Once again, the objective of this field visit was to (1) see the state of young mothers’ businesses, (2) provide coaching to help young mothers generate increased profit, and (3) understand the current life condition of young mothers in business. Both young mothers visited today are self-employed.
At each place of business, the young mother completed a questionnaire regarding the health of her business, and together with Michael and Lucy, listed a number of actionable commitments to improve business operations. One copy of these commitments was left with the young mother, and the other copy remained with Michael and Lucy. This way, in follow-up visits, each knows exactly what was agreed upon as necessary to better the health of the business.
Jackline graduated from EBLI in the second batch of 2015 (eighth batch overall), and she co-runs several businesses with her siblings, including: the production and sale of clay flower pots, sewing children's clothing, a fruit and vegetable garden, home goods shop (e.g. rice, beans, water, toilet paper), and a small restaurant. Combined, these business generate millions of Tanzanian Shillings per month in revenue, or more than USD 137 per day. This is quite impressive considering the average Tanzanian earns just USD 2.19 per day.
Mariam joined the pilot EBLI Hisa saving and loaning group in early 2015, and used the system to open and run her own hair salon. She continues to generate at least USD 70 in profit per month, but her business is far from reaching its full potential, limited mostly by being located in a very quiet, sparely populated neighborhood. Thus, Michael and Lucy are working closely with Mariam to increase customer foot traffic by, for example, offering a discounted price during typically slow days, advertising in the neighborhood with signage and flyers, or even relocating her business less than one kilometer from its present location. Additionally, Michael and Lucy spoke with Mariam about the possibility of training other young women in the trade of hair and beauty, allowing Mariam to offset slow work days by having paying students learn from her how to do hair care while at the same time affording her additional income.