Realizing the Potential of South Sudan: Joyce Invests in Entrepreneurship

Joyce has been a tailor for a long time. She makes clothes for her five children and then some. A new order has come in to make uniforms for the local kindergarten school nearby.“I taught my husband how to use the sewing machine, so he can help me when I have lots of work”, she says, as she beams at her black and gold sewing machine.There was a time though when life was much harder. Living in a household of 13 people means that everything must stretch, and in the war torn region of Southern Sudan even essentials are scarce.When Joyce first encountered BRAC, through a survey conducted by a BRAC community organizer, she was working odd jobs with local crafts and making bed sheets. The cost of buying sewing notions was exorbitant and there were few customers. The family could not afford the school fees to send two of the children to school.Her first BRAC loan was for about $220 (500 Sudanese Pounds), which she used to get additional tailoring training and buy a sewing machine.

“I didn’t want to sew bed sheets any more. I want to make fancy clothes that ladies wear” she said about her decision to start a home based business to make more professionally designed womens apparel.

Joyce paid off her loan in time and applied for a larger loan of almost $350 (800 Sudanese Pounds). She used this to buy supplies, material and notions for a diverse set of womens apparel. Her clothes sell well. She’s even looking to import Kitenge fabric from Uganda and the Congo, to design and sell in the local markets. She earns a monthly profit of over $200.

Joyce is expecting her third loan of $520 (1200 Sudanese Pounds) soon.

“My husband helps me now. If I get more work, maybe I will employ and train more women to help me”.