Income generating activities

---

The school where I am working is receiving considerable support from a US organisation that send sponsorship for students’ education and scholastic materials. Everyone is aware that if the sponsorship is removed the school will struggle to continue educating their students. The school’s staff, with the help of a UK NGO, are setting up income generating activities to cover the combined financial shortfall from underpaid fees and the eventual removal of school sponsorship with the aim to be financially sufficient within a few years. Not only will this reduce dependency on the US organisation but it will also provide students with practical and entrepreneurial skills relevant to their family livelihoods.

Currently up and running there are 4 projects: i) computer and Internet business - providing photocopying, printing and Internet services to the local community. There is no other internet for the public within a 40km radius and so hopefully this will not only attract those wanting to obtain information from the internet but also students who want to listen to music too, ii) matooke plantation - growing plantain to feed the students and also to sell to the local community; iii) milk production - there are 7 cows which are producing milk to be sold daily and iv) the school shop - selling snacks, scholastic materials and toiletries.

The staff have taken great ownership of these projects and so far they are working well. They are also planning to build a posho mill where they grind casava or maize to make flour. To this flour you simply add water to get posho (a stable diet out here eaten by the majority of families at least twice a day but doesn’t have much nutritional value at all).

---