Greetings to you all,

I hope you are all doing well. We here in Kampala are receiving some showers as I write this to you. It has been just maybe 15 mins since it started raining. It is a good feeling to receive the rain in general because the last couple of weeks has been extraordinarily hot so it’s a relief to have some positive change in the weather condition. We can only hope it lasts a few weeks longer. I have put out a drum to harvest some water for my plants that have surely been struggling the last couple of weeks.

I also had the opportunity to attend a meeting on climate change at our British High Commission focused on youth participation in helping combat climate change. The climate and environment are all that we have on this planet so every one of us has a specific albeit minute role to play towards protecting Mother Earth. It was good to sit with people who realize the importance of this and how we can greatly contribute to the improvement of our climate. 

This week’s visit started on the wrong foot (literally) as Anna, one of our Mamas and colleague who is fundamental in helping us translate and assist in our reproductive health classes, broke her foot on a boda boda on Sunday 12th June 2022, as she was on her way to visiting her two kids who are in boarding school.

Unfortunately, she didn’t even make it to the first school as a car hit her boda on the way. Apparently one car stopped and allowed another to cross but Anna’s boda didn’t realize it until it was too late. The front guard of the car knocked Anna off the boda resulting in a broken foot. Luckily the man who hit her was mature so he took the responsibility to drive Anna to the nearest medical center where she got stitched up and the foot was saved. She didn’t call me or text me until Tuesday morning when she sent me an email so I cancelled all plans and went to see her. She is a pretty strong woman so even when she told me that she was okay, I wasn’t taking her word as I was extremely worried about the whole incident. The visit went well and I was glad to see her in her living room. We spoke and laughed a bit. She will not be able to work for a while as that ankle injury usually takes longer to heal so she will be monitoring from home as the shop will remain closed till further notice. Her sisters took the responsibility to visit the children at school and none of them knows what happened. 

Rashida S. has been affected by the market prices of the veggies that she usually buys from the market. The sun has been so hot that vegetables are becoming scarce and fuel prices are constantly increasing so transportation is not getting any easier. Regardless Rashida has kept soldiering on and has been able to clear the majority of her 4 childrens’ school fees. She went to the school administrators and explained to them that she would pay the rest soon and they let the kids remain in school in the meantime. Rashida’s children are all girls and one of the easiest ways to keep them safe is to keep them in school so she does her job there. I found her doing her children a laundry in the stall. We usually use two to three basins to wash the clothes and rinse them before we can hang them to dry. The first water or basin number one usually carries more detergent and clothes are washed more vigorously to remove the dirt and then the last two basins are used to rinse and remove the remaining dirt. 

Lilly A. is continuing to do well this season. I found her cutting fabric for a skirt she was making for a customer. She has had several orders like this for a few weeks now. You know she is a tablecloth person majorly but has been diversifying recently so she can earn some extra cash. This is working for her and she has been able to make more payments for her son Phillip. 

Lorna K. is also having a good time at the restaurant even though some days are not as good as others. I like the fact that both Lorna and Catherine have given the food business such a priority and you can see the growth at hand. The only challenge has been security for items in the school so they keep carrying most items back home every night. Jeremiah is doing well in school. His reading and writing skills have improved, said Lorna. His interest in school keeps growing and this is good for his safety and development as a whole. 

Semmy S. has restarted her soap making because the school has started using liquid soap again so her services are now required. The only challenge is that she still has to share the demand with another fellow teacher with whom they both supply the school with liquid soap. Otherwise, she is happy and all her three kids are back in school and fees have been paid. 

Aidah K. the chips maker is hanging in there that’s for sure. I looked at the quality of what she was making as opposed to what she used to make and this was a huge difference. The food stock has reduced and she uses very little oil to fry so many chips. The veggie stall is almost empty as she can’t afford to buy more vegetables to supply her demand. 

Harriet L. is still surviving on her railway track stall. They have not evicted them yet so business is still going on as usual which is good in the meantime. She has had quite some business that she was able to take her daughter for treatment. She was brought back from school a few days back. The problem I have with this particular situation is that her husband refused to pick up or even pay for the treatment for this kid only because he is not the biological father. She is the first born to Harriet and when the two met, he knew the truth but he has refused to cater to the needs of this one kid which of course I feel sad that she doesn’t deserve to be treated this way. It is not fair but it’s not my place to judge this situation but I am glad Harriet is empowered well enough to manage the responsibility all by herself. We hope it can stay this way as she searches for another business site to move to. 

Rovence N. is also doing fine. Most importantly, she has extended her working hours by two to three hours. For the last three weeks, she has 3 late evening customers that come to eat supper at her restaurant so she has been keeping food for them every day. This has turned out to be a good move because the number has grown to five and six sometimes so she is considering keeping it this way for the foreseeable future. Eventually, she will be fully functional every night and hence the growth of her business. 

Lastly, my physical visit ended with Jennifer N. The second shoe business has been very slow lately as the prices of everything have risen. The taxes are destroying them slowly and she says the only advantage is that the rent has not yet been increased because otherwise, the problem would even be bigger. Luckily the landlord has been good to them so she soldiers on. All her kids are in school so that’s good for her and she has also employed another lady to housekeep for her since the safety of home is not guaranteed when she is at work. This lady also helps to cook and wash for the kids during the holidays. I love this like Justine, women supporting women even at the smallest levels. 

It was quite a week but I am glad we went through it and most of us are grateful for the opportunity to live another day. We are particularly thankful for Anna who almost lost a leg but she is back home and the foot is moving so we hope that it continues to heal perfectly. 

Thank you to all of you that keep up with us during our weekly events. It’s always a pleasure that you stay tuned to our updates. We don’t take you for granted. 

Mwebale nnyo,

Andrew Echel

Director of Programs, Uganda

ISEE Solutions Society