Our grandmothers are feeling so much love and appreciation. In December, over 200 grandmothers received 135 liter water harvesting tanks! We have a strong belief in ensuring our community has access to clean water to keep them safe and healthy. In addition to providing harvesting tanks, over the last 20 years, we’ve also built and maintained two gravity-fed water systems that serve thousands of families and reduce the spread of preventable waterborne illnesses.
In December, grandmothers also received their lunches from the grandmother focused fundraiser we held in September in celebration of Jackson's 50th birthday. Our goal was to make each of our grandmothers feel appreciated by treating them to lunch. Since the mandatory closing of our schools, due to COVID-19, almost eleven months ago, some of our grandmothers have been caring for as many as six grandchildren on their own 24/7 while managing their small businesses.
We are so grateful for your support because we reached our goal of making our grandmothers feel appreciated. Our grandmothers continuously feel your support in spite of the distance between you.
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Roselia is a 74-year-old grandmother from the Rukungiri District where she was born and raised. After Roselia was married, she was blessed with ten children, but unfortunately seven have since then died. Roselia now cares for two young grandchildren ages 10 and 7. She became the sole caregiver for both children after the children’s mother and father passed away just three years apart.
Roselia’s home was in no condition for herself let alone a family. She had a kitchen that leaked and threatened to collapse on her and her grandchildren. Fortunately, before that could happen, her name was put forward by her granny group members to receive a newly built kitchen.
Since then, Roselia has received her safe new kitchen and she is a very happy grandmother. She is grateful to Nyaka and to her granny group.
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Rose is a 68-years-old grandmother who lives in a small town called Kihihi where she cares for three grandchildren. Rose has been a Nyaka grandmother for 10 years. During her time as a Nyaka grandmother, she’s been very active in her Nyaka Granny Group. Rose has been able to borrow micro-funds from her granny group multiple times because she repays them with money made from her grocery business she runs in the Kihihi market.
Since the start of COVID-19, mandatory countrywide lockdown measures have been put in place to keep Ugandan citizens safe including a temporary restriction of boda use. After lockdown measures were put in place, Rose was faced with a tough decision. Rose uses the money she receives from the market to care for her grandchildren. Without the use of bodas to transport herself and produce, she was afraid she would not be able to return to the market to continue making money to care for her family. Due to her daily interaction with customers, Rose was also afraid she could carry COVID-19 back home. So, Rose made a brave decision to sleep at the market. Rose slept under her grocery stand for SIX WEEKS, leaving her three grandchildren with her son who recently graduated from college. Last week, Rose was able to go home to her grandchildren. Rose’s dedication to her family is a great example of the strength within our Grandmother Groups and the love they have for their families.
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Ester is a 67-year-old widow from Nyakatunguru village with two grandchildren Oscar and Night. Ester was born in Nyakishenyi where she married a man named Kanungu. Together they had nine children. Unfortunately, they lost two children to cancer.
Ester has been a part of YOUR Grandmother Program for a very long time. She has benefited from the Grandmother Program by receiving essentials like a water tank, gardening hoes, training, funds from the microfinance program, solar lights and also a goat from the Goat Project.
Ester is so thankful for YOU because the goat project changed her life both economically and socially. She is excited to take care of her goat and make sure that it produces more and more milk which she can sell and use to feed her family. Ester wants to say thank you for all you’ve done to help her!
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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.
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