{"id":43064,"date":"2020-07-20T15:52:25","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T19:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging21.finca.org\/uncategorized-en-ca\/an-update-on-fincas-brightlife-program-in-uganda"},"modified":"2024-11-04T02:06:50","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T07:06:50","slug":"an-update-on-fincas-brightlife-program-in-uganda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finca.org\/en-ca\/an-update-on-fincas-brightlife-program-in-uganda","title":{"rendered":"An Update on FINCA\u2019s BrightLife Program in Uganda"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to the United Nations University,\u00a0up to half a billion people globally could fall into poverty as a direct result of the economic impacts of COVID-19<\/a>. And in countries like\u00a0Uganda<\/a>, which has had some of the strictest lockdown measures worldwide, citizens are already feeling the effects. With this context in mind, FINCA\u2019s BrightLife program acted quickly to adapt its business structure to continue operating and providing its customers with what they need despite the country\u2019s restrictions.<\/p>\n

This blog explores how FINCA\u2019s BrightLife program has adapted its operations in response to COVID-19 to provide the communities it serves with what they need.<\/p>\n

Read on to learn about our BrightLife network update:<\/p>\n

A Grim Reality<\/h2>\n

In an effort to thwart the spread of COVID-19, Uganda\u2019s government imposed one of the strictest lockdowns in the world. From late March until early June, all non-essential businesses were closed, public transportation and private passenger vehicles were stopped, and Ugandans were mandated to stay at home unless in the case of an emergency. Since then the government has allowed some non-essential business and transportation to reopen but a strictly enforced 7:00 pm curfew remains.<\/p>\n

As a social enterprise providing clean energy products to some of Uganda\u2019s poorest communities, the long-term lockdown and continuing curfew have presented enormous challenges to FINCA International\u2019s BrightLife program. At the beginning of the lockdown, BrightLife was forced to close as a non-essential business. Consequentially, BrightLife had to furlough many employees and sales agents, as they could no longer sell solar home systems. More importantly, with the vast majority of BrightLife customers unable to work or otherwise earn money, many could not afford to make even the low weekly payments for their solar home systems.<\/p>\n

\"Rebecca-Bafuna-with-her-Family\"