Economically empower women in rural Uganda

Over the past few months the women at WEB Soya have been working hard to make this program a success. As with any project or business, there have been many unexpected challenges along the way. However, we never let anything stop us from reaching our goal and instead have learned a lot in the process. Below is a short list of all the innovations and things we have accomplished after being faced with a challenge.

• Development of new sales route and hiring of new sales agent
• Promotion of party cakes at local churches through WEB Soya movie nights
• Adjustment of cake sizing and ingredients
• Improvement in financial management and inventory analysis
• Reconstruction of two ovens in order to improve efficiency
• Election of team leaders 
• Learning to cultivate a positive attitude 
• Creating a strong will to succeed

We look forward to 2019 and have high hopes that it will be an impactful year not only for the women of WEB Soya, but the entire community of Alidi as well. 

Check out our new website at www.websoya.com

Thank you for your continued support. Happy holidays and Happy new year to all! 

WEB Soya is officially open for business! During August, we trained 30 women on bakery skills and management and began collecting customers. On August 27, we officially started full operations. This includes baking and sales. Each day, 8 women come to work in the bakery while others go to the market to make sales. In the beginning, we were producing about 250 cakes per day but now the WEB Soya women can produce over 600 cakes in one day and then sell them all the very next day. Eventhough many of the women have a natural talent for sales, we also trained everyone in basic marketing concepts, customer service, and sales tactics. At the end of September, many of the women recieved their first monthly wage and more than doubled their original monthly income. To encourage responsible financial management, FICH also took all of the women through a financial litracy training covering topics such as spending, saving, and budgeting. 

Overall, WEB Soya is confident in its ability to continue seeing success and growth. However, WEB Soya is not just a social enterprise, it is people. WEB Soya is made up of women who work together towards many common goals: gender equality, financial stability, healthy families, and a better community. When the WEB Soya women come together, they not only earn income and learn new skills, they build relationships, confidence, and pride that help them to go out and achieve their shared goals. 

As WEB Soya continues to grow as a business, we expect to see even more growth in the community. Through increased incomes, children will have better access to education, medicine, and healthy foods. Through increased cake production, local farmers and shop owners will see higher demand for their goods. And, through the economic empowerment of women, the entire community will see the value women have as bread winners and leaders in their community.