Our Annual Give-Back

As a part of our mission, Margaret & Emma has committed to giving back to our group members. We send 5% of our profits directly back to the communities in Uganda through a profit-share. This year we divided up the funds between the groups, and contributed to the groups savings accounts. Fortunate, our Director of Ugandan Operations, was able to meet with each group, and hand-deliver our profit-share. Fortunate wrote about how the profit-share works, and how it helps the rural communities.

Everyone is in good spirits as Fortunate delivers the 2018 give-back.

“I love the Margaret & Emma tagline in the US, which I prefer to call the slogan – 'A gift for you, a job for her.' It is from this tagline that I derive my daily inspiration to work with the women in the rural communities. It’s a slogan that brings me to appreciate all levels of talent that these women display from their artisanal crafts. The slogan makes me appreciate the women each new day as they use their talent to earn a living.

In the same spirit, every one of our esteemed customers who has purchased our products from events, the online shop, or at our offices, has given a job to women of all skill levels in the rural communities. Every product you purchase gives Margaret & Emma a chance to appreciate the talent exhibited by our artisans. Not only do these women get paid when their products are picked up from the village, but the appreciation continues in the form of the ANNUAL GIVE BACK!

The treasurer of the Nfasha group counts the contribution from Margaret & Emma for the 2018 give-back.

Margaret & Emma gives 5% of its annual profit back to the women groups from which products were purchased throughout the year. After products are purchased from each group, we keep a record of which groups those items came from. Products are then tagged with the corresponding group. We calculate each group’s portion of the total give back, and contribute to the group savings accounts. This is what we call the annual give back!

All of our women groups have a savings plan where each member agrees to contribute a certain amount of money to be saved on a monthly basis. The money is kept by the treasurer of the group. As the savings continues to grow, the funds can be loaned out to group members, who agree to pay it back with a small interest. At the end of the year, the funds are shared equally between the women. Most of the women save to buy animals such as sheep, goats, poultry and pigs. They can breed the animals and sell the animals, giving them an even more sustainable income.

Usually, the groups’ savings are used up by the end of the year, making the New Year a tough financial time for the groups. Margaret & Emma uses the annual give-back as a contribution the women’s savings plan at the beginning of each New Year. We were able to successfully deliver last year’s annual give-back to the women early this year. The women were extremely delighted, and have already set up new objectives for the year.

Many thanks go to all of our dear, esteemed customers who have supported us through the purchase of our artisanal crafts. For all those who have liked our pages on social media and shared our stories, thank you for inspiring us and adding even more love and value to all that we do. Blessings to you all!!!”

Written by: Fortunate Natukunda, Director of Ugandan Operations

Fortunate takes a break to pose with children while visiting the Ikumba group.