We strongly believe that empowered women are an asset to their communities. This weekly newsletter, we share with you a story of triumph by a woman who chose to step out and be counted.

1. Uganda@50
31st March to 4th April 2015
FOWODE E-NEWS
FOWODE E-NEWS, P.O BOX 7176, Kampala Uganda | Plot 15 Vubya Close, Ntinda Nakawa Rd.
Email: fowode@fowode.org Web: www.fowode.org.
Facebook: http://facebook.com/FowodeUganda
JOINING A SAVING AND REFLECTION
GROUP OPENED DOORS FOR ME. I CANT
TURN BACK
• JOINING A SAVING AND REFLECTION GROUP OPENED DOORS FOR ME I CANT TURN BACK
• NEW VILLAGE BUDGET CLUBS FORMED IN BUSIA

2. Fowode is commined to continue empowering women and men so that they can influence th e communities in which they live in
“My name is Grace Amony. I am 42 years old and living in the village of Wianono in Lamogi Sub County. I am
married with two children. I used to grow crops with my husband while in the camp but he would sell all of it and
leave me in the house without enough food and he would then drink all the money. Whenever I would ask him
where the money was he would beat me up and threaten to send me away from home. This continued even after
we returned back to our home from the IDP refugee camp. I eventually confided in my neighbor and she told me
about the savings group they were setting up. Her husband was also a member and by luck he talked to my
husband and convinced him that it was a good idea that we both joined the Oaa Saving group in 2014.
On many occasions the chairperson of the group during meetings talked about family relations and importance of
working together and slowly I noticed a change in my husband’s attitude; he started returning home early and he
consulted me on issues relating to money which wasn’t the case before. We started planning together and we
invested our savings from the crops we sold and in 2014, we bought 2 oxen. With this livestock and another 2 oxen
which we borrowed from the savings group, we could afford to plant 2 gardens (each 40X100 meters) of rice and
groundnuts. All our children are in school now and we can afford to buy for them what they need to improve their
education. In November 2014 I was elected to become the chairperson for the Savings group and my husband is
really proud of me. I strongly believe that this program should spread all over Uganda to empower women, fight
against domestic and gender based violence and to help eradicate poverty”.
Beatrice Ayoo lives in Mutema village in Amuru sub county. On a typical day, Beatrice wakes up at 6am to
monitor her work on the farm and plan for the two hour journey to the market to sell her bananas, maize, and
beans. From this, she earns a small income which enables her to educate her 5 children, access medical care, and
buy basic needs for survival. Beatrice invests time in farming to improve on the standards of living and to provide
quality education for her children to become young motivated leaders for the future. At the beginning of last year,
Beatrice was shy and nervous about participating in any community meetings. She did not feel it was right for
women to have a say in the community meetings due to cultural norms where women are less involved in
community affairs. One day a friend told her about the meetings and what is discussed and she decided to go for
one. She was so surprised to find that the facilitator was a woman (Lucy Lalam Change Action Mentor trained by
FOWODE in 2014). She talked about things like gender equality that Beatrice did not understand. That was the
turning point in her life. “When I saw a woman talking to the community and engaging with the men I realized I
could also do the same thing and I never looked back.” I went home and told my husband what I had discovered
and he supported me and encouraged me to continue going for the meetings with him. With time she was elected
to participate in a training organized by Action Aid. “The gender and equality trainings I attended have motivated
me to participate fully in the planning process by contributing my time and development ideas for the
community’s growth.” She has never held a leadership position in her community before. However, through
community engagements, she was able to take on a leadership role as a community mobilizer. The position
enables her to mobilize members for the weekly meetings by hitting on a small Jerrycan with a stick. Beatrice has
grown in her leadership position, and is now a role model for other women and serves as a voice in the
community.
“Joining a Savings and Reflect group opened up doors for me and I can’t
turn back!” Says Grace Amony
May Joy and abundant
Love fill your hearts this
Easter season
JJJJ

3. With support from Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) under the project title “Public Financing
for Reproductive Health (PFRH),” FOWODE Busia in collaboration with Lumino sub county local leaders
mobilized and conducted sensitization meeting of the community members from the three parishes (Lumino.
Budimo and Hasyule) of Lumino sub county on the new FOWODE interventions in the sub county. It was from
this gathering that the 3VBCs were formed.
The objective was introducing PFRH Project to the community and to provide a platform to the community
members to select people of their interests will constitute the three Village Budget Clubs.
This meeting attracted 101 people of which 62 female and 39 males attended and they actively participated in
selection process of VBC members.
The Sub County Chairperson who welcomed the community members to the meeting and specifically thanked
the district and FOWODE for considering Lumino. He urged the community members from the three parishes
to embrace FOWODE in Lumino Sub County and above all to work together with FOWODE team and improve
service delivery in Lumino. Thereafter the field Officer introduced FOWODE as an organization, what it does
where it has been before, with emphasis on the VBC model and how it works.
The Community Budget Advisor also sensitized the members on the selection guidelines which were based on
Level of Education ( able to read and write), Age bracket, Representatives from the PWDs, youth, 60%
representative of women, Non partisan, Willing to do voluntary work, People within the selected parishes of
operation, Not in service.
Community members were then grouped according to their parishes of residence to enable them assess
themselves and select members who will form the VBC. See the activity photos and the list of VBC members per
parish as below;
At the end of the day, three VBCs were successfully formed; Lumino VBC, Hasyule VBC and Budimo VBC. The
turn up of people was good thanks to the support from the local leaders. They helped in the mobilization of the
community members
We are committed to promote citizen engagement through empowering people to demand for accountability
from their leaders
New Village Budget Clubs formed in Busia

4. The Shabab’s Horrifying Resurgence
NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya is reeling from the shock of the massacre, early on Thursday, of 147
people in an attack by Somali militants on a college. At least four Shabab gunmen stormed Garissa
University College, about 200 miles northeast of the capital, Nairobi, before dawn. They took
students hostage and continued their assault until late in the evening, when Kenyan security
forces ended the siege. A Kenyan worker for an international aid agency, Reuben Nyaora, told
Agence France-Presse: “I have seen many things, but nothing like that. There were bodies
everywhere in execution lines, we saw people whose heads had been blown off, bullet wounds
everywhere, it was a grisly mess.”
See more http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/04/opinion/the-shababs-horrifying-
resurgence.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0
The Atmosphere Of Fear: Joan Kagezi
It was a little over 10 am in the Morning of Tuesday when I got to the crime scene. Pellets of rain
poured down into an isolated Ford double-cabin pickup whose environs had by now sealed been
off with yellow police tape.Detectives, both in uniform and plain cloth walked from the car into
the police crime scene van with samples and routinely repeated the procedure over the hours. I
flashed my media identification at an officer manning the scene and he walked me to where the
other journalists had taken refuge from the rain.
See more: https://qataharray.wordpress.com/2015/04/01/the-atmosphere-of-fear-joan-kagezi/
I am coming home soon - Col Mande
Exiled UPDF officer Col Samson Mande has announced he is returning home soon. He did not put
a specific date to it but revealed he will be in Uganda not later than December this year. Col
Mande did not say under what circumstances he will return given that he may be arrested and
charged with deserting the army, but said he is returning to Uganda to continue with his struggle
for political change and good governance.
See more: http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/I-am-coming-home-soon---Col-Mande/-
/688334/2675316/-/12gpjv2z/-/index.html
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5. FOWODE E-NEWS
P. o Box 7176, Kampala, Uganda
Plot 15, Vubya Close, Ntinda Nakawa
Blog: fowode.blogspot.com Web: www.fowode.org Twitter @FOWODE_Uganda
Facebook: http://facebook.com/Forumforwomenindemocracy