Village/City, Country: Kasese, Uganda          Location:  Kizungu Cell, Scheme Ward, Nyamwamba  Division   Setting: Rural Based     Established: 2014    Membership:

Group’s Mission:

To promote equal education, proper hygiene and sanitation methods among members

Brief Background:

The group started in 2014 with 21 members.  The objective for starting a group was to promote quality of education, proper sanitation and hygiene around the community. To date, group members and some non-members have secured loans for school fees of their children.  The rice growing project has provided food in the community, improving food security and increased employment opportunities to the community members and the neighborhoods.  .

About the group clients:

The group offers loans to both group member and non-members around the community and its neighborhood. 

Group’s Objective:

To accumulate savings and use the capital base to provide soft loans to both group members and non-group community members for self-improvement and community development 

Group Activities:

Village savings and loan services

Commercial agriculture (rice growing) to help increase community household income and food security.

Tree planting.

Training community members in proper sanitation and hygiene methods

Regular development training seminars and workshops.

Group  Supervisor: Zamu Musobozi

Activities: Peasant farmer

Academic qualifications: Uganda Certificate of Education

Experience: 5years of experience in agriculture

Challenges: Tweyombeke group gets its funding from the savings made by its members. This is not enough capital base for meaningful loans.   There is also a challenge of loan defaulter.  Clients normally delay repayments due to unfavorable seasonal factors that affects their agriculture outputs.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Applying volunteers can support this group on any of the following projects:

Improving their village saving and loaning scheme, Improve their capital base and skills in financial and business management.

Improving the rice growing program and equip the farmers with Marketing and branding skills

Expanding the tree planting project

Supporting the Sanitation project

Volunteer Requirements:

·         High level of personal initiative

·         Highly organized and ability to work both individually or in a group

·         Good communication skills

·         Readiness to work with rural communities

·         Patience, determination and optimism

Working Conditions:

FOCUSED gives support to community partners in Kasese .  Volunteers working with Tweyombeke  Group will be based at FOCUSED office and carryout the field work with the group within the community.  The volunteer works with full support from FOCUSED staff and a network of technical and professions in community development field.

Supervisor information:

The supervisor is the FOCUSED Coordinator Dan Mugisa Byenkya.  He is a committed young man with passion in community and international development.  He holds a Bachelors Degree in Development Studies and has extensive experience working with Volunteers both from in and outside Uganda.