International Women's Day #IWD2018

Bukiende County Cluster Level Association! #TeamCLA

A year ago I was at a Cross Government event celebrating International Women's Day at the Senedd, listening to women from different sectors and backgrounds talk about their career paths and the challenges they faced to get where they were today. That got me thinking about what I wanted from my own career and how was I going to make the most of the opportunities available to me to help me get there. 


So twelve months on, it doesn’t feel right to be here in Uganda and not write a blog on International Women’s Day – and the fact we have a bank holiday would emphasise the important role women play in life here.

To see the changes the community want - improvements to the standard of living and opportunities available to everyone, its starts with the women. Here, mothers are the driving force behind family survival – looking after the children, the home as well as finding means of income to enable them to pay for school fees, medication, housing and land.

A model I’ve seen repeated in several of the organisation’s I’ve visited is setting up women’s Self-Help Groups. Following discussions with local leaders, more and more women are coming together to form small savings groups that allow them to take loans to address their individual needs. Once the groups are up and running smoothly, the support organisations, like BRDC, provide skills training which allow women to then start their own small businesses. e.g. a loan to buy a sewing machine then provides income through making and mending clothes.

So here are a few of the inspirational women I’ve met along the way, not only playing their part in their own family life but helping to empower others to make changes.

Beatrice and me

Beatrice, Assistant Project Coordinator

Beatrice is part of the Community Based Training team at BRDC. Her role is to work with women’s groups and the wider Cluster Level Associations, training them to work together to save money; loan money to each other, run small businesses and represent their community to improve issues that are affecting everyone e.g. food security, a clean water source.

Zebbie and June

Zebbie, Livelihood Programme Coordinator

Zebbie also coordinates women’s groups within the Mbale CAP Livelihood Programme, linking them to resources and training to initiate the community changes or small business needs they want to meet. There is a close link to the Health and Education Programmes who use the women’s groups network to share their key messages on nutrition, parenting, hygiene and available services etc.

Anne, Director at Bushikori Christian Centre.

Anne has been Director of Bushikori Christian Centre for 20 years, overseeing the running of a Primary and Secondary School, student Boarding accommodation, a local Medical Centre and a Community Nursing Outreach Programme. Anne’s passion and dedication to her role has created a successful, nurturing school of over 400 students and a busy medical team providing care and advice to over 20,000 patients who arrive from across the district.

Alice 'overseeing' the boys!

Alice, Community Coordinator
Alice takes a lead with her community tree nursery, coordinating activities to ensure the group work together at the right times to grow, plant and distribute seedlings to farmers and landowners in the area. Working with BRDC, they ensure a variety of trees are available to address soil erosion, provide food and fuel in a sustainable way. The additional income this has helped Alice's family generate has enabled them to move from a small mud hut to a stone house with an energy efficient stove.

Meghal, Medical Student at CURE

Meghal is a current housemate working on a research project here at CURE for nine months. Meghal will return this summer for her final year in Medical School before beginning her US residency programme. Working in Uganda has helped Meghal decide that she wants to continue with general surgery, rather than neurosurgery, which will be more transferable in the future when she hopes to work with Médecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders) in refugee camps and developing countries.