There are so many excuses! When asked why we haven't worked on that project we've been wanting to complete, why we haven't invested that money, or why we haven't entered that other competition where one's life could change forever, we come up with a number of excuses. Alternatively, we might shelter behind the concept of ‘waiting for the appropriate time’, which will very certainly never come.
Delphine Uwera did not waste time or make excuses. After graduating from high school, she and six of her friends decided to invest their time. She explained, "It's all we had; we didn't have any money”.
Creating Byose Ni Bamboo
"When I graduated from high school, I didn't want to sit at home doing nothing, so I began learning to make bamboo crafts. Six of my friends joined me, and we would carry out orders from clients” she said.
Delphine and her companions founded Byose ni Bamboo in 2019.
"We didn’t even have a name when we started” she added.
Uwera claims that they rarely received clients ordering from them due to a lack of structure and sufficient expertise, and that if they did, it would be on an individual basis.
"Unless you offer your assistance to a friend whose client has a tight deadline, orders were usually individual and rare. We weren't very good at it, and we didn't have any business skills, so some of us gave up,” she shared.
Only Uwera and two of her friends remained and signed up for trainings at Masaka Business Incubation (MBIC). "Out of fear that anything dreadful would happen to me while I'm away from home, my parents were not supportive”. "They used to discourage me by telling me that this was a field for males only, and that it was not fit for girls, especially as slim as I am,” she recalled.
The trio also make chairs from bamboo.
"My siblings would make fun of me saying that I would not be able to find a partner because of how I look throughout the day” she said laughing at the idea.
Uwera says that she has not given up or been discouraged by the comments. "The three of us persisted, and we requested our MBIC trainers to provide us with a location and materials until we could afford to buy our own”. "They did assist us, and we began paying only a few months later, having obtained more knowledge and begun to earn money”.
Uwera and her two companions founded Byose ni Bamboo in 2019, and the company was formally registered in 2020. "We haven't yet gotten to where we want to be, but we are grateful for where we are now”. "At this level, I believe we are role models for other young people”.
‘Byose ni Bamboo,’ is a furniture producer that creates and distributes a variety of bamboo-based products. "We do not only make a living out of it but we also employ other people and empower them to be independent”.
Pen holders made out of bamboo sticks.
They chose to repay the favor by training other young people, notably teen mothers and TVET students in general, after receiving their training and establishing a name in their region, Masaka.
Challenges and way forward
"We didn't have access to a bamboo supply near us, so we had to go a long distance to obtain bamboo. However, in order to meet demand and streamline production, we decided to grow them ourselves. Now, we've started growing bamboo by ourselves,” Uwera said.
Uwera admits that the major issue they still have is the lack of finance. "Even though we have basic materials now, we still lack adequate equipment to improve our products even more,” she adds.
Byose ni Bamboo is one of the ten entrepreneurial ideas contesting for interest-free loans in an intensified business pitch under the 5th Bank of Kigali (BK) Urumuri Initiative.
"Letting consumers know about our products and services is another problem we face. Most of our clients are people we know personally, but we want to expand our market and sell our products to a wider market,” she said.
"We won't give up; we'll keep working to empower ourselves and anyone else who joins us,” she said. "Right now, I'm planning on enrolling in university and continuing my higher education.”