WAGRAU Invests in Women

WAGRAU strongly believes in EMPOWERING the motivated women we serve to lift themselves out of extreme poverty. Extreme poverty regularly leads to disempowered life choices, and often violent relationships and marriages - out of their desperation. Conversely, INVESTING in WOMEN benefits the entire family.

“Women are economic actors: They produce and process food for the family; they are the primary caretakers of children, the elderly and the sick; and their income and labor are directed toward children’s education, health and well-being. In fact, there is incontrovertible evidence from a number of studies conducted during the 1980s that mothers typically spend their income on food and health care for children, which is in sharp contrast to men, who spend a higher proportion of their income for personal needs.” *Global Women’s Issues: Women in the World Today

• A girl may accept advances from a man who promises to pay for school fees.
• A young woman feeling hopeless may accept becoming a mistress for a roof over her head.
• A woman with a sick child may accept advances from a man who promises to pay for a clinic visit.
• A woman stays in an abusive relationship because she feels she wouldn’t be able to support herself or her children.
• A woman growing crops on her husband’s land gives her no autonomy over her finances, and statistics show that mothers are most apt to sacrifice and work for their children - providing food and school fees to keep their children in school.

WAGRAU creates Agriculture Collectives in which women collectively participate in farming (on land WAGRAU rents for this purpose). Uganda is a breadbasket country and one thing everyone knows how to do well, is farm. Women work together to harvest crops which they sell collectively; reinvesting half and dividing the remaining. All of our Empowerment Groups participate in Savings Group Collectives.

WAGRAU has trained 117 young women to become tailors. In a region where there aren’t clothing stores, people rely on tailors for clothing and required school uniforms. WAGRAU provides followup mentoring and training, ensuring that women are set up for success.

WAGRAU provides small business start up opportunities for women in unique situations - such as an older woman who cannot farm, or whose home is a great distance from collectives.

WAGRAU regularly helps collectives purchase farm animals with their proceeds (where WAGRAU puts in 1/2 the cost) that can grow and reproduce, providing a sustainable “savings account.”