Poverty Alleviation Programme

T.A-CRUSADE-UGANDA’s Poverty Alleviation Interventions are designed to disrupt the cycle of poverty for rural persons experiencing extreme poverty and living in under-resourced communities through building their capacity gain (self) employment, access business loans to capitalize their income generating enterprises to enable them meet their own, family, household and community needs.

Business Technical Vocation Education and Training Awareness Creation

T.A-CRUSADE- UGANDA’s Business Technical Vocation Education and Training (BTVET) Programme continues to advocate the importance of BTVET as the other pathway in education which has potentials for successful transitions into the world of work. Knowledge of BTVET however, remains very low amongst the Ugandan populace with very negative engrained perception on the subject. Educators, parents, policy makers, youth and other stakeholders need to understand the role of BTVET and to change the perception attached to it. It is a reality that many young people have not been exposed to what TVET is so they are not able to select it as a career choice as they take decisions for the future.

Awareness creation sessions and orientations are held in schools and colleges to present BTVET as a brand that can be considered by the youth. Technical, Vocational Education and Training has a fundamental challenge due to the low or negative image ascribed to it. BTVET in Uganda has to follow this trend but it lacks the central coordination and reputation as it has erroneously been considered a second fiddle to general education and should not be an obvious choice for the elite. These perceptions and outlook has affected BTVET negatively culminating in a low Government attention and support. Awareness Creation plays an important role in changing perceptions and drawing attention to issues that need to be understood and appreciated by stakeholders.

Vulnerable Persons Literacy, Vocational & Micro- entrepreneurial Skills Training Centre

T.A-CRUSADE-UGANDA operates a Vulnerable Persons Literacy, Vocational & Micro- entrepreneurial Skills Development Programme Centre in Nakiwaate Village, Nabbaale Sub-county where local youth and women are trained in impactful tradable skills that include building, welding, auto-mechanics, cookery & bakery, tailoring, plumbing, electrical installation, hairdressing, entrepreneurship, business administration, computer usage, maintenance and repair, nursery teachers’ training. Availability of these programmes majorly depends on availability of funds.  

Literacy and Numeracy Training

Illiteracy has been a ban on development. The more a nation can boast of well-educated persons the better it reflects on societal transformation. The last census in 2014 indicated 57% of Ugandans are illiterate; this poses a big challenge to the nation. Very low illiteracy levels are experienced with especially artisans, apprentices and trainees in the informal sector as well as other self-employed people. Majority of our beneficiaries need some literacy and numeracy skills to enable them keep the necessary records and follow proper procedures in their work for effective management of their businesses. Literacy adds to the self-esteem and confidence of individuals and a factor for business success and social integration.

T.A-CRUSADE- UGANDA’s TVET Programme organizes training for different artisanal groups and individuals at different locations. The training is modular-based and functional developed in four competence areas: reading, orals, grammar and comprehension. It takes a minimum of four (4) months depending on the level of need to complete a module. Many lives have been improved as a result of going through the literacy programme.

Enterprise Development

This is a direct intervention to enable graduates from Technical and vocational Education and Training Centre to start their own businesses and manage them on sustainable basis. Needy graduates who are unable to purchase the necessary equipment to start a business are identified through some screening and follow-up processes. They are provided with the equipment that would enable them start work. Many graduates are afraid to start a business because of the lack of capital and fear of whether they would succeed or not. This activity of providing equipment is combined with Entrepreneurship Skills Training (EST) so that the beneficiaries have direct relation of the topics and concepts in a real life situation. The young entrepreneurs are supported in all aspects, spiritually, emotionally and physically so they can run and maintain their businesses, and nurture them into maturity. The idea is that we can nurture micro and small businesses and guide them to move into the next level of growth. This activity has proven that hand holding support is very important for business growth. The ultimate aim is to have women or men who are economically empowered in order to engage in decision making processes and able to take care of themselves and their families for good social cohesion and integration.

Job Placement and Counselling Services

It is difficult for BTVET graduates to access the job market because of keen competition and engrained negative perception of the sector. It becomes important to prepare the graduates through interviewing skills, curriculum vitae writing, work ethics and general counseling to give them a better orientation to work and the labour market. Usually, training and counselling sessions are held for final year students from different schools. Beyond that BTVET Programme establishes linkages with different industries and tries to connect graduates to employment vacancies, constant follow up is done to receive feedbacks on performance of graduates. Different types of counselling services such as individual, group, business, financial, marital, health and on other social issues are offered to beneficiaries for continuous support.

Micro Credit

Micro-Credit has been used as a development tool globally for the poor to enable them run income-generating activities for their livelihoods. There have been a lot of success stories in relation to the use of micro credit in Uganda. However, in recent times, the concept has been abused being used as an exploitative tool for some business people. Many vulnerable and poor persons have been left in a more deplorable state because micro-finance institutions charge exorbitant interest rates which are not favorable for them and their businesses. Consequently, their income generating initiatives cannot be sustained. Moved by the plight of our beneficiary group, BTVET Programme offers micro-credit to entrepreneurs in order to have the needed financial leverage for business growth. Since 2012, a number of young people have benefitted from micro-credit support and as a result they have expanded their businesses in different ways. Some have added on additional equipment, purchased properties, upgraded their working places which also enabled them employ others. A number of training activities are also held for the clients of the micro-credit. A very low interest rate is charged Microloans to sustain the fund.

Financial Literacy

T.A-CRUSADE -UGANDA Provides Participants with Basic Skills in Budget, Investment, Savings, Loans, Insurance, Personal Financial Management, Cash Management, Retirement Planning (planning for old age), and Spending.

Managing Money for Adults is very important for employees. Let them Learn how to make the most of their money and learn the skills they need to navigate the complex world of personal finance. In this we train your beneficiaries and they learn to budget effectively, taking into account changes like getting older and leaving the family home and retirement from a job.

They will also understand how to choose and manage savings accounts, and discover how to borrow sensibly and manage debts effectively. Ultimately, every participant will gain the ability to plan and make your goals financially achievable.

With our financial literacy training, we empower the beneficiaries to take control of their financial future by learning how to manage their money. Financial Literacy is a course that does not exist in the curriculum in Uganda. It’s also sad to note that those at the age of 18+ are one of the age groups most likely to be in debt.

Throughout this Financial Literacy we will explore interesting and relevant real-world examples of managing their money so that they can better understand all the underlying concepts. This training provides practical, ready-to-use solutions to use in life both at work and at home or wherever you may be.

We offer a full range of a financial literacy program with various modules which consists of multiple learning sessions that start with basic information and progress to more complex aspects of the topic. We understand that Financial literacy means; …having the knowledge, skills, and confidence to manage money well. That’s why we aim to give the three important elements of the definition.

Participants will learn:

Personal Financial Management (PFM)

Get a deeper understanding of personal financial management by gaining an understanding of your financial situation to make the most of your assets in day-to-day life and in planning for your future. Personal finance is a term that covers managing your money as well as saving and investing. It encompasses budgeting, banking, insurance, mortgages, investments, retirement planning, and tax and estate planning.

Savings

We learn how income not spent, or deferred consumption is set aside for emergencies, investment, and the future. We shall look at some of the methods of saving like putting money aside in, for example, a deposit account, a pension account, an investment fund, or cash. Saving also involves reducing expenditures, such as recurring costs. Savings, therefore, teaches us how to arrive at a net surplus of funds for an individual or household after all expenses and obligations have been paid.

Loan Management Best Practices

People continue to borrow for different reasons. That’s why it is important to include this topic in the program for any financial literacy training intervention. There are mostly three reasons why one of the participants or someone they know may be having a loan.

The loan might have been acquired to invest or to respond to an emergency or even to consume (to purchase an item for which he or she did not have enough money). Participants need to understand Key things to consider while obtaining any loan like Institutions, products, terms, and conditions, when to borrow and when not to borrow, Interest rates, other costs, and collateral.

In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that debt until it is repaid as well as to repay the principal amount borrowed.

Investment

Investment means to allocate money with the expectation of a positive benefit/return in the future. In other words, we learn how you can own an asset or an item to generate income from the investment or the appreciation of your investment which is an increase in the value of the asset over a while.

Financial Literacy Training also aims to create more investors and that’s the reason we cherish the topic of investment. “Investing is putting your money to use to allow it to grow”. An investment can be in form of livestock (poultry, cows, goats, and pigs), land (rental apartments, buildings), business market stalls, grocery shops, or workshops from which you can earn profits”. Investment is the driver for the creation of wealth and financial security.

Retirement Planning

Retirement is the withdrawal from one’s position or occupation or one’s active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are old or incapable of doing their job.

It is quite clear that retirement planning hasn’t changed all that much over the years. You work, you save and then you retire. But while the dynamics may be the same, today’s savers are facing some challenges that previous generations didn’t have to worry about.

To have a comfortable, secure as well as a fun retirement, you need to build the financial cushion that will fund it all. The fun part is why it makes sense to pay attention to the serious and perhaps boring part: planning how you’ll get there.

Insurance and Risk Management 

Beneficiaries understand how the insurers carry out the assessments and quantification of the likelihood and financial impact of events that may occur in the customer’s world that require settlement by the insurer; and the ability to spread the risk of these events occurring across other insurance underwriter’s in the market.

Financial Service Providers

Checking Accounts. An account at a financial institution that allows for withdrawals and deposits, Savings Accounts, Money Market Accounts, Certificates of Deposit, Mortgages, Home Equity Loans, and Personal Loans.