The thick fog that clogged her path did not kill her stamina
Mar 10, 2009
Despite her caring attitude, Zawedde’s life is full of horrendous tales. Hard work, coupled with sorrowful tales has brought her this far but for every obstacle in her life, there was an open door.
Every year, in commemoration of International Women's’ Day, The New Vision seeks to recognise women, who have made a positive impact on their communities and their efforts go unnoticed. From Tuesday February 17, we have been publishing stories about this year’s nominees for the Woman Achievers’ Award 2009...
By Conan Businge
Despite her caring attitude, Zawedde’s life is full of horrendous tales. Hard work, coupled with sorrowful tales has brought her this far but for every obstacle in her life, there was an open door.
Today, Zawedde manages a charcoal store in Makindye, a Kampala city suburb, next to the military barracks.
Despite all the obstacles she has encountered in her life, her hard work and resilience have enabled her to educate her four children and build a new house, where they live happily.
Just when life had seemed a sweet and smooth path to tread, Zawedde’s husband fell sick one day and died abruptly, minutes after arrival at hospital. He succumbed to diabetes, which he was had suffered from for a long time.
Her three eldest children were in primary school, yet there was hardly any source of income. The only income was a car spare parts business her late husband had left behind. Unfortunately, Zawedde’s late husband had sold off most of the stock weeks before his death. This is where her woes started.
To make ends meet, she resorted to working in a friend’s restaurant but still life did not improve for Zawedde. When this did not work, she decided to vacate and let out her five-room residential house in Makindye and rent a few rooms in a slum so that she could get some money to educate her children.
Before she met her deceased husband, Zawedde had worked as a receptionist with Shell Uganda, in Kampala’s Industrial Area, for almost a decade. Zawedde and 30 other workers at were laid off during the country’s 1979 fuel crisis.
Her husband, who worked at Speke Hotel as an accountant, went into private business, selling car spare parts. He died a few years shortly after getting self-employed.
“It was such a trying moment for me,†Zawedde says. Her in-laws were unable to support her, while her own family was poor.
Because Zawedde, herself a Senior Four dropout, knew the dangers of lack of education, she withstood all the challenges and worked tirelessly to educate her children.
Zawedde’s life has been an uphill task, as seen through her change in jobs. She drifted to a blue collar job from a white collar one.
Despite her hardships, Zawedde’s spirit remained upbeat. Every trying moment has been a lesson for her. She has learnt to live a contented life with God’s special grace and strength.
Among the people she recalls and is thankful to for having extended their generosity is Edward Kasole, the then headmaster of Kampala Parents, where her children were.
Zawedde had failed to provide fees before the required deadline, for her three children. They would have dropped out of school if Kasole had not allowed them a grace period.
She recalls how she walked, barefoot, to school to ask the authorities to extend her grace period of fees payment. Her shoes were worn out and she decided to take them in her hands.
Day and night, she worked to earn a living and support her children.
Zawedde prides herself in hard work and smiles each time she receives customers at her charcoal stall. In addition to her motherly touch, Zawedde is known for her talent and commitment.
Born of a self-employed father and a housewife in 1952, Zawedde’s life has been challenging from childhood. Her parents did not have enough income to educate her to a higher level, although she is one of the pioneers of Primary Seven in the country. In the past, pupils used to go to Junior One after Primary Six.
Because of her resilience, Zawedde tried her hand at several jobs after she lost her job at Shell.
Her business did not work out because she and her husband had pooled capital but the cruel hand of death grabbed him. They ran the business with her husband’s brother but when Zawedde’s husband died, her brother-in-law denied her access to the capital.
Fortunately, the landlady, who rented shop space to her husband, permitted her to run a small retail shop without paying rent.
Since she had a number of empty crates, Zawedde decided to go into the beer business. She would sell beer for other traders and earn a commission.
The economic terms in the country were not conducive and soon, she lost hundreds of her empties to the bottling company.
However, the landlady was still willing to help and offered her a job as a cook in her restaurant at the New Taxi Park. She was grateful for the opportunity because she could earn a living out of it.
As if her trials were not enough, bad luck still followed Zawedde and the restaurant was gutted by fire. Despite all these misfortunes, she was determined to fight on. It was then that she opted for the charcoal business, which has greatly supported her family. After eight years of renting a house, Zawedde built one for her family.
The local officials in Makindye know Zawedde as a hardworking, committed, and humble woman.
Priscilla Mukisa, Zawedde’s lastborn who works as a cashier at Emma Financial Services, describes her mother as a caring woman. “I used to fall sick frequently but despite her meagre earnings, my mother never abandoned me.â€
“She had many options when her husband died and her businesses collapsed. She was still young and any other woman would have opted to re-marry, but our mother made the education of her children her first priority,†Mukisa says.
Zawedde, who has managed to educate her children and those of her sister, seems contented because all are employed. She does not regret her unceasing sacrifice for the children.
Her eldest child works for a cosmetics industry, the second-born is a professional industrial artist, the third works with World Food Programme, while the last born is a researcher.
The children praise their mother for her hard work and commitment. “It took courage for her to bring us this far,†one of them says.
As the saying goes, “God sells us all things at the price of labour.†Zawedde’s achievements are worth her toil.
By Conan Businge
Despite her caring attitude, Zawedde’s life is full of horrendous tales. Hard work, coupled with sorrowful tales has brought her this far but for every obstacle in her life, there was an open door.
Today, Zawedde manages a charcoal store in Makindye, a Kampala city suburb, next to the military barracks.
Despite all the obstacles she has encountered in her life, her hard work and resilience have enabled her to educate her four children and build a new house, where they live happily.
Just when life had seemed a sweet and smooth path to tread, Zawedde’s husband fell sick one day and died abruptly, minutes after arrival at hospital. He succumbed to diabetes, which he was had suffered from for a long time.
Her three eldest children were in primary school, yet there was hardly any source of income. The only income was a car spare parts business her late husband had left behind. Unfortunately, Zawedde’s late husband had sold off most of the stock weeks before his death. This is where her woes started.
To make ends meet, she resorted to working in a friend’s restaurant but still life did not improve for Zawedde. When this did not work, she decided to vacate and let out her five-room residential house in Makindye and rent a few rooms in a slum so that she could get some money to educate her children.
Before she met her deceased husband, Zawedde had worked as a receptionist with Shell Uganda, in Kampala’s Industrial Area, for almost a decade. Zawedde and 30 other workers at were laid off during the country’s 1979 fuel crisis.
Her husband, who worked at Speke Hotel as an accountant, went into private business, selling car spare parts. He died a few years shortly after getting self-employed.
“It was such a trying moment for me,†Zawedde says. Her in-laws were unable to support her, while her own family was poor.
Because Zawedde, herself a Senior Four dropout, knew the dangers of lack of education, she withstood all the challenges and worked tirelessly to educate her children.
Zawedde’s life has been an uphill task, as seen through her change in jobs. She drifted to a blue collar job from a white collar one.
Despite her hardships, Zawedde’s spirit remained upbeat. Every trying moment has been a lesson for her. She has learnt to live a contented life with God’s special grace and strength.
Among the people she recalls and is thankful to for having extended their generosity is Edward Kasole, the then headmaster of Kampala Parents, where her children were.
Zawedde had failed to provide fees before the required deadline, for her three children. They would have dropped out of school if Kasole had not allowed them a grace period.
She recalls how she walked, barefoot, to school to ask the authorities to extend her grace period of fees payment. Her shoes were worn out and she decided to take them in her hands.
Day and night, she worked to earn a living and support her children.
Zawedde prides herself in hard work and smiles each time she receives customers at her charcoal stall. In addition to her motherly touch, Zawedde is known for her talent and commitment.
Born of a self-employed father and a housewife in 1952, Zawedde’s life has been challenging from childhood. Her parents did not have enough income to educate her to a higher level, although she is one of the pioneers of Primary Seven in the country. In the past, pupils used to go to Junior One after Primary Six.
Because of her resilience, Zawedde tried her hand at several jobs after she lost her job at Shell.
Her business did not work out because she and her husband had pooled capital but the cruel hand of death grabbed him. They ran the business with her husband’s brother but when Zawedde’s husband died, her brother-in-law denied her access to the capital.
Fortunately, the landlady, who rented shop space to her husband, permitted her to run a small retail shop without paying rent.
Since she had a number of empty crates, Zawedde decided to go into the beer business. She would sell beer for other traders and earn a commission.
The economic terms in the country were not conducive and soon, she lost hundreds of her empties to the bottling company.
However, the landlady was still willing to help and offered her a job as a cook in her restaurant at the New Taxi Park. She was grateful for the opportunity because she could earn a living out of it.
As if her trials were not enough, bad luck still followed Zawedde and the restaurant was gutted by fire. Despite all these misfortunes, she was determined to fight on. It was then that she opted for the charcoal business, which has greatly supported her family. After eight years of renting a house, Zawedde built one for her family.
The local officials in Makindye know Zawedde as a hardworking, committed, and humble woman.
Priscilla Mukisa, Zawedde’s lastborn who works as a cashier at Emma Financial Services, describes her mother as a caring woman. “I used to fall sick frequently but despite her meagre earnings, my mother never abandoned me.â€
“She had many options when her husband died and her businesses collapsed. She was still young and any other woman would have opted to re-marry, but our mother made the education of her children her first priority,†Mukisa says.
Zawedde, who has managed to educate her children and those of her sister, seems contented because all are employed. She does not regret her unceasing sacrifice for the children.
Her eldest child works for a cosmetics industry, the second-born is a professional industrial artist, the third works with World Food Programme, while the last born is a researcher.
The children praise their mother for her hard work and commitment. “It took courage for her to bring us this far,†one of them says.
As the saying goes, “God sells us all things at the price of labour.†Zawedde’s achievements are worth her toil.