‘Tubehamwe’ – we be together

This morning (Saturday) Sally and I crossed the lake in the dugout canoe with Barham, the Itambira Island Seeds of Hope (IISOH) Assistant Training Officer, to visit the group of ladies in Katooma who are supported by IISOH. It was a beautiful morning and Sal and I were provided with sturdy sticks to help us walk up through the bananas and sorghum on the little mud track which is heavily rutted from heavy rain in the wet season.

The views as we climbed up the hills above the lake were stunning. We could see across the lake to our island, Itambira, and beyond to Bushara where we were the other day.

Once we reached the track which runs all the way from the main Kabale road we were greeted by the women who form the Tubehamwe group. Tubehamwe literally means ‘we be together’ and these inspirational women certainly embody that. They live in a poor community which is still largely subsistence based but they are supported in several ways by IISOH and they make the most of all the oppurtunities. IISOH offers training courses for women in the local communities and these women have been trained in making handicrafts which are sold on Itambira and also in the UK as Sally takes a selection back with her. Now they are also running a micro finance co-operative into which they all contribute regularly and which they can use for welfare needs among them and for helping to finance their ideas for improving their lives.

IISOH also funds water tanks for selected households in their partner communities. They always build 4 at once to get economies of scale for the cement and other components and they allocate the recipients of each tank according to need. Thus in the Karoo a community we were visiting one of the tanks has gone to a man who is quite severely disabled. Despite the effects of a muscle wasting disease he still manages to be the community’s miner of all things, from kettles, to shoes to umbrellas. He and his family now enjoy the benefits of stored rainwater which means many things; not having to fetch water in large plastic containers from the lake for the children; clean rain water to drink; much time saved which means the family can eat by 6pm in the evening rather than about 9pm as previously. IISOH provides all the kit for the water tanks but the co munitions must contribute by helping to build. Usually a number of people are trained and then can build more than o e by using the skills they have learned.

Whist in the village we also saw how the people make bricks from the red earth, first mixing red earth and water by trampling, then putting it into the simple brick mould, leaving it to dry and then creating a brick structure over a fire to bake the bricks hard. They are then removed from the tower and are ready to use to build houses.

As we walked around the village the women came with us, proud to show us the progress they are making in small but steady ways. It was a humbling experience but one that shows that this local small scale approach to improving people’s lives which IISOH uses is making a difference. Everyone in these communities has a part to play. Every Saturday morning it is the children who do the washing – it was good to see that they hadn’t had to fetch the water first.