Biashara Village Ventures is a micro-enterprise development program that was originally created for village women in East Africa. The program provides the business training and support needed to create sustainable businesses that in turn impact the well-being of impoverished children and families. Based on the success of the program, materials were expanded and there is now fully integrated train-the-trainer curriculum available to other NGOs or community groups such that they can increase the capacity of those they work with.
ALL MATERIALS ARE AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH AND KISWAHILI.
ALL MATERIALS ARE AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH AND KISWAHILI.
The focus is on sustainability by teaching participants how to create or identify business opportunities and providing them with the skills that can be applied to develop any venture. Recognizing that many of the women do not have a formal education, the material is delivered at a primary school level and includes many pictures and illustrations.
Each training session is followed by smaller group sessions for participants to review and discuss how the learnings apply to their own business concepts. |
How the program is unique ….
- Focused on those most in need who would not otherwise have access to poverty-alleviating tools or resources
- High ratio of trainers to program participants to maximize each women’s potential
- Team support and peer mentoring …. Women helping women
- Ongoing support and individual attention to the woman and her business
- Developed by professional entrepreneurial educators with a focus on ‘applied learning’
- Innovative teaching materials for participants that are not literate