Those of you who traveled to Uganda with me pre-2012 will remember our gentle driver Robert. He died suddenly in 2012, leaving his pregnant wife Jennifer and two young children, Joshua and Joyce. I met Jennifer in 2012, just days before she gave birth to her son Josiah.

Jennifer sells shoes at Owino Market. She buys large sacks of shoes that come from Kenya then sells them to the street vendors. In 2014, a Kelowna school sponsored Jennifer to be able to purchase better bales of shoes and to share a rented space.

She invited me to visit her in her home this past Saturday and to meet Joyce and Josiah. She shared their report cards with me. Joyce has beautiful handwriting and Josiah is a great artist. Joyce wants to be a doctor. I told her that when I move to Uganda and am an old jaja, she can be my doctor!

Jennifer says business is hard these days as a tax has been added to the bales so a 300,000 shilling bale now costs an extra 50,000.

“The price has increased but the quality is poor. Even better bales cannot guarantee the quality of the shoes inside.”

Jennifer is another example of the amazing resilience of the Ugandan women. I am so humbled by their hard work.

Have a lovely day.

Erika

PS: we still need sponsors for the last 4 mamas! Any amount helps.