7 new Ugandan jobs created by Grow Movement with Isaac Mugabe and a Canadian volunteer consultant

Meet Isaac Mugabe who runs a screen-printing business working with schools and other business to put their logos on t-shirts, caps and umbrellas. When Isaac came to GROW Movement, his business was not going very well.  After working with Ray Belanager, a Canadian volunteer consultant, Isaac now  runs a profitable business. He employees an additional seven people as a result of the work that he completed with Ray, focusing on tracking the costs of his business and taking care of his customers. Isaac has  even set up a village savings scheme to help other local businesses solve cash flow issues. Great work Ray and Isaac. It is amazing the impact that knowledge sharing over Skype, phone and email can have on the performance of a businesses in the Developing World. On working with Grow Movement Isaac says, "I feel like both my company and I have been reborn". 

Isaac Mugabe in his design work shop

Isaac with his umbrella product

Isaac with his new operations manager

Coventry to #Malawi by #Skype! Africans helping Africans!

Meet  Judith Patricia Alekadala, a 35 years old accountant from Mangochi district in Malawi, now living with her son in Coventry, West Midlands, UK. She arrived in 2002 to continue her ACCA training and plans to open her own accountancy firm. She is our first female Malawian Grow Consultant. Welcome Judith!
Her Malawian based entrepreneur, Catherine Njobvu, aged 28 is a cosmetics and beauty salon owner. Judith plans to assist her client with expanding into new premises in the main city centre of Blantyre. They plan to target new customers in this area including university students.

About volunteering with Grow Movement Judith says
"...I like the Grow Movement idea because it follows my favourite Chinese proverb which says; If you teach someone how to fish he will never beg again but if you keep on giving him fish, he shall keep on coming back whenever he feels hungry. Grow movement is teaching people how to produce themselves and become independent rather than relying on someone to help them all the time. I have learnt a lot on how people do business in the UK and I would like to transfer that knowledge to other people who may use it and benefit from it. Africans are hard workers and skilled people, they just need a little bit of re-engineering. I would like to help in consulting the businesses and see them grow.  I believe this will change the world and I want to be part of it. I know it will work because knowledge investment is more profitable..."

Judith Alekadala UK based Malawian Grow Consultant

London based Malawian accountant Skype consults with Malawian based entrepreneur

Meet Mathews Chanza, a 39 year old accountant from Zomba district in Malaw, now living in London working as a Finance Manager for Media diversity and People In Aid. He is Grow Meet Mathews Chanza, Grow Movement's first Malawian born volunteer consultant.

He first moved to London ten years ago to study his Bachelor of Accounting degree (BACC) and continued to complete his training as an Associate Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA).

He has been matched with Rhoda Banda a 35 year old female entrepreneur  who runs a small company with 10 employees in Malawi growing and selling peas, ground nuts and soya beans. Together using Skype, phone and email they will work for 3 months writing and presenting business proposals, cash flow management techniques and forward planning business strategies.

On volunteering for Grow Movement, Mathews says ' It will be gratifying for me to serve a cause in developing small scale business- which I believe are a hub in the development and empowering of individuals, Indeed it will be even more gratifying for me where my accounting and finance experience can be used to help solve and benefit small scale business in Africa, in particular Malawi, where I come from.'

Welcome Mathews, to our powerful global volunteer team, we are very proud that you are our first Malawian consultant.

Mathews Chanza getting ready to chat with his Malawian entrepreneur

Hydro electricity, bricks, pigs,pizza, mushrooms and a football academy! Rwandan entrepreneurs receiving business advice from Grow Movement

This week 30 male and 10 female Rwandan entrepreneurs are being assisted by Grow Movement volunteer consultants  managed by Grow Manager's Violet Busingye. We are working with Service, Manufacturing and Agricultural entrepreneurs. The Service sector entrepreneurs are the largest group with 29 web designs companies, Real Estate, a football academy, education, solar energy installation  and small shops selling decorations and clothing. Our agricultural clients are growing mushrooms, tomatoes, coffee and pigs and our manufacturers are making sausages, bricks, hydro energy and crisps!

Violet with Teta who runs a jewellery and vase design company in Kigali

Violet traveling by 'moto' to visit clients in Rwanda

Violet works hard to manage all of these clients with the time commitment of 40 volunteer consultants from over 18 countries. This is helping her to improve the livelihoods of over 700 people in the communities in which she operates. The UK, India and France are our biggest source of consultants for Rwanda. A big thank you from all at Grow Movement to the exceptional kindness and generosity of our international volunteer team. You are part of a team that will have worked with 1200 entrepreneurs by 2016.
If you would like to be part of our team and work with entrepreneurs in Uganda, Rwanda or Malawi then please get in touch with us www.growmovement.org and click on apply to us. .