Quiet support opens the door to remarkable achievement

A story of Local Response from Katabi community, Uganda by ?

Quiet support opens the door to remarkable achievement

“I am the mother of many children,” says Regina while she gives an imperceptible smile. Many children means that all the children in the village are her children and it is the same for all mothers in the village. It seems they all take care of each other’s children.

Regina is also a grandmother. Her pride lies in her children and her children's children. She is happy to take care of her grandchildren while their parents work. She also has taken a young child under her wing. Both his parents died and, although she worries about his future because of her age, she cares for him all the same.

Regina welcomes us to her house with chairs and crochet circles to sit on. And as we sit in a circle asking her question after question, she quietly answers after collecting her thoughts. She has worked hard to own her house and not to have to live her life in a rented house. She seems relaxed in her environment.

The conversation moves on to the association of elderly people that Regina belongs to. Motivation and self-esteem is what has helped this group of people bounce back even in the most difficult moments like for example when the entire investment on mushrooms was lost because of faulty seeds. After this happened they looked for a solution and turned to other businesses, for example producing soap. One of their strengths was to avoid arguments between each other and instead to look for the next project to tackle.

Regina tells us she never feels lonely and that in general loneliness is not an issue within the community. She feels safe within the group of elderly people. She knows that if she needs help they will be there to back her up.

A few years ago, an elderly man died and suddenly the group realized that many people were missing from meetings and activities due to sickness. She tilts her head and lets us know that that this was a turning point for them. They decided that they should address this issue. Along with health, they needed to tackle issues regarding nutrition, exercise and sanitation. They took steps together to make this new dream come true. Regina can now show us the latrine she has built close to her house: it is clean and with a cover to keep flies away.

HENU has helped them from the very beginning and although in a certain sense she thinks they are independent enough to continue building their story on their own, she feels they still need HENU's presence. This sense of ownership demonstrates great pride and independence: this hints at the possibility of true sustainability which is so rare to see. These people seem to be close to the holy grail of sustainability.

By the end of the conversation we understand that she is a woman with inner strength and pride. In her quiet and humble way of telling her story she made us feel at ease and finally asked us what the situation with elderly people was like in our countries...

When we live and work in a supportive environment, we are capable of extraordinary achievements.