Women in her village call her “Commander”. Not that she works in the army or police force. But it is because she takes the lead in connecting women to work.
At Bukomolo Clinic, we call her Mama Joe. Joe is her son whom she gave birth to, last year at the clinic. Mama Joe’s home is in Kautukwi village near Bukomolo.
During her pregnancy, Mama Joe asked for help to support her and the family. Her family was starving. By then, she had six (6) children. Now, she has seven (7) Joe being the youngest. Her husband is a drunkard and had abandoned them. The available help was for her to work in GWI farm in Bukomolo village to be able to earn an income. Since then, Mama Joe became active and she opted to be on the team to mobilize laborers.
Her idea was to connect fellow women to join her in the farm so that they can also earn an income and improve their standards of living. Last week, she mobilized eighteen (18) women to plant groundnuts. They planted eight (8) acres giving a pay of about $10 per woman.
These women say Mama Joe is their commander and they are glad that GWI is empowering them through her voice.
Some of these women are single mothers after their husbands neglected them. Others are widows after their husbands dying and some are young girls who got pregnant by irresponsible men. So, they work hard to put food on the table, dress their children, pay school fees, pay medical bills and at the same time organize shelter.
As GWI, the agriculture project is timely because it is not only facilitating sustainability for the organization, but creating jobs and hope for people in Bukomolo and the surrounding villages.