Greetings to you all,

Belated Happy Mother’s Day to all women. You take care of us all. You are such a strong force that brings so much beauty and colour to the world.

This week went well. I had the opportunity to visit several Mamas and the latter is what transpired.

Henry was able to complete his kitchen extension so we will be able to get him his ‘local’ chicken. This is the type of chicken that is homegrown from our backyards and differs from the broilers, broilers and layers that are usually got from industrial hatcheries like what Hamida and Christine have. After they have a couple weeks to get used to their new home, he will turn them out to graze freely around his house. They will also be fed with maize brand. He will raise them for both meat and eggs.

Hamida was also able to get a new batch of 150 chicks from the hatcher. She had recently lost all her stock due to a flood. One of the water trenches blew out due to a heavy downpour. It flooded the compound and eventually found its way into the chicken house, destroying everything. It is good to see her back on her feet and I wished her the best of with on this batch of chickens.

Rovence is doing well with her restaurant. Business has been getting better lately so that is good for her. The weekend outside catering is going on well and she is happy with it too. The only challenge she has been facing has been the fact that her mother has been very ill for the last couple of weeks. She has had a cough that has been bothering her and it has been resilient, giving her a hard time to breathe.

I was able to catch Florence after a few days of failing to meet her. She told me that they have had an outreach with her church so she has been participating in the event and also helping to cook. Otherwise, she is doing okay. The salon has been open and every afternoon after their outreach, she goes to work. The challenge for them has been the fact that Irish potatoes have been very expensive and this has greatly affected their profits she had to completely stop the chips business because they had not been making any profit.

Francoise has been sick for some time now and has not been able to work at all. She had a cannula on her hand for days as they were using that to administer the medicine daily. The girls have been trying to support but times have been hard.

Lilly is doing okay even though times have been hard recently. She has had a couple of orders to make flowered table clothes so this has been good. She has a prospective project to work on some school uniforms so she needs some money to get fabric and make that work.

Rashida is also doing well. The veggie stall is looking great and at my visit time, her daughter was tending the stall. She is a very hardworking girl because she was doing her homework while tending the stall. Her mother had gone to visit a relative who had come to town.

Aida is also doing very well. The chips shop is doing great. She seemed very happy during my visit so I am glad things are going well for her. The veggie stall is doing well too and she has brought some of her nieces to live with her so it is going to see a Mama help another person in need.

Lastly, the girl’s salon has started settling in and Angel is now working here full-time. She had been working at a Mobile Money stall next door but has now moved to the salon full-time. They released the other two girls and now she has employed another one to help out with the work.

Thank you so much for making things happen for Hamida, who has her chicks in the coop. Henry, whose coop is almost complete and only waiting for the local chicken. We will try to find 4-5 hens and a rooster because these are a bit expensive. 

Report by

Andrew Echel

Director of Programs, Uganda.

ISEE Solutions Society.