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RAN’s ‘Wekebere’ Innovation project listed among the top 15 African Enterprising Projects by RUFORUM
Innovator Testimony narrated by Stephen Tashobya-Project Lead
It is exciting and fulfilling that we have managed to bring ‘Wekebere’ Innovation Project the far it has come through hard work, teamwork and team coordination driven by pain and passion to see the Innovation saving millions of lives across the world especially in rural areas where maternal and infant mortality is alarming. ‘Wekebere’ is a hand-held self-diagnostic tool that enables pregnant women to monitor the development of their unborn babies.
As a Team Leader, I was trusted with the duty of not only showing the team the right way but also looking around for opportunities to keep all of us and most importantly the innovation moving forward. This task, I am steadily and slowly achieving! We have been able to benefit from various forms of support including; the Youth Spark Innovation Grant (YSIG) from Makerere University School of Public Health ResilientAfrica Network (RAN) www.ranlab.org-$5,000 only, ACIA Awards 2016 by Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)-Visionaries award, 5th African Higher Education Week and RUFORUM Biennial Conference 2016 http://www.ruforumbiennial.org/ and https://blog.ruforum.org/2016/09/22/announcement-winners-of-the-young-african-entrepreneurs-competition-2016/ which identified the potential in ‘Wekebere’ to address maternal mortality and high rates of miscarriages. RUFORUM listed ‘Wekebere’ among the top 15 African Enterprising Projects and the team will join in the Biennial Conference 2016 scheduled October 17-21, 2016 in South Africa to receive a cash award to further support development of the project. In our application to RUFORUM, we highlighted the project’s business model canvas clearly spelling out the product’s value, beneficiaries for whom value is meant and how this value will be delivered to the intended users.
‘Wekebere’ project has also been showcased in various Conferences including; the 5th Business Summit Africa held on September 24 2016, at Kampala Serena Hotel Uganda and the 7th African Summit on Free and Open Source (IDLELO 7)/FOSS Conference held at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala Uganda on August 21-23, 2016. In the next 5 years, we see ‘Wekebere’ in the Global market including Asia, Africa and other continents where maternal and infant mortality are high. Innovation is a process, join us to support this creativity for solutions to address communities’ most pressing challenges so that we can together celebrate having transformed the status quo in these communities.
