Numbers That Finally Tell the Truth

A month ago, most of the women in our business training program in Ugandac ouldn’t have told you whether their business made or lost money that week. They simply weren’t keeping records. This month, that changed. Seven participants sat down with the project team and, for the first time, worked out real monthly profit and loss numbers for their own businesses. 

Six of their businesses had generated a profit. One, a poultry business, came up short for the month. That’s worth being honest about, because it’s exactly why this matters: a month ago, nobody would have known that business was struggling, including the woman running it. Now the team knows precisely where to focus next, instead of guessing.

More Women Are Saving, Even Without a Formula

The project originally hoped every woman would save a fixed percentage of her profit each month. In practice, this has been hard for many participants to apply consistently. So instead of forcing a formula that wasn’t working, the team adjusted: women are now saving an amount tied to a specific goal, equipment, stock, land, more animals, rather than an abstract percentage. More women started saving this month under that simpler approach than ever had before. 

This matters. Several participants reported their entire household runs on somewhere between $41 and $166 per month. When that’s the number a family lives on, every dollar kept in a business rather than spent at home is a difficult decision.

A Business Curriculum Finally in Her Own Language 

This month, the full business training curriculum was translated into the local language, Luganda. For women who think and do business in Luganda, not English, that’s the difference between training they can truly use and training they’re just getting through.

Finding Mentors Next Door

The project also started asking participants a new question: who in your own community already knows this business and would be willing to help? The goal is to connect women with local, trusted mentors, people who can offer guidance between formal training sessions, so support doesn’t disappear the moment the program’s coaches leave town.

Where This Is Headed

In October, the team is shifting from classroom coaching to physical visits, showing up at each woman’s actual business to see what’s really happening, not just what gets reported. That’s a direct result of what September’s numbers made possible: a clear enough picture of each real business to know exactly where follow up is needed. Your support is what makes that kind of staying power possible, not just training women once, but sticking with them long enough to see a business actually flourish.

Thank You

Every one of these moments traces back to generosity. A Brand Partner who gives, a donor who sponsors a student, a team that believes a child in Ecuador deserves the same chance as any other. That belief is what makes a school like this possible, and what makes recognition like Ally for Talent possible too. 

Your generosity is not just keeping classroom doors open. It is opening new ones that lead to careers, scholarships, and futures these students are only beginning to imagine. 

Thank you for being part of the story.

Continue The Impact