“Joining a Savings and Reflect group opened up doors for me and I can’t turn back!” Says Grace Amony

“My name is Grace Amony. I am 42 years old and living in the village of Wianono in Lamogi Sub County. I am married with two children. I used to grow crops with my husband while in the camp but he would sell all of it and leave me in the house without enough food and he would then drink all the money. Whenever I would ask him where the money was he would beat me up and threaten to send me away from home. This continued even after we returned back to our home from the IDP refugee camp. I eventually confided in my neighbor and she told me about the savings group they were setting up. Her husband was also a member and by luck he talked to my husband and convinced him that it was a good idea that we both joined the Oaa Saving group in 2014.

On many occasions the chairperson of the group during meetings talked about family relations  and importance of working together and slowly I noticed a change in my husband’s attitude; he started returning home early and he consulted me on issues relating to money which wasn’t the case before. We started planning together and we invested our savings from the crops we sold and in 2014, we bought 2 oxen. With this livestock and another 2 oxen which we borrowed from the savings group, we could afford to plant 2 gardens (each 40X100 meters) of rice and groundnuts. All our children are in school now and we can afford to buy for them what they need to improve their education. In November 2014 I was elected to become the chairperson for the Savings group and my husband is really proud of me. I strongly believe that this program should spread all over Uganda to empower women, fight against domestic and gender based violence and to help eradicate poverty”.

Beatrice Ayoo lives in Mutema village in Amuru sub county. On a typical day, Beatrice wakes up at 6am to monitor her work on the farm and plan for the two hour journey to the market to sell her bananas, maize, and beans. From this, she earns a small income which enables her to educate her 5 children, access medical care, and buy basic needs for survival. Beatrice invests time in farming to improve on the standards of living and to provide quality education for her children to become young motivated leaders for the future. At the beginning of last year, Beatrice was shy and nervous about participating in any community meetings. She did not feel it was right for women to have a say in the community meetings due to cultural norms where women are less involved in community affairs. One day a friend told her about the meetings and what is discussed and she decided to go for one. She was so surprised to find that the facilitator was a woman (Lucy Lalam Change Action Mentor trained by FOWODE in 2014). She talked about things like gender equality that Beatrice did not understand. That was the turning point in her life. “When I saw a woman talking to the community and engaging with the men I realized I could also do the same thing and I never looked back.” I went home and told my husband what I had discovered and he supported me and encouraged me to continue going for the meetings with him. With time she was elected to participate in a training organized by Action Aid. “The gender and equality trainings I attended have motivated me to participate fully in the planning process by contributing my time and development ideas for the community’s growth.” She has never held a leadership position in her community before. However, through community engagements, she was able to take on a leadership role as a community mobilizer. The position enables her to mobilize members for the weekly meetings by hitting on a small Jerrycan with a stick. Beatrice has grown in her leadership position, and is now a role model for other women and serves as a voice in the community.