DIET: Disability Inclusive Entrepreneurship Training Program
Faculty of Special Needs and Rehabilitation – Project
Funder
Aga Khan Foundation Uganda under the AKDN-COVID 19 Response EU Project
Background
The Disability Inclusive Entrepreneurship Training (DIET) Program is a COVID Response project in the Faculty of Special Needs and Rehabilitation, Kyambogo University, Uganda. The project was initiated in 2019 by Hakim Kibedi Wenume, an Assistant Technician for Orientation and Mobility, with technical support of senior academics in the faculty. DIET program is funded by the Aga Khan Foundation Uganda under the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN)-COVID 19 Response European Union Project. The DIET program is aimed at empowering students with disabilities and their peers without disabilities in Kyambogo University to gain entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills to sustain their livelihood and wellbeing both on campus and in their families and communities.
Implementation Partners
The DIET program is currently being implemented through various relevant stakeholders at Kyambogo University namely; students, associations of students with disabilities, Student’s Guild Representative Councillors (GRCs), Kyambogo University Disability Support Centre, Dean of Students Office, Kyambogo University Business Incubation Centre (BIC), Lecturers specialized in disability inclusion and entrepreneurship, and the Office of the Dean, and Dean Faculty of Special Needs and Rehabilitation.
Aim:
To empower students with disabilities and their peers without disabilities at Kyambogo University to gain entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills to sustain their livelihood in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic in Uganda.
Our Programme Objectives
he DIET program has four (4) main objectives;
- To provide practical training in small business ideas for income generation for livelihood support to students with disabilities and their personal assistants and peers without disabilities at Kyambogo
- To train students with disabilities and their personal assistants and peers without disabilities in financial literacy for small business
- To provide continuous technical support to trained persons with disabilities, their personal assistants, and peers without disabilities in setting up and running their business ventures.
- To provide training in disability inclusion, assistive and support services to persons with disabilities, their personal assistants and peers with disabilities so as to ensure disability-inclusive
Key Programme Activities
- Training in Small Business Ideas: We provide practical skills training in several small business ideas namely; liquid and bar soap making, paper packs, face masks, threat knitting, kitchen gardening, among others.
- Training in Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy: We provide training on how to start a business, potential market / customer analysis, business plans development, product marketing, personal and business financial mana
- Development of Inclusive Audio-Visual Training Materials: We develop inclusive learning audio-visual teaching and learning materials for entrepreneurship, financial literacy for the deaf students, and also in Braille format and large prints for the blind and people with low vision.
- Disability Sensitization and Awareness Creation: We integrate knowledge of disability inclusion and needs of persons with disabilities in our entrepreneurship and financial literacy training. We also conduct trainings, disseminate publicity materials on the needs to support business of persons with disabilities and how to address issues that affect entrepreneurship among persons with disabilities.
- Distribution of Protective Gears: We make face marks and sell at an affordable price to students, small scale traders.
Achievements and Successes
- 240 persons various forms of disabilities namely, deaf, hard of hearing, blind, low vision, physical disabilities, those with multiple disabilities at Kyambogo University trained in small business ideas for income generation.
- 450 students without disabilities at Kyambogo University trained in small business ideas for income generation.
- 61 personal assistants of students with disabilities i.e. 45 sighted guides and 16 sing language interpreters were trained in small business ideas for income generation.
- 5 viable business ideas namely; liquid and bar soap making, paper packs making, face masks, making cakes, cookies, mandazi, pancakes, fruit juice, chapati, chips, thread knitting, and kitchen gardening were trained
- 240 persons various forms of disabilities namely, deaf, hard of hearing, blind, low vision, physical disabilities, those with multiple disabilities at Kyambogo University trained in entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
- 450 students without disabilities at Kyambogo University trained in entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
- 61 personal assistants of students with disabilities i.e. 45 sighted guides and 16 sing language interpreters were trained in entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
- 6 key entrepreneurship topics namely; understanding business environment, feasibility assessment, potential market / customer analysis, business plans development, product marketing, personal and business financial management were trained.
- 772 students i.e. 61 personal assistants, 240 persons, and 450 students without disabilities were taken for field study at Kyambogo University Business Incubation Centre to learn the process of making break, cakes, and cookies.
- Developed audio-visual record compound disc (CD) with step-by-step instructions/guide for learning business ideas for making soap, paper pack bags, fruit juice, cookies, pancakes, mandazi, and
- Developed Braille format with step-by-step instructions/guide for learning business ideas for making soap, paper pack bags, fruit juice, cookies, pancakes, mandazi, and
- Developed audio-visual record compound disc (CD) with step-by-step instructions/guides on entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
- Developing a Braille version of entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
- The DIET program has been profiled on the Kyambogo University Newsletter.
- Students with disabilities and their peers without disabilities are jointly running informal businesses on campus.
- Lecturers and students in the university are buying products and goods made by students with disabilities.
- Lecturers and students bought face masks made by our students during their studies when face masks were a must doing the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Three (3) restaurants on campus make bulk orders of paper bag packs for packing food items like ‘Rolex’, chips, chapati, and mandazis.
- Six (6) clinics in Banda Community around Kyambogo University, make orders for small paper pack bags for packing
Our Impact
Our Impact 1: Training in Small Business Ideas
- 70% of the students with disabilities have started their own small scale/informal business enterprises in their halls of residence.
- 90% of the personal assistants to persons with disabilities have started small/informal business in their halls of residence.
- Business ideas that have been started are paper packs, liquid soap, bar soap, cookies, ‘’daddies’’, pancakes, and fruit juice for sale on campus.
Our Impact 2: Training in Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy
- Students with disabilities, their personal assistants and peers without disabilities who have started their own small-scale/informal businesses are saving their money in student saving groups on campus.
- Informal businesses opened by students have basic book-keeping documents such as expenditure and income records.
- Students are marketing their products and goods on social media such as students’ WhatsApp groups, Facebook pages, Tik-Tok and Instagram
- Student display their products on campus locations like in lecture rooms, canteens in their faculties.
Our Impact 3: Development of Inclusive Audio-Visual Training Materials
- Students with disabilities are using an audio-visual record compound disc (CD) with step-by-step instructions/guide for self-study/learning.
- The audio-visual record compound disc (CD) with step-by-step instructions/guides are being used by lecturers to conduct lectures entrepreneurship courses in the Faculty of Special Needs and Rehabilitation.
- Students who were not trained have purchased the audio-visual record compound disc (CD) with step-by-step instructions/guidelines and used it to self- learn the different skills trades.
Our Impact 4: Disability Sensitization and Awareness Creation
- The DIET program has been profiled in the Kyambogo University Newsletter.
- Students with disabilities and their peers without disabilities are jointly running informal businesses on campus.
- Lecturers and students in the university are buying products and goods made by students with disabilities.
Impact 5: Distribution of Protective Gears
- Lecturers and students bought face masks made by our students during their studies when face masks were a must during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Three (3) restaurants on campus make bulk orders of paper bag packs for packing food items like ‘Rolex’, chips, chapati, and mandazis.
- Six (6) clinics in Banda Community around Kyambogo University, make orders for small paper pack bags for packing tablets.
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