Annette

Annette is one of the strongest women I know. I have been thinking about the women a lot lately while we are working on 1000 Shillings and decided to write a little bit about the women we work with.

 Annette is always laughing. She has had such a hard life, but she is almost always happy. She has a gift for making everyone laugh and feel comfortable.

Annette works so hard for her family. She gave up on men long ago- culturally Ugandan men are not so reliable. Alone she provides for her children doing anything and everything she can do to support them- she takes any opportunity she can and is full of ambition.

 Even though her house is small, and her family doesn't always have food, Annette makes sure her children are happy. I have never seen happier kids.

Rebecca and I were always walking around taking pictures and hanging out with the women. Everyone in Namatala (well almost everyone...) loved having their pictures taken! I wished a million times that I could have printed the pictures out and given them to them. It could have made them happy for just that day ! It would have been enough!

 Annette got to try out the camera and she was excited beyond all reason! Silver (her son) was a little upset that she put him down to play with the camera, but he got over it when he got to see the picture :)

 To try and make a living for her family, Annette is a seamstress, she got a sewing machine from an NGO a couple years back, and is very talented at making clothes. The only problem is that the people of Namatala don't have much money to buy new clothes, so Annette supplements that by trying to sell mangoes and other veggies in front of her house.

Annette is just so amazing! She calls me her apapero (friend in her native tongue Ateso) She leads the music at her church and is just one of the happiest people I have met. Annette made this necklace to try and raise money to start a small business to support her family. http://www.1000shillings.com/portfolio/the-annette/

Just working with all these women and researching all of these empowering women companies to try and work with, has made me see how thankful I am for my life. I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to help people, and I know it's not much and I wish I could do more, but I saw a quote today that said "Do to one that you wish you could do to millions."  

I miss Annette, and all the ladies we worked with! I miss Uganda all the time!