Provide Vocational Training for Ugandan Women

As a young girl, Hellen spent all of her free time studying traditional Acholi dance. She stopped going to school in primary 3 and started working in the fields beside her mother. As she grew older, she found herself in the local market one day and met a young man, Okot Alfred. He would court her at the organized local dances. Later, they married. Now, 42 years and eight children later, they have just as strong of a marriage as ever.

Hellen has made the transition to living more than half of each year back in her home village of Padibe in Northern Uganda, while Alfred continues to work as a security guard in Kampala. Hellen has a small farm where she grows maize, beans, peas, gnuts, simsim and cotton. Some of the produce she uses to feed her own family, some she barters for the things she needs, and the remainder she sends by bus back to Kampala where her children sell it for a substantial profit.

Since farming is seasonal, Hellen also brews the local alcohol to supplement her income. She brews it both from the north and from Kampala and easily finds customers.

Hellen's success at farming and transitioning back to a simpler, more peaceful life in the north has encouraged her to expand her venture. With greater capital, she'll be able to expand her farm and double the produce she grows and the profits she makes.

For just $25, you can help Hellen secure her future and that of her children.