As we enter the holiday season, giving thanks for what and who we have around us, Hope Center Uganda is excited to announce that on Tuesday, December 3rd, all donations made via GlobalGiving will be eligible for matching funds from corporate partners!
This is a perfect time for year-end donations, to provide people around the world with the same joy that we hope you all feel during this festive season. Furthermore, all donations made via GlobalGiving are tax-deductible, so it’s the perfect time to make sure your donations have maximum impact!
The GlobalGiving project we are currently fundraising for is our Uplift program. This program helps female business leaders, mostly heads of household and/or single mothers with access to small loans, business training, and support groups. The loans range between $20-100 and so far, we have had a 100% payback rate from our women. When the loans are paid back, the entreprenuers pay it with a 15% interest rate. This money is split between covering operational costs of the program and being added to the loan pool, so we can continue to increase the number of people we can provide loans for.
This is the model that will lead HCU to sustainability, and we would love for you to be a part of our journey towards that goal!
Dearest donors,
We're so excited that the Hope Center is fully operational and is supporting youth with a wide range of programming: from public health to DJing, social responsibility to computer science, English to breakdancing. We also are supporting the families of our students, often single mothers, with microfinance loans and business training programs to help them start and grow their small businesses, ultimately strengthening the economy and reducing poverty across the entire community.
To learn more about our Uplift microfinance program, check out the special new website https://www.uplifthcu.com/, where you can 'meet' the inspiring female business leaders who are a part of this program.
To donate to Uplift, please click here.
From now on, we will drive donations towards Uplift, as every donation that goes through the Uplift microfinance loan system exponentially increases with time. As each woman pays back her loan with a nominal interest rate, that interest rate ensures we can use the money to reach even more women with the next loan cycle. We're so excited to see what this growth brings for the community and Hope Center Uganda itself.
Thanks always,
TEAM HCU !
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Last week, TeamHCU was involved in a car accident while driving to do a reproductive health workshop in a remote village. A truck swerved into us from oncoming traffic: fortunately, everyone in our team is still safe, healthy, and uninjured: unfortunately, the damages to repair the car are around $3,000 USD, and we're asking that anyone who is in a position to donate could give what they can to help us with these unforseen costs. If we don't come up with the funds we need for these repairs, we will be forced to make dramatic cuts to other programs, which will cause many people to go without crucial services like education, sanitary pad access, and entreprenuership loans.
The "Hope-Mobile" as we like to call her, is vital to HCU's work. Having a sturdy vehicle that can travel long distances to remote villages allows us to ensure that we can provide thousands of beneficiaries with education and access to services like reproductive health workshops and materials, microfinance loans and business training sessions, and sensitization to issues like gender-based violence and children's rights to education.
We want to ensure that all of the donations will go directly to the repair cost of the vehicle. The cost breakdown of the car repairs are outlined below:
Donation request - $3,500 USD
Please help by donating and sharing this fundraiser page: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/repairing-the-hope-mobile/
As always, all donations are tax deductible and your donations are impacting not just the lives of the thousands who directly benefit from our program, but their families and communities.
Thank you for your kindness and consideration,
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Dearest Donors,
We’re so grateful to you all for supporting us on this journey! The center is successfully hosting classes and is filled seven days a week, with our own educational programming in language studies, computer science, and financial literacy, as well as partner programs from local arts and dance collectives.
We are still working towards sustainability, expanding our microfinance program, trying to create marketable products for local and international sales, and working on plans for a CAFE! The Hope Cafe has been a dream of HCU’s from the start, but we are only now having the stability to think about this type of expansion. Since HCU already has a beautiful, stable building, garden, staff, and wifi, the only further investments we will need are basic furniture and a coffee machine. Since this will be a small business, we will be seeking loans instead of donations! We will pay our investors back over a 5 year period, and we will seek investors who are likely to reinvest after that period is finished.
P.S. This week is International Women’s Week! The numbers are in and we’ve reached almost 3,000 women with microfinance loans and sanitary pad disbursements, allowing so much more human potential to be released into Northern Uganda!
If you’re in Berlin, be sure to check out our Ladies-First solidarity fundraiser party! We will be screening a short film from Ugandan actress, writer, and director Kemiyondo Coutinho. The film challenges Uganda’s “mini-skirt” bill, which holds women accountable for rape based on their clothing choices, rather than the attacker. The film will be followed by DJ sets in partnership with Berlin’s female, trans, nonbinary DJ school and collective, No Shade.
Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1857162911062581/
Or read our blog post on the event:
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Dear Family and Friends of Hope Center Uganda,
We hope this card reaches you in good health and good spirits, in warm, cozy homes and surrounded by family, friends and food. Our team, and the 3,000 amazing humans whose lives have already been impacted by your generosity, send our deepest regards and best wishes for you and your families this holiday season. Please enjoy the lovely hand-drawn cards we've attached, made by HCU's children in an arts class!
We hope that this season, you take a moment to reflect on the hundreds of lives you've already impacted with your generous donations. And, to show love for the lives you can still help.
Hope Center Uganda's latest undertaking is not an easy one. It is the most heartbreaking and urgent project we haved taken on, and we implore you to learn more, and continue to make a difference. To learn more about our Special Needs Intervention, please watch this 6-minute mini documentary or visit the donation page to save these children's lives.
Thank you always!
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Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
