FLOUR DOESN'T GO BAD
Since moving to Namatala, Margaret has been selling vegetables in the Namatala market to make money for her family. She has been successful, and is able to pay to rent a small home for her husband and son. However, there is little money left over, and Margaret would like to grow her business. Her biggest frustration is that the produce she cannot sell goes bad. Therefore, Margaret plans to use her grant from 1000 Shillings to start selling flour at her stand. This will allow her to earn a larger income, without the risk of her product spoiling.
“People consume these things everyday,” says Margaret about the flour and vegetables she plans to sell. “This business can sustain me and educate my children.”
HOLES IN THE GROUND
When the war broke out in the north, Margaret, her husband, George, and young son, Dan, had to flee their village.
During the war, before the family fled, many people were out of work and her village became increasingly unsafe. In the months before the family left the village, Margaret tried to protect her family’s valuables by burying them in secret underground holes around the village. When men came to the village with guns and threatened to kill, she left in the middle of the night with her family.
“We ran before the morning, before people woke up. Very many people left the village that day. We had to leave everything behind.”
Sadly, there wasn’t time to dig up the holes before leaving, and when Margaret came back to the village to find her family’s things they were gone.
Today, Margaret is rebuilding her life in Namatala, which has been a home to many war refugees like herself.
Advice for her sons: “They should respect their wives, they should be patient with them as well, and be good husbands.”
Margaret’s advice for all her children: “ I want to encourage my children to work very hard and stay at school and become something. I would love my children to become doctors or teachers.”
Advice to a woman starting a business in Namatala: “She has to use her money well. She has to be very friendly to the customers, and she also needs to save her money.”