Afifa Namuleme

Afifa Namuleme is 47 and also an active member of URF’s Women’s Empowerment Program.  Born in a Muslim family, Afifa was one of seven children.  Her father died when she was 9 years old and her and her siblings lived with their mother who struggled to make ends meet.  At 13 her mother became ill, so she went to live with her grandmother.  Afifa managed to make it to Primary Level 4 before having to quit school due to lack of funds.  At age 18 she married and her and her husband were very happy, but also very poor; her jobs included digging, making handcrafts, and producing charcoal.  Her husband was a voluntary religious teacher, and therefore didn’t contribute to the family’s income.  He then got a job as a conductor, but then got in a vehicle accident and was unable to work.  They now have 6 children (3 girls and 3 boys) ranging in age from 9 to 23, and have to support her husband’s family as well as themselves, which can make things extremely difficult.

Afifa struggles to find the funds to send her children to school and on occasion doesn’t have the resources to buy necessary household items.  “The Women’s Empowerment Program at URF has encouraged me to work and educate myself on how to bring extra income into the household, specifically the poultry project,” she says.  She strongly believes in that the women of the community need to work together as a team to help each other out and also to stay active and learn from each other.  “URF has done great things for the community and needs to keep implementing and initiating new projects.”  Her dream is to watch all of her children graduate from secondary school and obtain great jobs!

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