By Ainomugisha Shiba

NAPE is implementing a three year project “Nurturing a culture of peace and tolerance in Uganda” and it’s being funded by UN Women and Women International Peace Center in the districts of Kasese and Kotido. We are working to achieve outcome 3 where the goal is that by 2026, Women, including young women participate in preventing and mitigating natural and human made disasters. To achieve this, different activities have been implemented like, establishing and training 10 women (30 members per group) Village Saving and Lending Associations, conducted a two-day training on Disaster Risk Reduction and climate resilience, procured and distributed candle nut seedlings and solar supported phones for women and young women, and training the women groups on the use of renewable energy and other eco-friendly context specific energy solutions.

This intervention has greatly impacted people’s lives in the districts of Kasese and Kotido where the project is being implemented. In Kasese district, we interviewed Natukunda Adija, she is a female Ugandan aged 38, living in Kasese. She is among the victims of River Nyamwamba eruption whose home and property were all destroyed and she was resettled in Muhokya camp next to the Local council headquarters in Muhokya sub-county. It’s been five years since she was resettled in this camp and she says that life has not been easy but one of the things that have helped her maneuver through the trying times is that she joined the women group of Kisenyi which was formed by NAPE under this project. She first thanked NAPE for coming into their area to extend the activities of the project.

She said that she is one of the people that have benefited from the project ever since she started; “ever since I joined Kisenyi women’s group, my life has changed. I got to know about this group later after it had been established and I requested the chairperson of the group (Busingye Jennifer) to allow me to be a member. She gave me the terms and conditions to make me qualify and I saw that I could manage them. Since then, I have been saving money in our group and I was appointed to be the treasurer.

Personally, I am a victim of River Nyamwamba eruption and life was hard before joining the group, I did not have money for basic needs but now I am able to provide for my children. I borrowed money equivalent to two hundred Ugandan shillings and used hire land and buy maize seeds for planting, they yielded, I sold some and I was able to pay back my debt group the group bought 2 jerry cans to store water for home use in case it took long to rain, and also bought rabbits and ducks for raring”.

To NAPE, this was a great achievement that she can now provide for her family.

She continued to say that the candle nut seedlings that were given to her were planted at her mother’s home since she did not have land of her own but she had someone there at home looking after them and that they were growing. She also acknowledged the fact that she is one of the people who were given phones and that had helped to make her communication easy with other group members and inform each other in case of disasters.

She concluded by requesting NAPE together with its back donors to continue supporting them and checking on them even when the project is done. She said that she was looking forward to increasing the amount of savings to be able to procure her own land.