I have been running various enterprises at home

By Sharon Amede

I am a first-year student at Gulu University in Uganda pursuing a degree in education, with a major in English and Literature. I experienced a lot of challenges at the beginning but as time went by, I got more confident with the help of RUFORUM and the Mastercard scholarship.

Returning home because of COVID-19 gave me the opportunity to implement and practice agricultural and other business skills.

At home and the community

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many families in the community are struggling to afford food and other basic needs. Many have been sleeping hungry. So, on top of supporting my own family, I have also supported give households with food and essentials such as soap and salt.

This also being an election and campaign season, I have been able to speak to community members to ensure they vote for leaders who will have their best interests, and that they should not be carried away by money.

I also sensitized the community members, especially the elderly in my village about coronavirus, how it spreads and how to prevent it. I also teach English and Literature lessons to some students and my brothers and sisters, although I keep the numbers small and we observe the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of keeping distance from each other.  

Enterprises

I was also engaged in agriculture. I planted soya beans and maize, which I have since harvested. I’m currently clearing the land and will soon plant sim-sim and groundnuts.

I have also started rearing piglets, which I hope will be another enterprise I continue with.

Apart from farming, I also run a mobile money business. This challenge with this is that some customers bring fake money, which can sometimes be hard to identify.

The network in my village is extremely poor, which makes it hard for me to get some crucial information on time or participate in online programmes.

Despite these challenges, I thank RUFORUM and the MasterCard Foundation for giving me this opportunity that has changed my life and that of the community.