NEWS- The Rukungiri District Aspiring Woman Member of Parliament Ms Innocent Nabaasa Kashobera (Enyangi) has rolled out a skilling program aimed at giving opportunities to women and youth get employable chances to better their lives.
Ms Nabaasa Kashobera launched the program on March 25th in Bwambara Sub County in Rujumbura Constituency, Rukungiri District starting with Rwenshama Fish Landing Site on Lake Edward.
Ms Nabaasa Kashobera said that the program is aiming at equiping women and youth with skills to get them employment opportunities after she found that many of them especially in hard to reach areas were vulnerable to poverty yet they could make a living in their areas.
She said that as beginners she had identified training youth and women in Boxy Jerry making, Soap making and cake and bread baking because their products have a ready market in their communities.
Ms Nabaasa Kashobera urged the women and the youth to take advantage of government programs like Parish Development Model, Youth Livelihoods Program, Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Program by forming working groups where other supporters can channel their support.
She pledged to support such groups by facilitating them to attain training in any of the enterprises that include Body Jerry, Liquid and Bar soap making and baking bread skilling so that they can start making their own enterprises and create employment for themselves since these skills will impart knowledge to help people earn instant incomes and ensure availability of the commodities at affordable cost.
“When I was campaigning in 2020/21, I realised that there were no such household items in hard to reach areas, people who went to such places were in need of some of these items like cakes but they could not find them. That is the reason I decided to empower some of them to start producing the items for sell and use in their own homes,” Ms Nabaasa Kashobera explained.
She also said that her initiative was inspired by the many numbers of teenage mothers due to early pregnancies who got themselves into family upbringing without lifetime skills and are heavily dependent on their husbands, some of whom are unemployed or casual labourers and therefore the skilling opportunities come at a time to salvage the situation by opening up to them and giving them alternative livelihoods.
She noted that many women have no access to land because they don’t have ownership rights yet they are need to feed their families, but even what they produce on hired land therefore getting alternative income generating income.
One of the youth who trained in bread baking and is now a trainer, Twineyesu Ivan, confessed that the skilling opportunity has helped him make a lifetime survival because he is able to fend for his family and is proud that he has trained over 30 other people.
He said that he needed as little as Ugx 200,000 to start his business and can make cakes which can last for 2 weeks, but most of them are bought immediately and has also got orders to supply weddings, birthday and other parties.
Kyomugisha Papius from Bwambara who dropped out of school in S.3, who is a beneficiary of the Skilling Program said that the skilling in baking helped her make cakes whose proceeds she used to pay for a tailoring course and is now supporting her family without depending on her husband.
Teacher Naume Tumushabe is a trainer in soap making is in full praise of the skilling opportunity which has helped many women and youth start income generating programs saying that if they tool it seriously, it could get them out of poverty line.
Ms Tukamushaba noted that, people are starting to change their lives by living in modern houses with tiles which need to be cleaned and the availability of soap is handy for them to use and can also be used on household utensils and clothes.
Natukunda Oliver from Kagyera Cell in Nothern Ward of Rukungiri Municipality said that once she trained in soap making and Body Jerry, she started buying raw materials and has been making products to sell in her villages.
Ms Nabaasa Kashobera has a big massage to the people of Rukungiri as she prepare to represent them in Parliament come 2026 saying that the skilling opportunities will promote domestic tourism, reduce teenage pregnancies and early marriages by putting the money they receive as groups from government to do profitable ventures and urged them to work in groups to increase sustainable financial base.
