Greetings to you all,

Happy Father’s Day to you all fathers on this platform. It is always a good feeling to be celebrated, so we celebrate you all. We hope that your close friends and family specially celebrated you all fathers. Thank you for fathering and being good husbands.

This week, we had a few encounters with our Mamas and this is what transpired from our meetings;

I will start with the long journey I made to see Annet C. who started a salon and decor business in Mukono, a place called Mbalala. She has been one of the most phenomenal Mamas and has done exceptionally well over the last few years. She started with a beading business but has now built a salon and decor. The business is still doing well and at the time of my visit, she was braiding a customer’s hair with the help of three of her trainees. It was really good to see her after a long time.

Angel is also doing well. The vegetable stall is doing okay and she has now moved her fridge into her wooden shack. She had been fearing for months to bring it to the wooden shack but she has bought an iron box reinforcement cage to help protect it from burglary. This was a good move because the stall is right by the roadside so safety is paramount. She is doing well and has sent all her kids to school as the term began about two weeks ago.

I had the opportunity to meet Jane whose house was destroyed a few months ago. There is not much development at the moment with her situation, but it is only that we have always been concerned about the tank. The tank was removed after the plot she was on was sold off and she has been keeping the tank at the neighbour’s house because he has a fence but most recently, he was asking Jane when she was taking the tank. Jane has secured a small space in her new plot so she is going to build the base and we will take the tank soon.

Jane 2 is also doing okay but the season has not been the very best for her water business. Unlike Jane 1 above, Jane 2 has had her tank fixed in the same spot from the time she got it about 5 or so years ago. It has been safe and no one has tried to destroy it ever since. It provides the community with water both in season and out. This season the rains have been plenty over the last two weeks so business has been slow. She is now making her paper bags to supplement the income gap even though that too is also slow at the moment.

Sarah who raises goats is doing well. The season seems to have started well for her as she has been selling a lot of her avocados and most recently, her goats gave birth to 4 kids. She is excited because the goat house was depleted of goats as she sold a few of them for school fees recently. She said that every time she gets a problem, she sells one or two to help her solve the problem. I am glad she has something to exchange for cash when she needs it.

Maria is also doing well. Her giant pig finally got pregnant so in a few months, she will be back in action. She had lost and sold a few at the beginning of the year for school fees-related issues. She has been feeding her infant ones and now one of them is soon giving birth to a few more piglets so she can rebuild this sty. She feeds them well and tends to them well so I am sure she will be back in no time.

Betty is doing very well for sure. When I spoke to her recently, she has been getting a lot more embroidery gigs from some organizations and she has been working on some samples. The challenge is that she has to go to town now and then to get the logos formatted so the machine can read them. Otherwise, I am so glad that things are working out for her.

Annet the soap maker tried her first batch but it didn’t turn out as she or as we expected but she was able to make her first sample. It turned out bad as it took longer to dry and even when it tried, it was not as perfect as she thought it would be. She then made a few calls to inquire and they gave her some more tips. She needs to buy two more ingredients or chemicals which will make the bars firm and dry quicker. We are going to get her the two chemicals and surely I will post a success story next week.

Finally, I went to see Dorah but she was not home. I only found a maid who was helping to keep the house. Her rabbits have grown and it looks like she got another set a week ago. They look fabulous but one of them was sick so I asked them to administer some glucose to it and we fed it so by the time I was leaving it looked a bit stronger. Otherwise, all her kids are in school except the youngest who always disturbs me when I go visit them.

It was a good week although some of my plans didn’t go as planned because twice it rained in the middle of the day and I was stuck for a few hours. Otherwise, everything is good. I am looking forward to seeing Rehema also grow in her business too.

Report by;

Andrew Echel

Director of Programs, Uganda

ISEE Solutions Society

We knew when we started working in Uganda that there were limiting factors that could affect our work. We never sought to become an NGO in Uganda as we wanted to serve other organizations and NGOs already there by providing support for their programs. Our ultimate goal was to keep Ugandan girls in school to provide them with opportunities that would be lost if they had to leave school due to period poverty.

Uganda’s policies in terms of NGOs and foreign organizations have changed recently and several international organizations, including some UN programs, have been told to leave. We have also heard that smaller NGOs have been forced to re-register and are being denied their status so they are having to leave the country as well. You can read a detailed news report about these events here.

At the same time, any foreign aid items being sent to Uganda are being screened and checked to ensure that they meet the “standards” that have recently been implemented. This includes our period packs.

When we shipped our packs, they only had 2 guards, 4 pads, and the hygiene bag. As always, Betty was sewing the other 4 pads and the backpack, Andrew was buying the panties and the soap, and Anna was preparing to travel to the schools to teach proper use of the kits and period health to the girls.

Unfortunately, when the container was inspected before it cleared customs, the inspector refused to clear the period packs. Despite Sam’s valiant efforts and Andrew’s attempt to explain the full process of the program, the packs were seized. The only way they could have been approved was to have them tested in a lab to prove that they met the standards. However, no-one has shared where these labs are and what the standards are that need to be met. All avenues have been explored and much time has been invested, all for naught.

We have many theories about why this has happened but nothing can be said for sure. The only thing we do know is that 1250 period packs are now in line to be burned and ISEE will have to pay for that.

This is heartbreaking news on so many levels. What a terrible loss for the 1250 girls who will not receive these free packs in order to stay in school. And what a terrible loss of time invested by everyone who came to the sewing bees or contributed their time in other ways to the making of the kits. Yes, ISEE has also lost money but it’s the human impact that is more soul destroying to me.

We, as a board, now need to re-examine what the future holds for ISEE. We still have about 500 packs in Kelowna that we will put together for Kassia to take to Ghana as well as the kits waiting to be sewn together. But we won’t be making and taking kits to Uganda anymore which breaks my heart.

Thank you everyone who has been part of our journey for the past 10 years. We will let you know what is happening next once we have had a chance to really digest this and discuss what we want to do from here.

In friendship,

Erika