Uplifting Women

My supervisor Dora and I walked to the end of a now familiar road into what was formerly an IDP camp but is now huts rented by Gulu citizens.  The morning fog was still settling behind the thatch roofed huts as we walked into the village, shook off our shoes and ducked to enter through the dusted white lace sheet serving as a door into the small hut where the meeting was being held.  Just over twenty women crowded into the enclosure and the meeting began with a sudden ululation into the air.  I noticed a small mouse scurrying back and forth on the lip of the thatch ceiling.  There were small children popping their faces in the curtain door whispering “muno” and then dissolving into giggles when I acknowledged their calls.  A baby was being passed around the group, each woman coddling and nurturing as if it were her own.

This meeting was for an ‘Uplifting Women’ group held through my internship agency THRIVE Gulu.  This particular group is comprised of widowed, single mothers.  Many are former LRA abductees who returned with children, resulting in difficult reintegration into the community. 

These women have come together to provide mutual support to one another and receive extended support through THRIVE staff.  The group is granted a seed fund by THRIVE in order to start a group savings account from which these single mothers can both contribute (and are expected to weekly) and make withdrawals for emergencies, healthcare and other business investment needs.

The hope is that most of these women are will be able to sustain independence following the duration of this three year group.  The group should become progressively independent over the course of the program, able to manage their own bank account and personal savings.  The group is then able to decide how they would like to use their money in order to sustain economic stability for members.  This group decided to invest in a goat for each member to enable these women to breed goats. Members may choose to give kid goats to another needy member of the community outside of the group.  If each group member is able to do this with offspring from their goat, sustainable change and prosperity can be spread.  This is a lofty goal, yet THRIVE is inspiring groups to make it happen.

I was welcomed into this group with dozens of “apwoyo”s, handshakes and smiles from faces beautifully weathered by hardship and stories untold.  I was incredibly moved when these women, who are so desperately in need, offered to give me food and clothing.  I am continuously and overwhelmingly impressed with the generous, kind and resilient spirit of the people that I have met in Gulu.  I feel honored to be able to share time and space with these women, share their story, give what I can, and ultimately take away lessons and memories for which words cannot do justice.