let's say by the end of 2022, what is your main goal?

Hamida Iddrisu (10:54):

By the end of 2022, I wish to have enough place to be able to produce and display my product.

Grace Wumbei (11:05):

Okay. So your goal is to get a place to be able to produce your things. Okay. Let's hope it comes to pass. So that's a business woman in Ghana. What is your biggest motivator in continuing to grow and scale your business?

Hamida Iddrisu (11:24):

My biggest motivator is just redeem me, like not giving up, trying daily to do something.

Grace Wumbei (11:36):

Thank you, Madam Hamida Iddrisu, for taking the time to share your story with us. We are looking forward to seeing your business grow and good luck with your business. I would really like to come for your training to learn how to make pillows, even though I'm not disabled, but I really like what you're doing and I would like to get the training from you. Am I invited?

Hamida Iddrisu (11:57):

Yeah, you're welcome. Everybody is welcome. Yeah.

Grace Wumbei (12:03):

Okay. Thank you very much and good luck with your journey.

Hamida Iddrisu (12:06):

You too, bye.

Outro (12:16):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart HerStory podcast episode, please like and share our episodes on social media and be sure to tune in and subscribe next time on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favourite podcast. This series will continue to highlight how young women social entrepreneurs in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda are leading change in their communities. A special thanks as well to the fellows who volunteer to support the HerStart Innovate the Future program and help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Corporation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Cindy Lee, HerStart Monitoring and Evaluation E-Fellow, speaks with Laura Perez Gonzalez, HerStart Research & Insights E-Fellow for Tanzania and Gifty Osei Boateng, HerStart Gender Equality & Entrepreneurship Fellow in Ghana about their experience volunteering with YCI’s HerStart Innovate the Future program, including the key skills they’ve learned and advice they have for future fellows.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:05):

Cindy Lee (01:35):

Hello! On today's episode of HerStory, we're chatting with some volunteers from both Canada and Ghana. So we have Laura who was the Research and Insights Fellow from the previous cohort, Cohort 2. And we have Gifty who is a Gender Equality Fellow for the current cohort, and we'll tell you about our role with the HerStart project. So, hi Laura, can you please introduce yourself? And Gifty, can you please introduce yourself as well?

Laura Perez Gonzalez (02:00):

Yeah, so thank you for having me. So my name is Laura, and like you mentioned, I was a Research and Insights Fellow for Cohort 2 and so my work focused on Tanzania specifically. And so together we supported some of the projects with SoJo to help learn a little bit more about the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Tanzania and Zanzibar specifically.

Gifty Osei Boateng (02:20):

Okay, yes, I'm Gifty Osei Boateng, I am the Gender Equality and Entrepreneurship Fellow for Ghana.

Cindy Lee (02:28):

Interesting. So can you tell me a little bit more about why you decided to get involved and why you specifically chose the role that you're in?

Laura Perez Gonzalez (02:37):

Yeah, so I am very passionate about women's empowerment and education, particularly. So I was really interested in the opportunity because, well, with COVID like everything was pretty much closed. And so this being a remote opportunity definitely seemed interesting and an opportunity to be able to practice international development to the extent that I could at that time.

Gifty Osei Boateng (02:59):

Okay, yes. Naturally, I've been the kind of lady who wants to see a lot of women empowered. So I gave birth to my second child and I had to babysit and do mother work for a whole year, so I was out of the office workspace for a whole year. So I saw the HerStart project ad on the internet - volunteer for four months. So I decided to go in for the Gender Equality and Entrepreneurship Fellow because previously I was working on women and educating the girl child. Ghana has a problem where a lot of children are forced into early marriages. So my previous project, we were working to stop those things and encourage the young girls to go to school instead. So that motivated me a lot to apply for the Gender Equality Fellow to at least push me back to the office space since I've been in the house for a very long time and also learn and grow so that I'll be able to fit into a wider space next time, so that motivated me to apply.

Cindy Lee (04:10):

Thank you. So you mentioned that you wanted to go back to the office setting. So that's interesting because for me mostly when I was doing my fellowship, it was mostly remote, so I was stuck at home. And working remotely for me I found some challenges and benefits. So I actually wanted to dig a little deeper into that and ask how that experience was and the benefits you saw. Like I know that you mentioned being able to collaborate with a lot of people from diverse backgrounds. Would you say there were any other benefits that you wanted to highlight?

Laura Perez Gonzalez (04:52):

Yeah, I think initially the challenge is not really knowing how it's going to work out because all you can really see is just your screen and that's the extent that you're able to participate in many ways. So I think like first adapting to that, and then also like the time zones can be a little tricky sometimes because we also have like daylight savings time and so that puts us an extra hour either ahead or behind from the country that we're working with, and so then meetings can be pretty early. So trying to do outreach was initially challenging because everybody's busy, so everybody has their own schedules as well. And so the time difference played a little bit into that, but I think it was really fun overall. Just the fact that you can connect with somebody who is at the other side of the world while you're working from your own room is pretty cool.

Laura Perez Gonzalez (05:36):

And I think like how that became the norm in some ways, it's kind of cool to reflect on that, but I think like being able to collaborate, like I said, with people who are as passionate as you are about the same topics is really interesting and really cool just to be able to share ideas and share that knowledge and support each other professionally and personally, as you grow through the four months, that was the fellowship for me. But you definitely learn a lot and you get to hone in on certain skills that you wanna specifically tailor. So like I did some monitoring and evaluation through different projects, but I also did a lot of research. And so it was really interesting and different concepts that you're also introduced to. And then you get the opportunity to kind of learn more about them on your own, through the support of YCI and through the HerStart fellowship as well.

Gifty Osei Boateng (06:22):

Yes. Initially the only challenge is the internet because, having to connect, sometimes you'll be in the meeting, everything is going on, then the internet cuts out. That's the only challenge. Apart from that, we were able to impact, although we do not see each other physically, but we were able to impact collaborating with Maria Malik in Canada, through WhatsApp, through Slack and through Google Meet and all those things made me connect with her, although we weren't in touch physically. I've learned a lot. And also with my colleagues here, we have to move from the office, from the home and come to office, stay here till 5:00 PM and go back. They become your family.

Cindy Lee (07:13):

Yeah, for sure. And I appreciate you mentioning like the different communication platforms that we were able to use. I think conversations on Slack, email, we even had a WhatsApp chat group. So I think we figured out different ways to manage that challenge and made it easier for all of us to collaborate. And I do agree with that point about having to figure out time zone and everything, I think that was certainly a challenge. At first I remember going like, what 4:00 PM GMT? Like what time is that in Canada? I have to do I have to Google it, I have to do my calculations, but now I'm like, oh, it's 12:00 PM. I know it like right on top of my head. So I think after practice, it's definitely a challenge that we can all overcome and like the benefits of connecting with other people from all over the world definitely outweighs the challenge, I guess. And Laura, you mentioned how you got to work on your personal professional skills that you were able to develop with the HerStart program. So can you explain a little bit more about that and what some of your personal goals were in this volunteer program?

Laura Perez Gonzalez (08:25):

Yeah, for sure. So I think initially I was really interested in learning more about gender analysis and also more about monitoring and evaluation. And so as a Research Fellow, I was able to practice some of those skills through my personal learning plan and through the micro-projects and through communities of practice. For their research, it was a little bit more catered to practicing like interview skills and human-centered design, which is really cool and really fun to learn about as well and how to analyze data in that way, which is really interesting and definitely something that's different from the academic background that I come from. So being able to get a sense of research through different lens was really great. And then through specific skills that I was interested in, the beginning of the fellowship, yeah so monitoring and evaluation and gender analysis.

Laura Perez Gonzalez (09:10):

Those were really important to me and I think like being able to share those thoughts with different fellows and learn from the national fellows as well, what gender concepts look like in practice in the different countries and then being able to have those conversations in like a safe space, but also with people that are eager to learn is definitely very fruitful and definitely like a very welcoming environment. And I think being remote does have its challenges, but it's also an opportunity to connect. And that's something that I think is very valuable about the fellowship is that everybody's passionate about these issues and these programs, but everybody also has a different perspective and a different background. And so it becomes a really great learning space and really supportive space as well. And so that's something that I really appreciate and took away from the fellowship, now a few months later.

Cindy Lee (09:54):

Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Yeah, for sure, and you mentioned how you were passionate about research and monitoring. I was a Monitoring, Evaluations and Learning Fellow, which was, it's like a new role that was introduced for this cohort. But coming from like an academic background, I found that a lot of my research skills were theory-based and not really practical and working with YCI and with the HerStart program, it gave me the opportunity to get more hands-on experience, and I think that was really important for my professional development, so I really appreciate you mentioning that point. I also wanted to touch upon, 'cause you mentioned a lot of collaborative space, inspiring environments and being inspired by fellow fellows, so during your time as a volunteer, I think we all had like a moment where we felt really inspired by the participants of this project. I remember during one training session, when we were divided into group settings to have a debate, I remember one fellow said something very specific that really changed my perspective and the way I thought of the problem. So I was wondering if you guys had any moments like that during your cohort that really inspired you?

Laura Perez Gonzalez (11:12):

Yeah, I can start. So for me it was definitely a lot of those moments because working with the fellow in Tanzania, I've never been to Tanzania before or Zanzibar, so I was, although I could do desk research and try to learn what was available online, it's definitely not the same as learning from the national fellow who was in Zanzibar and getting her perspective on different things. So there was definitely a lot of moments where she would say something that would kind of like make me reflect and rethink how I thought about, for example, like different perspectives of gender, different realities of gender that I didn't really necessarily think about living in Toronto, and so that was definitely like eye-opening. And then, like I said, like everybody had a different background and everybody's coming from a different academic background or just their lived experiences in each country or where they're actually from. So I think being able to share on those moments and then like just enrich the conversations and the way that we learn, in order to carry out the project and to support with the research and the different communities of practice and everybody else's role, I think was really, really helpful. And I think, yeah, definitely those moments of epiphany, like you mentioned, were really, quite common, but definitely really enjoyable as well.

Gifty Osei Boateng (12:23):

Yeah, also to me, this fellowship program really inspired me a lot, especially collaborating with my colleagues here. Although we are all from Ghana, we are from just different environments, different places with different perceptions, so coming together to work under one environment, I really learnt a lot from each of them. And also liasing with Maria, who is the e-fellow for Ghana, I had to collaborate with her to do a lot of things. So, she really inspired me a lot from that side, being a foreigner, shares her experience with her nephew. So it's really made me understand what I'm in for and really made me want more. Some really shared a lot of insight that made me realize, "So is this really happening in my country?". Some had some perception about the home that if the person starting the social enterprise their husband will not support, so all these perceptions were in most of the women, so it enlightened me and it made understand the importance of training these young women and giving them a sense of hope to start something on their own.

Cindy Lee (13:43):

Mm-hmm <affirmative> yeah, I agree. I think this fellowship working with like different colleagues from diverse backgrounds definitely gave me an opportunity to look at issues from a different lens. And growing up in Canada, I found that most of my thinking and learning was very Western-oriented. So I had to work mainly with Issa who was another Monitoring, Evaluations and Learning Fellow in Ghana, and that gave me a lot of opportunity for deeper conversations, for sure. So thank you guys for that. I also want to ask, to Laura first, what would you say to Canadians who are considering a volunteer experience with HerStart?

Laura Perez Gonzalez (14:31):

I would say just do it, I mean, obviously like you have to take into consideration like your different factors for everybody it'll be different, but I think it's definitely a great opportunity to just be able to connect, and just be able to engage with people who are passionate about the same things who are also curious, who are also excited to learn anything. The HerStart Fellowship definitely provides that opportunity through the actual training that you do beforehand, where you learn a little bit more about international development, doing research, learning evaluation. So you spend about those two first weeks just doing some training with them and being able to, like Gifty said, to kind of create that sense of like a community and working with different colleagues and perspectives, and being able to enjoy that together. I think it's very rare, but I think it's a really great opportunity when it does present itself. -

Cindy Lee (15:19):

Gifty, for volunteers who are looking into participating in the HerStart program in Ghana or Tanzania or Uganda, what would you say?

Gifty Osei Boateng (15:31):

Okay, I'll tell them to just go for it. It's a very enlightening experience. For just the four months, you really learn a lot. To me, it's like five years. <laugh> I've really developed personally, emotionally, teamwork - you just coordinate with everybody, you learn a lot. It'll help you learn how to be open-minded to accept new ideas from people. So my time with YCI, it's even paining me that I'm leaving. I wish I could stay and do a lot of work and learn more.

Cindy Lee (16:03):

So thank you, Laura and Gifty, for all your work with the HerStart project, it was really nice working alongside you and having this conversation with you. I think our conversation will definitely inspire our listeners to get involved, help recruit more Canadian and Ghanaian, Tanzanian and Ugandan volunteers with the HerStart project. So thank you all for being here. I think it was a great opportunity to wrap the cohort up.

Outro (16:38):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart HerStory podcast episode, please like and share our episodes on social media and be sure to tune in and subscribe next time on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favourite podcast. This series will continue to highlight how young women social entrepreneurs in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda are leading change in their communities. A special thanks as well to the fellows who volunteer to support the HerStart Innovate the Future program and help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Corporation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Sabrina Maulid, HerStart Climate Action and Entrepreneurship Fellow, speaks with Neema Kihwelo, Program and Training Coordinator with YCI in Tanzania and Esmond Quansah, Country Project Lead in Ghana. They discuss the main challenges with developing social entrepreneurship in their countries and how YCI’s HerStart program helps address these issues to create a positive impact for young women and their communities.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:06):

Sabrina Maulid (01:38):

Hi everyone and thank you for tuning into HerStory podcast. My name is Sabrina Maulid and with us today, we have Neema Kihwelo and Esmond Quansah. Neema is a Program and Training Coordinator at YCI Zanzibar and Esmond is a YCI Project Lead for Ghana. Welcome and thank you for all coming to be here.

Esmond Quansah (01:59):

Thank you very much for the opportunity.

Neema Kihwelo (02:01):

Thank you for having us.

Sabrina Maulid (02:02):

You're welcome. In this episode, we want to know more about the participant countries of HerStart. I will ask, Esmond, can you please tell us a bit about the context in Ghana in regards to livelihoods and gender equality?

Esmond Quansah (02:21):

Yeah. So in Ghana, the situation around gender equality and livelihood is not different from other countries. A lot of young people, they don't have jobs. Some spend so much time schooling, but at the end of the day, there are no jobs. Currently, there was a job fair by the government to recruit only 300 positions, but it turn out that over 60,000 young graduate turnouts. In the area of gender equality has been a long fight, but yes, still there's a lot to be done. A lot of young women and young girls in particular do not have equal and similar opportunities as their male counterparts. So this has been really a challenge, but with the effort of development partners, like Youth Challenge International and others, there has been remarkable feats in that area.

Sabrina Maulid (03:22):

Thank you so much, Mr. Esmond for your good answer. Neema, you're the Program and Training Coordinator at YCI in Zanzibar. Can you tell us more about the training processes for these young women participating, especially the SSI part?

Neema Kihwelo (03:41):

So right from the start in the beginning, our training processes, we try to be as inclusive and attuned to the challenges that young women face. So right from the recruitment phase, we try to be as gender sensitive from the beginning, incorporating local leaders in the community in order to reach the most marginalized young women in our society. We are looking for young women who have, who are willing and they're ready to take up on this training process. Our training is in three tiers, starting with the Sparking Social Innovation. It aims to ignite and also create awareness of the concepts of social enterprise, but also to bring about a growth mindset in the young women, that they too have a space to contribute, to bring a change within their communities through social enterprise. After the Sparking Social Innovation, the second level is the Seed Your Social Venture, which takes place over eight weeks.

Neema Kihwelo (04:45):

And it aims to build young women competencies to bring their business idea to launch. And then after the eight-week training, we go into the third phase, which is the Grow Your Social Venture. And here we're looking to create a supportive ecosystem for these women-led ventures, for those ideas that have come into launch. And it's more of the final nurturing phase, six months of training, but also personalized coaching for the young women and looking into forming an ecosystem where they can successfully grow their social ventures. And this also links into funding and all other challenges that have been identified that inhibit young women into setting up and growing their own social ventures.

Sabrina Maulid (05:34):

Okay, thank you so much for the beautiful answer, Neema. But can you please tell us, how do you support these young women, who are marginalized and illiterate at the same time? Because one of the criteria for SSI participants is for them to be literate, like knowing how to read and how to write. How do you support these kind of young women?

Neema Kihwelo (06:01):

We do adopt a participatory style of coaching and training, so if you do notice that a participant may be struggling, we do give extra support to the young women. I think also as the training goes, I would say, for example, in the Seed Your Social Venture, in the Grow Your Social Venture, they now get mentoring and also one-on-one support. A big part of our training is holistic and we do look at the barriers that the young women face and see how best we can support them through this. And additionally, I would say we also focus on a growth mindset. One of the basic criterias is they just need to know how to read and write. So we focus on also building a growth mindset with them and tackling those limiting barriers that they may have.

Sabrina Maulid (06:51):

Thank you. Mr. Esmond, we know that funding is the biggest issue for lot of NGOs, especially in Africa. How is HerStart addressing the systematic barrier of funding and access to capital, which is one of the key barriers to successful entrepreneurship for women?

Esmond Quansah (07:12):

Yeah, so HerStart has been an amazing program designed to support young people with challenges of startup. We saw the HerStart project as an opportunity for a lot more young people to benefit. So the young people, the women and the girls who would participate in the SYSV, Seed Your Social Venture program, who have the opportunity to apply a Catalyst Fund that will support their social ventures. Currently, the successful participant will be given a minimum of $5,000 Canadian dollars to support these young women and girls who have very successful and innovative ideas, who go a long way to bridge the gender gap, and also provide them the necessary resources to support.

Sabrina Maulid (08:05):

Thank you, Mr. Esmond. One of the biggest, or one of the supports, which for social entrepreneurship to work in the country is government. So if the government does not support, it can be a challenge. So can you tell us about your countries? What other challenge do social entrepreneurship face in your respective countries? Starting with Neema.

Neema Kihwelo (08:32):

So I think the biggest challenge in developing or in social entrepreneurship in our country, I would say, it's still a fairly new concept. You know, the government supports entrepreneurship and does want to see the youth taking up space in alternate means of employment. So I think one of the biggest challenges we face is well instituted ecosystem that could actually support these social entrepreneurs from ideation rights to, you know, launch of their businesses. I think that's the biggest challenge, that social entrepreneurship isn't a well-established concept yet within the country.

Sabrina Maulid (09:11):

Thank you. Well, Neema, you are working with young women, like you are training them, you are guiding them, you are giving them all the supports during the training session. You're the one who teach them and you're the one who evaluate them on the training. So can you please tell us on the business idea you have seen them taking off?

Neema Kihwelo (09:33):

Yeah, so an area that has been really strong, I think, has been recycling. We do have a young woman who, just from the two-day training, went back into her community and started a business. So they go around and collect waste from their community and get a fee for that. So this is one business idea that has taken off and was still in the process of molding it and setting it up as a full social enterprise.

Sabrina Maulid (10:01):

Thank you. The pandemic has affected everyone in this world and I know that it has affected this project too. It has affected both positively and negatively. From the training to the ability for women to conduct their businesses, have any women addressed their businesses, opened new business opportunity, or have any of you introduced, have they tell you anything about how they they've taken this COVID as an opportunity? Especially for both of you.

Esmond Quansah (10:39):

Yeah. So, COVID situation from last year to this year, especially during the lockdown period has taught us very key lessons, what we have learned and this survey that we've done among the young women who are enrolling in our program in the HerStart program. So what has come to light is that businesses that incorporate IT are able to make a lot of gains during the lockdown period, using the social media and LinkedIn and other profiles, to be able to market their product and sell online. And that is something that we've all learned. While some businesses could not succeed in the period because of lack of innovation and incorporation of tech in their businesses, those who are very smart were able to do that and they made a lot of gains, which was a blessing more in disguise for a lot of people.

Esmond Quansah (11:53):

And this is what the HerStart program is teaching a lot of these young people, how they can think outside the box, how they can incorporate IT. A very key part of the HerStart programming is the IT bits, so that they're able to make a lot more gains during this period. And this is something that has come to light and a lot of them are taking advantage of this even during this period to make quite very good gains and also incorporate this tech into their business ideas for the future, because we don't know how long COVID is going to be with us. So I think we just have to, as a people, and especially these young people who are key beneficiaries of the HerStart initiative, to think outside the box and include tech in their ideas and that way they'll be able to achieve a lot more success in the foreseeable future. Thank you.

Neema Kihwelo (12:51):

I think I agree with Esmond. I think on our end, it's more of with Zanzibar being a tourist-centered community, for many young women, I think they had to adjust, especially in the period where the country was not in lockdown, but there were fewer people coming. So, now how do they look for new markets? And I think, as everyone said, incorporation of tech has been a key part for most of them and I think even when you see them communicating within sessions, there are those who took the steps and opened pages online where they could continue selling their products. So I think that it has been a strong area where they have had to adapt.

Sabrina Maulid (13:43):

Thank you, Neema. Coming back to Mr. Esmond with the question, as you know, that maintaining ongoing support for these young women, even after they have completed the program, how does HerStart approach the ideas of networking, coaching and connection to improve the sustainability of the trainings and promote successful entrepreneurship ventures for us HerStart graduates?

Esmond Quansah (14:11):

So the idea is to identify ecosystem that would support these young women in the foreseeable future once the project is over. And also YCI's strategy to implement a partnership sustainability plan is a win-win situation for these young girls and women who will be beneficiaries or who will go through the program. We have so many young women who need support, but we cannot provide all the support that these young women need in the area of funding. So there's already an engagement within the ecosystem to see how they can identify other alternative sources of funding to support successful and very brilliant business ideas in the foreseeable future. Also working with the partners to identify mentors and coaches within the ecosystem. Currently, we've been able to integrate into our trainings in Ghana, entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs who come to share their ideas, their background, stories to motivate these young people and this has been very remarkable. And so we are sure that with all these strategies of partner sustainability plan, engaging the ecosystem, we are very much sure that this initiative will continue beyond 2027 for these young women and girls to continue benefiting.

Sabrina Maulid (15:46):

Thank you, Mr. Esmond, but can you tell us more on how are you going to help these people like the dropouts from the SSI trainings? How are they going to benefit? Because they are part of the HerStart young ladies, how are you going to help them? On the other hand for those people who have no criteria to join the HerStart project, how are they going to benefit? Like how young ladies in the country going to benefit generally from HerStart, whether you are a participant or not a participant?

Esmond Quansah (16:18):

Yeah, so with the dropouts, it's something that we are very much concerned. And currently one of the fellows has conducted a micro project on that, to ascertain the challenges leading to the dropout. There has been quite an amazing result which have to do with lack of spousal support. Most of them are married and they don't have the support from their husbands and their family members. Most of them have children, but we have childcare services available for these young people. We are also providing them with meals that would serve as a barrier for them not to come to training. We are going extra mile begin to engage these young people. It's quite difficult for some families to comprehend the fact that young women have to go for training to a livelihood. There's that general thinking in this part of Ghana that women are supposed to work from the kitchen, you know? And so these are some of the things that we are trying to work towards by providing some sort of education to these young people. And so, as we speak, we are reaching out we've compiled a list of all those that have dropped out and then we are following up with them. We are calling them to come back to join the next sessions of the training, which is something remarkable the team in Ghana has been working towards.

Sabrina Maulid (17:37):

Thank you so much for your answer. I love it. I love the way you support all women, all young women, especially. Thank you. You're making it lively and making it working. Thank you for being here both of you. Thank you for your beautiful answers. I love the way you tackle women's challenges. Thank you everyone for showing me to this podcast. Thank you so much for participating. I wish you all the best and good evening. Thank you.

Outro (18:16):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart HerStory podcast episode, please like and share our episodes on social media and be sure to tune in and subscribe next time on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favourite podcast. This series will continue to highlight how young women social entrepreneurs in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda are leading change in their communities. A special thanks as well to the fellows who volunteer to support the HerStart Innovate the Future program and help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Corporation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Emily McDonald, HerStart Climate Action and Entrepreneurship E-Fellow, speaks with Taylor Marlow, Program and Partnerships Lead at YCI and Ellen Martin, Co-Founder of SoJo – one of the HerStart design and delivery partners. They discuss the program approach and key elements more in-depth, including the entrepreneurship training designed by SoJo and how volunteer HerStart Fellows support the program.

Read Transcript

Intro (00:05):

Emily McDonald (01:36):

Ellen Martin (02:08):

Emily McDonald (03:19):

Ellen Martin (03:40):

Emily McDonald (04:42):

Taylor Marlow (04:57):

Emily McDonald (05:33):

Taylor Marlow (05:57):

Emily McDonald (07:16):

Taylor Marlow (07:40):

Taylor Marlow (08:41):

Emily McDonald (09:17):

Ellen Martin (09:54):

Ellen Martin (11:11):

Taylor Marlow (11:48):

Emily McDonald (12:35):

Ellen Martin (13:26):

Ellen Martin (15:08):

Taylor, I'd love to hear what your perspective is on this as well.

Taylor Marlow (15:12):

Taylor Marlow (16:09):

Emily McDonald (17:12):

Ellen Martin (17:45):

Emily McDonald (18:38):

Ellen Martin (18:58):

Yeah, it really is. Yeah.

Emily McDonald (19:00):

Taylor Marlow (19:43):

Taylor Marlow (20:43):

Taylor Marlow (22:08):

Emily McDonald (23:04):

Outro (24:01):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart HerStory podcast episode, please like and share our episodes on social media and be sure to tune in and subscribe next time on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favourite podcast. This series will continue to highlight how young women social entrepreneurs in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda are leading change in their communities. A special thanks as well to the fellows who volunteer to support the HerStart Innovate the Future program and help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Corporation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

In this episode, Rafia Ajmal, HerStart Program and Training E-Fellow, speaks with Kristine Vanderplas, Director of Innovation and Sustainability at YCI, to discuss the goals of the HerStart Innovate the Future program, why empowering women social entrepreneurs is so important and what’s next for the program to continue advancing women’s equality globally.

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Intro (00:05):

Hi, everyone. Welcome to Youth Challenge International's HerStart HerStory podcast series. YCI launched the HerStart Innovate the Future program in 2020 as part of our initiative to advance women's equality globally. Our goal is bold - support 10,000 young women in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda to become social entrepreneurs by 2027. We'll be sharing real stories from the program and speaking with the young women who are shaping a social entrepreneurship ecosystem and leading change in their communities. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future program is funded in part by the Government of Canada to progress Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Each HerStory episode has been produced with the help from fellows who have volunteered to share and gain skills to support implementing the HerStart program. For most fellows, this was their first interviewing experience. It was an opportunity to step outside their comfort zone and learn about the podcasting experience, which is new to many of us. You can join us and learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

Rafia Ajmal (01:34):

Hi everyone. My name is Rafia and I am the Program and Training E-Fellow for Tanzania. Today, I am chatting with Kristine Vanderplas, who is the Director of Innovation and Sustainability at YCI. Today, we're gonna be talking about the origins of HerStart, what it really is and why social entrepreneurship is so important right now. So Kristine, I'll hand it over to you to explain what the HerStart program is.

Kristine Vanderplas (02:00):

So YCI's HerStart is actually a global initiative that's aiming to engage thousands of young people to advance women's equality and we wanna do this through creating a social entrepreneurship ecosystem, which then has ripple positive impact for everyone involved. And through the HerStart initiative, we launched HerStart Innovate the Future in 2020 and this program specifically is meant to support 10,000 young women with skills and resources in social entrepreneurship while also supporting the surrounding ecosystem. And this program is seven years long, which is an amazing amount of time to be able to sort of learn about how to do this work better and we're operating this program in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda. We're also not working alone. We're collaborating with seven organizations across those three countries who are champions for young women and for social innovation in their countries. And it's also an amazing opportunity to engage Canadians. And so we're engaging over 300 Canadian volunteers through the fellowship program, and those volunteers are going to be supporting the implemention of the program. And at the moment, obviously that's remote, but eventually we are hoping that Canadians will be able to travel and work with our partners and the young women. As I mentioned, it's funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Cooperation Program and it's also in alignment with Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy.

Rafia Ajmal (03:39):

And so how did you begin your involvement with the program?

Kristine Vanderplas (03:43):

Sure. So through my engagement with YCI we've always been very interested in determining how to do this work with young people in effective ways. And we've noticed over time that giving young people the skills and resources they need to be able to provide a livelihood for themselves is a really effective approach for an intervention that basically supports people long into the future. And so through the Volunteer Cooperation Program from the Government of Canada, which is the envelope that YCI is funded under, we are able to provide skilled Canadians to engage in this programmatic approach in terms of supporting young people to gain a livelihood for themselves. And what's exciting about this program is that it also aligns with the Feminist International Assistance Policy, which Canada launched in 2017, and that policy is affirming that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is a crucial aspect to shifting the economic reality for young people, for communities and Canada is one of a small number of countries taking this approach. So it just felt like an interesting synergy of what was happening on a policy level and also my own personal interest in livelihood development and in supporting young women.

Rafia Ajmal (05:12):

Yeah, I think that's what really drew me to the program and e-fellowship as well, just really wanting to help provide opportunity to empower women economically as well as watch their success throughout the program. But where do you think the inspiration for this project came from?

Kristine Vanderplas (05:28):

YCI has been working with young people around the globe for over 30 years, and we've worked with young people in a number of different areas and noticed that really there's a lot of power and potential in sharing skills and resources around entrepreneurship. And the other thing that we've noticed is especially through our EQWIP HUBs project which spanned five years over six countries and supported over 85,000 youth in starting a business or finding decent work. Basically in that program, what we saw was that young women who were starting businesses already were considering people and planet as a part of their as a part of their business activities. So in some ways they were already starting social enterprises without even necessarily knowing that it was a social enterprise. In fact, through the EQWIP HUBs project, over 60% of the businesses that were launched through the seed funding that was provided were owned by women, started by women. We also heard a lot of feedback from our staff who were working on that project around how much confidence young women gain by going through the training program and gaining these skills and resources and, you know, going from coming into a training program and not necessarily having the confidence to speak in front of a group to being confident enough to stand up in front of people and actually like present their business idea to a panel of people.

Rafia Ajmal (07:06):

Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Yeah. It's really interesting that you say that because I think it's common for women to be excluded from income-generating opportunities, especially in some of the participating countries, and yet you've seen it yourself that women seem to have the drive to really pursue their entrepreneurial ideas. I'm wondering if you specifically had someone or something that inspired you to want to be such an integral part of this project.

Kristine Vanderplas (07:35):

From a historical perspective, I worked years ago, I worked with an organization called Street Kids International, and it was all about supporting street kids. I mean, it was actually about supporting the social workers that worked with street kids to be able to support them to develop businesses as entrepreneurs. And I just saw how much transformation took place for these young people who were really living like day to day, hand to mouth and how much these skills gave them the confidence to start to plan and save and make decisions that ultimately created a more stable environment for them. And so that was sort of my first kind of interest in like how entrepreneurship can be something that young people can really use to support themselves, right. And one woman that I met, young woman that I met in Peru, for instance, she had a mentor and she wanted to create a laundry business in her community.

Kristine Vanderplas (08:38):

And she wanted to make it a green laundry business. And her mentor was like, "Well, it's gonna be more expensive, like, do you really need to do it that way?". [She] was almost trying to talk her out of it and she was very, she had a very strong conviction that she really wanted to make this laundry business green. And then on top of that, she realized if it was green, she could then use the water to like water her garden. I mean, it's very dry in Lima. So that meant that she could grow more vegetables and she could feed her family better through the vegetables. And so it was, you know, it's like these things were evolving naturally and so just felt like the next logical step to be bringing this concept, like very tangibly into the work that we're doing and the skills that we're sharing.

Rafia Ajmal (09:27):

Mm-hmm <affirmative>, yeah. It's great to hear that women are willing to take that risk, even if it may cost a bit more because they recognize the environmental impact of their project. A lot of things in the world are changing and adapting right now, especially with the climate and environment and I think it's a really crucial time to make those changes. Why do you think it's such a critical time for YCI to be focusing on social entrepreneurship above all else?

Kristine Vanderplas (09:55):

Yeah. I mean, part of the reason that we decided to focus on social entrepreneurship, I mean, I personally really feel that business can be supportive and have a positive impact on people and planet. And I think that the current system doesn't necessarily reward that, although things are starting to shift and it's even, I even have a little bit of a hard time with the term social enterprise. Like, what I would love to see eventually is that business does consider positive effects on people and planet, that it is, that that's just how we do business in the world. And so I think for me, part of what is exciting about this project is when we're working with young women, we're introducing this concept that you need to be able to create a livelihood for yourself and we're gonna try to help you as much as we can in terms of like the skills and resources that you need to do that. And also that it's possible to be considering how your business is impacting people and planet.

Rafia Ajmal (10:57):

Mm-hmm <affirmative>, yeah. I can see how passionate you are about social entrepreneurship and empowering people and planet and I can only imagine how hard it was to watch so much hard work and progress be affected by the pandemic, but in your experience so far, how has COVID affected the vision of the project?

Kristine Vanderplas (11:18):

Yeah, it's been really interesting obviously for everyone on the planet <laugh> at this time. The project is, you know, funded by Global Affairs Canada through the Volunteer Cooperation Program, so there is a very strong Canadian volunteer component, as you're aware, because you've been engaged as a fellow <laugh> in this project. And normally what would happen in these projects is that young Canadians would travel to the countries where we're partnering with other organizations and where we're doing this work, and obviously that's not possible. So there really, we, in terms of like the overarching vision of the project, it's remained the same, but we've certainly had to adapt the approach and the way that we're doing the work for a number of reasons. So, you know, obviously travel is a big one in terms of we've adapted to like an e-volunteering, e-fellowship model, which seems to be working fairly well. I mean, obviously there's limitations to that. The other piece that's been challenging obviously is like within each country, people are dealing with the effects of the pandemic. In some cases, it means that people have potentially even a less secure livelihood, which actually means that, you know, the training and resources that we're supporting are potentially even more needed at this moment.

Rafia Ajmal (12:39):

Mm-hmm, <affirmative>, it's nice to hear that even though it's been really hard on everyone and the planet, like you said, there have been some benefits in that communication has become slightly easier. Just before we wrap up here, what do you consider the ultimate goal by the end of the seven years? You talked about mentorship and empowerment for these women, but what is the ultimate goal of the HerStart project once the whole thing has concluded?

Kristine Vanderplas (13:11):

That's a good question. As I mentioned, we are looking to support 10,000 young women with access to resources and skills around social entrepreneurship over these seven years, but it also includes enhancing and supporting the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in each of these geographies. So that means working with partner organizations, and then also creating like bridges and networks that will increase access for young women to additional resources and supports that they need to continue their journey with their business and continue to grow, to grow their business. And so it's also looking at how we can develop strong mentorship networks, drive awareness for social entrepreneurship, for doing business for good, for the positive impacts that business can have within these communities. And ultimately we want to ensure that these resources and supports do become sustainable and more accessible. And at the completion of the seven years is that our partners can continue to engage young women with trainings and programs for many years to come. And ultimately that young women do have more access to the resources and supports that they need. And at the end of the day, we really hope to see, you know, hundreds of women, if not thousands launch or grow their businesses and for those business activities to have a positive impact on people and the planet.

Rafia Ajmal (14:42):

Mm-hmm <affirmative>, yeah, that's really exciting. So I guess I'm wanting to know what role Canadians can play in accelerating the goals of this project. You sort of briefly mentioned that, but I'd love to learn a little more about that.

Kristine Vanderplas (14:58):

So there's several ways that Canadians can be involved and part of the intention of HerStart really is to engage Canadians in this, in this work and to engage Canadians in supporting young women and gender equality around the world, and especially for HerStart, in Ghana and Tanzania and Uganda. And so one way to get engaged is through the fellowship program, which offers young Canadians the opportunity to volunteer, at the moment virtually, to support, you know, participants, to support the young women who are starting businesses, to support our partners that we're collaborating with and to support our staff who are, you know, working extremely hard, snd I actually should give a shout-out to them because we have amazing staff in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda. And the hope with the volunteer fellowship program is that in the near future, we will be able to travel.

Kristine Vanderplas (15:53):

And Canadian fellows will be able to join our teams in-person and to support participants and our partner organizations one-on-one. And then the other exciting opportunity to engage in HerStart is through the Catalyst Fund. So through the Catalyst Fund, we are hoping to raise additional funds to be able to support more young women in accessing funding to start or grow their business. And we're doing this through what we're calling circles of impact, which are basically going to be circles of people who agree to all put in a certain amount of money into the fund, which will then support a young woman's business startup. And so we'll be asking Canadians to ultimately support this access to finance for young women and the donation, your donation to the fund, will actually be matched by the Government of Canada. And if you want more details about the fellowship program or how to invest in HerStart in the Catalyst Fund, those are available at either yci.org or herstart.org.

Rafia Ajmal (17:01):

Well, Kristine, thank you so much for your time and insight today on this incredible project. We're really looking forward to following the journey of where the HerStart project leads and seeing the amazing work that YCI is doing along the way.

Outro (17:22):

Thanks for joining us today and learning about how Youth Challenge International has partnered with young women to advance gender equality globally and create a social entrepreneurship ecosystem with a positive impact for all. If you enjoyed this HerStart HerStory podcast episode, please like and share our episodes on social media and be sure to tune in and subscribe next time on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favourite podcast. This series will continue to highlight how young women social entrepreneurs in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda are leading change in their communities. A special thanks as well to the fellows who volunteer to support the HerStart Innovate the Future program and help create these episodes. YCI's HerStart Innovate the Future and fellowship programs are funded through the Government of Canada's Volunteer Corporation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer with global partners and advance Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy. Join us and thousands of young people around the globe creating a better future together. Learn more at yci.org or herstart.org.

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