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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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
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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.
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