The Women and Their Stories - Lydia and Annah

Lydia was born in Rubingo, and until the first workshop was held here in Mbarara, had never been outside her own village. She was the firstborn of 12 children, and explained the reason for such large families to us. "People think to themselves, I must have 8 children, because two of them will be snatched by measles." All the children in her family had some schooling, and Lydia herself went to Primary-5, finishing was she was 15 years old. She wanted to be a nurse, but her father was a "drunkard" by the time she was in P-5, so there was no money for her to continue. So at 16 she got married. She told us
that most women do the "donkey work", while many men just build a house and then do nothing. But she had a good relationship with her husband and he helped her. Sadly he got sick and died quite suddenly 7 years ago. Lydia has four children, the oldest of whom is already married with a child of her own and another on the way. One of her children is now in secondary school, and her hope is that she can afford to send the other two as well.
Annah is 40 and was the eighth of 11 children born to a peasant farming family in Bugamba. She spent most of her childhood fetching firewood and water, digging, washing and cooking. The older children in her family didn't have any education, but by the time Annah was 10, her parents realized the importance of schooling, and enrolled her in the village school. She completed P-6. She was married when she was twenty, and was happy until her husband died 9 years later. She has 3 children of her own, two of whom are now in secondary school, also a niece (an orphan) that she cares for. The cow she bought last year with her earnings has now had a calf, which she sold, and she has bought another plot of land.

Anna and Table Runner

The table runner's batting is a layer of flannelette, and then it's backed with an African fabric. With a shortage of table space, Anna has decided to lay hers out on the cement porch of the big house before pin-basting the layers together. This photo was taken yesterday morning, early in the day, when a cardigan was advisable. It reached 40 C. by 3 o'clock the same day! Thankfully it begins cooling down when the sun sets, and there is often a bit of a breeze that appears at about the same time of day. Not every day is a wonderful day, and yesterday was a tad frustrating. There are four women who are still having trouble with a quarter inch seam allowance, and one in particular who seems to get worse and worse the more we correct her. I have talked to them about the need for "good quality", but sometimes it seems there is a gap in understanding that can't be explained in words. It's then that I remember that for these women, making a table mat is the difference between being able to feed their families or not. Which sometimes results in their less-than-careful sewing. They can practically see the shillings piling up each time they complete an item, and no-one wants to get left behind.

Anna and her family

One of our visits was to Anna's house, and here you can just see her sewing machine inside the front room, and a partially completed wallhanging behind it. To get to her house, we walked up hill, through banana plants and past a pineapple garden, until we were high up on the hill. Her front room now contains chairs as well, and still further up the hill is a new plot of land, on which she will one day build. On Anna's right is Saphon, one of Kitambaa's sponsored students, who will be heading off to boarding school at the end of this week to begin S-2, the second year of secondary school.

Stella and Anna

Meet Stella. She is 49 years old and comes from Kikigati. She birthed 11 children of who 7 are still alive, and has 1 grandchild - 5 others have died. She has been a widow since 2000. Stella is Coordinator of the three widows groups in Kikigati, involved with them in the gardens, in meetings and with other activities. She tells me that the widows meet monthly, and each one brings 1,000 shillings to the meeting (about 65 cents). The names of those present are put into a bag, and the person whose name is drawn from the bag, can buy whatever they want - a lantern, plates, a dress. I met Stella in 2007, and had her old sewing machine repaired for her and gave her a new one (the old one was in such bad repair that I didn't really believe she could sew with it). Since then, she has taught 8 others to sew on a treadle, but they have only repaired old clothing, having no new cloth to sew. Stella lives in a house with a leaking roof, and has to move the sewing machines around during the rains so that they don't get wet. We have asked Perez to look into the cost of either new roofing, or if the house is in bad repair, new housing. Stella is one determined lady, and has already shown that she has the capacity to teach others. We want to support this fine lady in her efforts.
Anna is 38 and from Rubingo, widowed in 1998 and raising her three children on her own, plus a niece who is an orphan. Her oldest child, Saphan, has completed P-7, but there are no funds for him to continue on to Secondary School. Yesterday we told Anna that we would find the funds for Saphan to continue, and he will join Barbra at Bugamba Secondary School, where he had already been accepted. First he must purchase a mattress, sheets, a basin, towel, file folders, an identity card, and other miscellaneous items. We will help Anna do that in town before she returns to her village at the end of the week. There is also a uniform to be purchased. She was extremely happy when we gave her the news, as were Knight and Kamida, both of whom have sons who are to be sponsored by a very generous Canadian who saw their story in this blog. Isaac will learn mechanics, specializing in motorcycles, and Swabu will learn building skills.