Girls Can Make It!

Komera’s Post Secondary Transition Program helps fill the nine-month gap between a scholar’s graduation from secondary school and the start of university. We provide valuable training that will help no matter what their next step is, be it university, getting a great job, or starting their own business. Coursework includes computer training, English language training, and finance and business development.

This program has a huge impact on the development of our scholars as well as their families. With new business and finance knowledge, many of our young women and families are experiencing economic empowerment as a result of the PSTP. Rebecca is one example of a Komera scholar that was able to launch her own business following secondary school.

Rebecca and her goat

Rebecca is a Komera scholar who enrolled in our scholar program in 2016. She was brought up by her single father when her mother left her very young. She happily joined a boarding school at Kigarama Technical Secondary School studying accounting. Following her graduation, she joined Komera’s 9-month Post Secondary Transition Program where she was able to learn more about business skills, entrepreneurship, English, and computer skills. 

At the end of the program, the results were released for university and Rebecca wasn’t chosen for either a government or Komera scholarship to pursue her university education. However, with the practical skills she had learned from the program, she never lost hope. During the PSTP, she had saved some money from her transport to school. When she discovered she wouldn’t be attending university, she used her savings to buy piglets and a goat. She chose to spend her time raising these animals and learning agriculture as she awaited a Komera business loan.

Rebecca and her family with Komera’s Social Worker Manager, Ruth

When we visited her at home, it was amazing to see how happy she was working with her family, filled with hope to pursue her goals. She shared that, “even if I have not immediately joined the university program, I will do my business which will in future expand to support my family and pay my school fees at the university.’’ She hopes to become a strong enough business woman that she can support herself through university, independent of scholarships. She wants to prove that girls can make it!

Her father is very proud of her and how she has become a role model to many girls in the village. He participates in Komera’s parent and guardian saving group and credits Komera with greatly empowering their family. They believe without Komera, they wouldn’t be able to get enough food for themselves, pay their family health insurance, afford school fees for young sisters, or raise domestic animals.

Rebecca and her family were able to gain independence and stability with the lessons from Komera’s PSTP and Parent and Guardian Cooperative! By donating to Komera, you can invest in student businesses much like Rebecca’s or a Parent Group like her father’s! Give today and transform the futures of a young woman and her family!