Background
EIAAT is vocational institute Based in Uganda. It teaches school drop outs and school leavers a vocation so as to prepare them for a working life and a bright future. We offer courses like, tailoring, welding, metal fabrication, bicycle repair and computer use and applications.
Private institutions are amongst the most important providers of vocational training. Currently around 45% of all vocational training available in Uganda is provided by such private institutions.
Properly trained workers is the prime requirement for the reduction of poverty. This will provide a hope for a better future for Ugandans and the economy. Vocational institutions develop, sustain and expand a countries industries and contribute to economic growth as a whole.
Unfortunately there are not enough vocational institutions or appropriate opportunities for Ugandan youth to learn vocational skills. The private vocational institutions face many problems. There are widely differing standards. Vocational institutions have failed to gain recognition by the government or by the people who should be benefiting from them. Poor administration and insufficient communication between the training institutions are some of the problems.
Access to the few institutions remains difficult. Because of limited resources of the private institutions they can only finance themselves with difficulty. These institutions mainly rely on school fees from students to finance themselves. This results in high fees. This is why the majority of Ugandans are too poor to pay the school fees.
EIAAT is owned by two directors Charles Mulamata and Joyce Kayongo. A married couple. They are also involved in other business. Metal fabrication, solar renewable energy and energy saving stoves.
Our vocational institute receives donations of 40ft containers of second hand bicycles and sawing machines from Pedals for Progress (P4P) of USA New Jersey. The used bicycle are sold locally. The major income is used to finance the importation project for more containers. The surplus is used to finance the vocational institutions administrative costs and its other development activities.
The second hand sawing machines are used in our vocational institutes tailoring division. A student starts with a sawing machine and learns how to use, service and repair it. The student, if interested in this particular sawing machine, can start to pay for it in installment as the studies progress. If at the end of the course the sawing machine is fully paid then the student takes the sawing machine.
This scheme encourages the student to plan for the future, teaches the student to save, and encourages proper handling and looking after their future sawing machine. This introduces the student, in a practical way, to the life of entrepreneurship.
We are the largest, and most expensive project.
EIAAT is the largest program in East Africa and the second largest in the whole of Africa for importation of bicycles and sawing machines. If the container coming in December has 450 bikes we would be at 1,865 bikes and 187sawing machines so far imported and supplied to Ugandans since the project started.
EIAAT is one of the most expensive projects for P4P because we are in Uganda, a land locked country. The cost of freight to Kampala is about $10,000 for a 40ft container. This you add other costs like administrative costs of P4P and import duty.
We had failed to raise this money and our project had come to a halt. It is only through the hard work, persistence and dedication to the cause, by David of P4P that he was able to solicit funds to cover the freight cost. We are indeed grateful to David and the funders for awakening this project. We are indeed lucky that EIAAT in Uganda is one of the active participant in P4P program.
The other expenses are transport, loading offloading especially during customs check and finally to the final destination godown.
At this godown there are expenses too, like off loading, sorting, grouping, counting, and the regular administration costs which include staff salaries, electricity, phone charges etc to enable an establishment like EIAAT to function normally. EIAAT was able to complete its store so it was saved from paying rent.
The above details explains why we have to sell the bicycles even if we get them as a donation from P4P of New Jersey USA. The price we sell the products, however are very reasonable that is why we can supply to local whole sale traders so that they can retail the bicycles.
Benefit to the customers of the bicycles sold by the institute are enormous.
These bicycles are sold at a low price. Bicycles are very useful to our country as we have very poor road conditions which are impossible to navigate by cars. Some of these places which cannot be reached by cars are left undeveloped as the local people do not have easy means of mobility to go to where services can be provided. Also service providers find it difficult to service a wider area without convenient transport means.
The increasing cost of fossil fuel also contributes to the demand for an alternate more convenient less expensive means of transport. The easier, almost free, all weather, all road available on demand means of transport offered by the bicycle is the most appropriate for a developing country. The environment is not ignored also as this means of transport does not generate polution.
Sales
Bicycles Sales
We target 3 to 6 containers every year. Our Project is based in Kampala the capital of Uganda. We have received requests and plan to expand our distribution network by setting up agents throughout the country. So far we have representatives in the following districts.
Kampala, Masaka and Jinja. We will get agents in other districts like Mbale, Mbarara, Arua, Hoima, Kabale and Lira.Conclusion.
David of P4P has awakened our project. We are very grateful. We look forward to the December container because of its contents and mainly because it has opened a way to achieve the projects target of 6 containers every year. That is approximately 2,700 bicycles and 300 sawing machines every year. This is coupled with the number of trained students in our vocational institution who are able to gain skills and find work or start their own enterprise.
