The big goal of this trip was to get some interviews with Mamas for Corey to create a documentary about their lives and their Mama Nguvu businesses. We scheduled the interviews for the first few days so that if there were issues with weather or anything technical, we would still have time to get it done. But the two days went fairly smoothly and Corey now has hours of footage to work with.
Yesterday, Florence with the hair salon came for her interview. Fariuk was hired as a second camera man and we even had Lucy come for makeup. Andrew took on many jobs but was mainly in charge of sound. We worked about 3 hours, pausing every so often for the electric saw or boda boda deliveries happening close by.
Corey had it down to an art today and we managed to film both Lorna and Cathy in just under three hours. Apricot was very kind in letting us use their space and also in delaying the drilling that needed to happen on the porch.
Now the big job of putting it all together begins. Corey has been thinking about this project for 2 years and hopes it will all be done before the end of 2019. Stay tuned for more details.
This afternoon, we visited our awesome partners at HEYFU and caught up on their projects. They have made amazing progress with their kit production and were very excited about the two snap machines we brought. They now need a babylock (serger) to be able to finish the pads themselves instead of taking them to a tailor in town to do it.
Two of our newly sponsored Mamas were there to meet us as well so that we could let them know that their business was going forward. Jane and Gertrude were very thankful to the donors back home for helping them care for their families.
Our last stop was to visit one of our first Mamas, Margaret, who started with tailoring then added bookmaking to her talents. She is still doing both and supporting her grand-daughter’s school fees. She is also caring for three grandchildren under the age of 3, one who was born prematurely and needs constant supervision.
Ugandan women are incredible. They face many challenges we cannot even imagine yet they continue on and work hard to make a better life for their families. It is always an honour to connect with new women and reconnect with “oldies”. I love being in service of these ladies.
Have a great day.
In friendship, Erika
