The secret of eternal youth

A story of Local Response from Kitubulu community, Uganda by Sandra

The secret of eternal youth

My name is Kadimal Mauzu, I am 71 years old. There are 10 of us in my family. When I was younger and could see well I made mats but that is no longer possible.

Nevertheless I own a field within my plot. It is a plot that my husband bought but today he is no longer of this world. I grow vegetables that we eat with family and some of them we sell. Apart from that, my biggest business is the manufacture of chapatis, I am the only one here as an elderly person with the confidence of the bank. The bank gave me credit for my activities. I passed the skill of making chapatis on to my children and my grandchildren. And there a fourth generation in the family that manufactures chapatis. This helps me to pay the school fees for my grandchildren whose father was killed.

I have been in the association now for more or less 5 years. I am very happy to be with others as well as to share with them my know-how. I am proud of myself because I still have energy in my feet and when I go to meet other people I see that they no longer have the strength to walk, but I do. Every morning when I wake up, I dance and the children come to join me and we dance together. I learned this unity and love from the community, unity.

I hope that when I die, we can keep the house and anyone can live there. And I hope that my children and my grandchildren will continue to make the Chapati.

My name is Zaifa Djafa, I am the grandson of my Kadimala. I go to school and I want to become a pilot one day because with the money that I earn, I will be able to support the other members of my family. For me, the elderly are people that we must respect. There are lessons that I must learn from them;

I am Florence. My dream is to create a school one day to the north of Entebbe, because I am a teacher and I love to travel. I like being with children and learning.

When you have a dream, no matter how old you are, you can work with joy and resilience towards that dream.