Had an amazing day with Prossy yesterday! She is looking so well, happy and healthy, relaxed like I haven’t seen her since we first met.
She has moved to a plot of land that is 50m by 100m (your home probably has bigger dimensions) but she and her husband actually own the plot so she says she will never have to leave. She has been living there 8 months and has planted the garden, built a small brick home, and constructed a basic pigpen.
Her granddaughter, Pretty, lives with her and attends the local nursery school. Her husband still works in Masaka herding cattle with his brother and the three kids I know: Vincent, Helen and Prossy Jr, all live in town and work at the bakery. Prossy Jr had intended to see me but of course, her anticipated arrival of 1pm still hadn’t happened by 3:30pm so we didn’t actually see her. She called about 30 minutes after we had left to say she had arrived but by then we were well on our way. There is also another grand daughter, Katy, who was away at school. She is about 15 now.
Prossy lives in a beautiful area called Mityana and her plot is tucked away from the main road so it is quiet. She loves the fact that the neighbours aren’t walking through her property all the time like they did before. She enjoys the silence and we often found ourselves just listening to Nature around us.
We arrived just before 1 and she asked if we should eat maize before or after the food. It was decided that maize would be dessert so she served lunch – matooke, rice, bean soup, gnut and fish sauce, greens, and cassava root. I always ask Andrew to explain that I am not a big eater when in Uganda but it’s not because I don’t love the food. This was amazing. I love eating local. The a neighbour brought half a jackfruit so we ate that. Then we still had the roasted maize to eat!
After lunch, Prossy took me on a tour of her property and showed me the trees that act a markers for property edges. Then we talked pigs. She has built a pen that will house 8 pigs. She will get piglets that are three months old, already vaccinated and healthy. She has saved some money to put toward the pigs but also needs food for them and needs a few repairs to the pen like adding more iron sheets for the roof and patching the holes in the floor. I am concerned the piglets will break their legs failing through the holes between the boards.
The piglets cost a little less than we thought so we offered to purchase 8 piglets or 6 piglets and food. She has asked for 8 piglets and will find the food herself. Once the pen is ready, we will arrange to get the piglets to her. Thanks again to Gifts to Grandmas for the generous donation toward the piglets.
She thanked us for loving her and has welcomed any team to come and spend the day with her as we did last year. She and I call each other sister. I feel very welcome and at home with her.
At lunch, Apollo looked at me and said, “you are changing people’s lives.” Wow. That warmed me all over.
Thank you to everyone who continues to support ISEE’s work. We need all your generosity in order to be able to continue to do what we do. Webale Nnyo.
Have a great Sunday.
