Employed, and empowered

All photos and original stories by Joseph Malinga, Communications Manager, National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda

In Uganda’s Masindi District a few years back, if you’d asked any of the locals how many people with disabilities lived in the region they’d think for a while, then guess: “Three, four - maybe ten at the most?” If you think this seems like a very low proportion for a district with a population of more than 300,000, you’re right. The real number is closer to 12,000.

That’s 12,000 people who were effectively invisible in their communities. Some were hidden away because their families were ashamed of them or worried they wouldn’t be able to move around independently. Many were seen as not worth educating, and most were considered unemployable.

In 2012, those assumptions about people with disabilities began to be challenged. Connecting the dots, a programme jointly funded by Sightsavers and the EU, launched with an aim to find people with disabilities in four regions of Western Uganda - Masindi, Buliisa, Kiryandongo and Hoima districts - and give them access to training and apprenticeships. The programme also sought to change community attitudes towards disability and show potential employers how hiring people with disabilities could benefit their businesses.

In four years, Connecting the dots has transformed lives and attitudes in the four districts. More than 300 young people have so far completed the programme, and another 450 are lined up for the next intake. Of the previous graduates, over 80 per cent are now working and supporting themselves and their families. Here are just a few of them…

rose

Rose is 24 and has a physical disability. Growing up she was the sixth of eight children; her father had left the family and her mother struggled to support them, so when times got really tight the costs of Rose’s education were too high to meet and she had to leave school. Rose helped out by tilling and selling flour with her mother, but life was very hard.

Late in 2012, Rose heard an announcement on the radio about an upcoming project to support young people with disabilities. Without even understanding what the project was, Rose travelled to the gathering point in Buliisa and signed up to learn tailoring.

With five months’ training, and equipped with a sewing machine as part of her start-up kit, Rose returned home and got to work. Over time she diversified into selling pancakes, sugarcane, avocados, charcoal stoves and fabrics alongside her sewing, and her business is thriving. She’s training local community members, owns five sewing machines and is helping out with school fees for her younger brother.

Best of all, she’s gained independence. “I eat whatever I want. I choose what to do and not to do. I am now much empowered unlike before the project support. You see when you have no money you can’t make decisions most times,” she says.

Ronald

“By the time the project identified me,” says Ronald, “I was making chapatti at Biiso trading centre in order to raise resources for my basic needs. I had completed senior four but because I lacked funds to continue with education I decided to look for alternative means of survival. I always admired plumbing work, so when the project came and asked me to select the course of my choice it was definitely going to be plumbing!”

After qualifying, Ronald, who has a physical disability, first worked with friends in Hoima town repairing household water lines and making new connections. But when he heard about a new project to construct a water pump in his community, he decided to return home and get involved.

The pump is the achievement he’s most proud of. “Seeing my community members drinking safe water makes me happy,” he says. “The fact that they know I am responsible for ensuring this happens, makes me more proud – especially that the same community that considered me, a person with disability, as unable, is the same community that now enjoys my service,” he said. “[I’m] very happy for I know my future is bright now.”

Jackeline

“The project has changed my life,” says Jackeline. “At the time I was identified I had just separated with the father of my daughter. He was not providing for the child. So life was really hard. But the help was timely…”

Joining Connecting the dots and training as a hairdresser was a lifesaver for 23-year-old Jackeline, who is deaf. “The money I earn from the business is helping me a lot,” she says. “I have been able to bake bricks because I want to construct a house for my daughter and myself. Part of the money I use to pay rent, pay school fees for my daughter and purchase more materials.”

“I believe my life and that of my child will never be the same. I have a [great] future ahead of me.”

Moses

Moses (pictured below left) dropped out of school in primary seven, and until joining Connecting the dots, he thought he’d never be able to fend for himself and earn a living.

But the 28-year-old, who has a physical disability, has found that the knowledge he acquired during the programme has totally changed his life. He trained as a leather worker and learned business skills, and now makes leather cushions for motorcycles and cars. His dream is to grow his business and start up a workshop.

“I can take care of myself now. I used to be home doing nothing because I thought I can do nothing about my situation. I didn’t know that I had the potential just as society had judged me. Now things are totally upside-down. Besides fending for myself and I do contribute fees for my young siblings and other basic needs at home. Isn’t that wonderful?”

michael

Michael (pictured above right), who’s deaf, works as a bricklayer for the Diocese of Hoima Construction Department, and hopes to one day establish his own construction company. He’s well respected and his workmates have nicknamed him ‘Engineer’. With his wage, Michael is able to meet his medical bills and rent, as well as taking care of his wife and child.

His entry into the world of work wasn’t easy, even after he’d completed a qualification in bricklaying through the Connecting the dots programme, but he’s ended up changing the attitude of his employer.

Initially, Michael was rejected when he approached the company about the job – they thought that as a deaf person, he wouldn’t manage work. “We first overlooked him,” says the assistant site foreman, Robert Kiiza, “but he disproved us when he produced a certificate and his tools. After giving him the job we have realised that people with disabilities are as productive as any of us.”

“The working environment here is friendly,” Michael says. “My colleagues don’t have sign language skills but we use gestures.”

abswaina

Abswaina’s parents abandoned her as they didn’t want a daughter with a disability. Despite the devastation this would have caused her, Abswaina, who has cerebral palsy, didn’t let this determine her future or her self-esteem.

While living with her grandmother and struggling financially to meet their basic needs, Abswaina was identified by disability representatives in her community as someone who might benefit from joining the Connecting the dots programme. And it did more than just benefit her – it changed her life.

“The project gave me skills plus a knitting machine,” she says. “I now knit sweaters. “If it wasn’t for Sightsavers’ project, I would have [stayed] badly off. [But] everything is now possible because I can afford anything I want since I have a job.”

Abswaina now feels empowered and productive. She’s incredibly grateful to her grandmother, who has not only stood by her, but also now works with her in the knitting business. And as the only knitting expert in her community, she’s changing local attitudes towards disability.

“I want to show this community that I am no longer the person they used to undermine,” she says. “They used to despise me a lot, calling me all sorts of names, with others even questioning my potential. Now everyone here admires what I am doing. Some of them have even expressed interest to learn what I do!”

Find out more about Connecting the dots