SOCIAL ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
As part of our mission and vision, ASA is dedicated to supporting the development of social enterprises that create new sources of revenue to allow the organizations we support to further support their mission. These enterprises will help to ensure the future sustainability of our partner organizations, with the ultimate goal of reducing reliance on outside donor funds.
Social Enterprises benefit both the organizations we support, as well as the communities they serve through employment and expanding the work and the populations they are able to serve.
Current Projects
Highly Blessed Supermarket
The Highly Blessed Supermarket project aims to improve the operation and management, and ensure the sustainability of income generation of Bright Kids Uganda. This project focuses on four major areas: the type of commodities, operation expenses, management, and marketing.
The long term goals transform the mini-supermarket into a combination grocery store, souvenir shop, and food stand. With all these efforts, we intend to make enough profit to generate funds for Bright Kids Uganda enterprises and to finance the continued growth of the mini-supermarket.
Bed and Breakfast
The plan to help BKU generate more income to reach its goal of sustainability is to create a bed & breakfast on BKU’s property. BKU is fortunate in that it currently has the facilities to support guest accommodations. However, several physical improvements to the facilities will need to be made. These physical improvements would be in the form of basic repairs, additional furniture, and improvements to Wi-Fi and electricity. Despite these high setup costs, the operating expenses of running the bed & breakfast are relatively low, meaning a large profit potential exists.
Through this comprehensive business plan, BKU will be able to renovate its current facilities and open a bed & breakfast which will provide a significant amount of revenue for the organization. This revenue will be extremely beneficial in BKU’s mission to reach full sustainability. Through sustainability, BKU will have adequate income to support the education and care for it’s over 100 children the organization currently supports. It is BKU’s hope that through income generating projects like a bed & breakfast, BKU can expand and take in even more orphaned and vulnerable children who would otherwise be left behind.
Travel and Tourism
Students will study the rich Ugandan culture and have real-life, on the ground experiences to discover what it truly feels like to study community and tradition. The sustainable and responsible tourism framework revolves around making a positive impact, or in some cases, as little of an impact on the society you are touring in order to respect local culture. In order to maintain the integrity of the local culture, the program also aims to generate employment for local people.
Consistent with service-learning practices, students will assist the community with local projects in addition to experiencing all that Uganda has to offer. In the future, we wish to open this internship to students studying international development, environmental sustainability, community development, and all who meet the internship qualifications and wish to study in Uganda!
More information about our timeline and proposal process can be found within the African Studies department at the University of Pittsburgh.