Emergency funding for Patapia for refugee sustainability in Uganda

Patapia financed Hawa Hassan, a refugee in Uganda and mother of five to start a jewelry and makeup shop. Selling from the city center, her business was highly affected by the lockdown. With the lockdown and all the finances in the stock, Hawa could not anymore engage in the business.

About the Project

Patapia is a social enterprise in Kampala, Uganda responding to the welfare needs of refugees through a business startup and financial literacy training coupled with no collateral business micro-loans. Repayments allow us to train and finance more refugees and create a movement where refugees become financially independent. Benefits include sustainable livelihoods, increased economic well-being, improved community wellbeing, decreased dependence on outside aid, and restoration of hope and dignity.

Founded by Aime Rebecca, a refugee from DR Congo, your donations will support Patapia to continue its work. Patapia is currently experiencing financing shortfalls that are threatening our existence and abilities to provide a service highly needed by refugees. Patapia started in 2020, with only $2,000. We then got people to save which money supported us to finance more women and grow to over 92 women. Patapia has had a 100% repayment rate with 40 loans fully repaid but now this success rate is being threatened by Covid-19. Due to the lockdown, many of the women’s businesses were shut down and this means the women were not able to repay. And now the lockdown has been lifted, many of the women who have been saving with us are withdrawing because these savings are their safety nets.

With additional financing, Patapia will be able to bounce back and finance more women. In addition, Patapia in its mentoring model is including a structure to support the women to iterate their businesses in the event of the Covid-19 lockdown so that these businesses withstand the effects of Covid-19.

We are currently organizing a crowdfunding campaign to raise $20,000, which will be used to finance at least 50 women and provide the organization a runway of 6 months.

The Cause

Uganda is one of the leading refugee-hosting countries with over 1.4M refugees. 81% of the refugees in Uganda are women and children, and 64% of the households are women-led (UNHCR 2020). In the absence of financial assistance, many women and girls are exposed to exploiation and abuse while struggling to support their families. With increasing donor fatigue for supporting refugees, we needed a new measure to help refugees become self-sustainable.

Entrepreneurship can provide a possible way out of poverty, but most refugees lack the skills and knowledge to start and run a business. Although many lack capital to start a business, most financial institutions don’t provide loans to refugees because they don’t have assets for use as collateral.

About the FounderAs a refugee from DR. Congo, Aime Rebecca had to support and take care of her family since she was14. Aime desired to start her own business to make a living without being exploited by others. However, like with many refugee SMEs, the biggest challenge was access to finance. In 2016, she joined the Social Innovation Academy (SINA) Accelerator that supports marginalized youth to turn their challenges into opportunities, from where she formed the idea of supporting refugee women.

What We Need

Refugee women are struggling to provide for their families. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they have been hit the hardest and sadly lost even the small jobs they had. But we are currently unable to support them. By supporting Patapia you enable us to help refugees to improve their business skills and start their own businesses.

Your donations will:

• Be collected into a pool that the women borrow for financing their businesses
• Support Patapia provide its services

Everything we raise through this campaign will be spent directly to empower refugee women and indirectly improve the lives of hundreds of refugees in Kampala, Uganda.