Support the Grandmothers of AIDS Orphans in Uganda

Allen is a 62-year-old grandmother that takes care of her 10-year-old granddaughter Adrine. Since Allen could remember she had always farmed to feed her family. In recent years, Allen has not able to successfully farm because of natural threats like droughts in Uganda. During a Granny Group meeting, Allen was encouraged to diversify her income so she could still meet her family’s needs. After several meetings, Allen came up with an idea to sell bricks due to the low competition in her community. Other members in the community lacked good soil to make brick, but Allen’s soil was perfect! Allen was able to borrow a microloan of $162 from her granny group fund. Like Allen, many grandmothers benefit from the funds given to their Granny Groups.

Allen used the loan to hire workers to make bricks on her land. After the bricks were made, she would sell them in her community and neighboring districts. Allen has been able to service her loan on time monthly by using the income she gets from her small coffee garden and banana plantation. Since she makes her payments on time, she is able to borrow more money to support her brick business.

Allen is so thankful for you! You helped her start a new business and now she’s confident that she will always be able to feed her family.

Links:

• Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project Website

58-year-old Jolly lives with her 12-year-old grandchild in Rutoma village. Soon after giving birth, Jolly’s daughter left to find work but never returned. Many grannies in situations like Jolly benefits from the funds given to their Granny Groups. Jolly was able to borrow a microloan of $95. During a Granny Group meeting, Grandmothers were encouraged to diversify their business and incomes. Right then Jolly decided to stop depending solely on farming and decided to sell her sorghum (source of grain and feed for livestock) allowing her to save $108. Jolly added her savings to the microloan and established a small retail shop. Her store sells an assortment of goods like soft drinks, soap, toilet papers, tomatoes, onions, and more. Jolly believes maximizing her time is the best way to maximize revenue, so while she’s waiting for customers she weaves baskets, which she also sells at her store.

Her business is expanding steadily. Jolly is able to meet all her family’s basic needs, pay school fees for her grandchild and service her group loan on time. Jolly says that that funds you provide have helped her to live a sustainable life. Not only have you greatly improved Jolly and her grandchild’s economic standards of living, but you have also ensured they have enough food even in times of food crisis.

 

 

Jackson has a new book 'Victory for my Village' coming out. To learn more about how to get your copy click HERE

 

 

Nyaka's new documentary 'VICTORS'  is coming soon. This powerful documentary highlights EDJA's effort to open everyone's eyes and hearts to the most remote and powerful #metoo movement of our day and the fight against sexual violence in rural Uganda. You can click HERE to find a screening near you. If there is no scheduled screening near you, you can contact Nyaka to schedule a screening in your community. 

 

Click HERE for the official trailer of VICTORS  

Links:

• Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project Website

60-year-old Evas lives with her two grandchildren Boaz (age 9) and Ritah (age 6). Evas’ two young grandchildren were orphaned when both her son and his wife died in a motorcycle accident.

Can you imagine being a child and not only losing one parent but both at the same time? Can you imagine losing your son and needing to provide for two beautiful beings in a blink of an eye?

After taking in her grandchildren, Evas needed more money to support herself and her grandchildren. Evas came up with an idea for a business. She pitched it to her Granny Group and was one of the lucky women chosen to benefit from the microfinance funds in her group.

Evas borrowed $162. She used the money to buy coffee from neighbors at a reduced cost, dried it and later sold it at an increased cost and received a profit of $54. Evas used the business training you provide for her to come up with a plan. Instead of using her profits right away, she began to save it.

Evas waited until she had saved over $200, which she used to buy a heifer. It later gave birth to a young bull. Soon, she plans to sell the young bull so she can buy another cow, which would allow her to sell twice as much milk and double the amount of manure for her crop gardens so she could grow more food. Evas was able to repay the loan on time with profits made from her banana plantation and coffee sales. And her herd is growling! she says her dream was to have many cows someday, reducing her burden of buying manure and fertilizers for her crop gardens.

Because of you, Evas is now a happy grandmother. Evas and her grandchildren are able to prosper in the face of a devastating, and life-changing situation.  

Links:

• Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project Website

In South Western Uganda, it is Rainy Season for Two Thirds of the year. For families that don't have proper homes, they spend almost 70% of the year in fear that their house will collapse with them inside. Maria is the grandmother to her adopted, once orphaned grandchildren. While she has ample amounts of love for her children, she supports them on limited resources. Her family lives in a dilapidated, grass thatched house, without a kitchen or pit latrine. Every time it rained, the water leaked through the house and would flood. Because they have a dirt floor, when the house would flood, Maria and her grandchildren would be living in mud. Because of the unstable roof, every time it rained, Maria feared that the roof would collapse, which could hurt, even kill, her and her grandchildren. To protect themselves during rainstorms, Maria and her grandchildren would seek refuge under neighbor's veranda's. However, her neighbors thought she was dirty and too poor, so they would chase her and her grandchildren away, into the storm. Click the video link below to learn how you helped the Nyaka Grandmother's Group build Maria's family a safe home! Through supporting Nyaka's Grandmother Program, you better the lives of Maria and her grandchildren!

Links:

• See how you build Maria's family a safe space!
• Nyaka School Website-Click to change lives!

Nyaka grandmothers give everything they have so their grandchildren can have a better life. Grandmothers like Alice work hard in the fields under the hot sun through the pain of arthritis and old age to make sure their grandchildren have enough to eat. Even though she worked hard, Alice couldn't grow enough crops to support all her 10 grandchildren. When Alice and other like grandmothers came together in their Nyaka Granny Group, your support helped her dramatically change her family’s life. Through your peer learning model, Alice learned new farming techniques and shared skills she had with the other grandmothers in her group. Because you empowered Alice, she now sells enough crops to afford school fees for all10 grandchildren. Click the link to watch a video about Grandmother Alice. As you watch her story, know that this is one of the 10,000 happy endings you have helped write. Thank you for empowering women like Alice to pull their families out of poverty.

Links:

• See how you changed Alice's life!