Namboka; passionate about saving the girl child

Oct 25, 2018

Namboka, the founder of Gals Forum International, a non-governmental organisation based in Bugolobi, Kampala district is now forging a future for vulnerable girls in Makindye and woman vendors on the streets of Kampala.

A mother, a wife, a benevolent human being  these are the words one can use to describe  Esther Namboka, a woman who through her personal struggles with marriage set out to save other crumbling marriages of her close friends little did she know her dream would grow bigger than she ever thought.

Namboka, the founder of Gals Forum International, a non-governmental organisation based in Bugolobi, Kampala district is now forging a future for vulnerable girls in Makindye and woman vendors on the streets of Kampala.

ne of the vendors sewing a skirtOne of the vendors sewing a skirt

 

Background

Esther Namboka was born 35 years ago to Fred Walera and Jane Nandutu in Kasanvu,Namuwongo in Kampala district, a slum area so dangerous that most girls don't make it out to become respectable members of society but rather prostitutes and child mothers. Namboka is changing that.

A first born of five, Namboka attended St. Kizito primary school in Bugolobi, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Gayaza for O'Level and Mary Hill High School in Mbarara for her A' levels. Throughout her school days, school fees were a struggle to come by, she recalls.

"My father was a catechist at Christ the King church so most of the times we depended on well-wishers at the church. We were too poor to even afford a decent meal.

At some point we were chased out of our small house in Kasanvu, Namuwongo and a friend of our father gave us a garage in lower Kololo where we all grew up until our father got a job with Uganda Telecom as a customer care officer. Only then could we afford going back to Namuwongo where we were born".

   health campaign in akindye A health campaign in Makindye

 

 "It was so hard to even finish O'level but since I always topped the class right from senior one, I got some favours from the administration.

After Senior Four the only school in my head was Mary Hill High School in Mbarara though I knew I could not  afford the school fees. I was number four on Mary Hill's admission list but I could not even afford transport to Mbarara".

Namboka went door to door in the whole of Namuwongo looking for transport to Mary Hill because her father had long retired from Uganda Telecom.

  procession of bodabodas promoting girl child safety in akindye A procession of boda bodas promoting girl child safety in Makindye

 

After three days she chanced on Justice Owiny Dollo's home and a lady there gave her sh9,000 for transport. Her father added her sh4,000 and off she went, without fees but just faith. She narrates;

"When I got to Mbarara, I got lost because I did not understand the language but somehow chanced on a lady who took me to Mary Hill. I waited for almost eight hours to speak to the headmistress, Mrs Bagambaki who after a few deliberations with the sisters decided to give me a full bursary to study my A'levels.

My God always never lets me down and that day he showed his might. I learnt later that my former headmistress at Our Lady of Good counsel had called Mrs Bagambaki to recommend me".

 Amelia Kyambadde  with the women vendors downtown

Namboka being a devout catholic chose not to join University but rather a convent in Westlands Nairobi Kenya. However, what she expected in a convent is not what she found there.

She spent  three years there and then  abandoned the convent because the whole sisterhood thing was not playing out.

She returned to Kampala and got a job at Bata as a salesgirl where she worked diligently and rose through the ranks fast.

 Within a year, she had become a manager. She enrolled herself for Information Technology at Makerere University and got married to Emmanuel Emoru, a lawyer in Kampala shortly after graduation.

Forming Gals Forum International

The first four years of marriage were the worst part of her life as Namboka narrates. She says having a nun background, she did everything by the book and made her husband's life a living hell. She would lock the door on her husband by 8pm which resulted into physical and emotional torture on Namboka.

She says often times she would show up at work with a black eye and indeed in that period she lost her job at Bata because she was emotionally drained and could not focus whatsoever. She attributes all this to lack of parental training about marriage and what to expect.

 The slum child mothers being empowered in Kabalagala

 At this point, she felt the need to share with her friends and as she opened up she realised that her fellow corporate friends were going through similar circumstances and some even worse. For a moment she did not feel alone.

It was such a huge struggle balancing work and family. This gave birth to a support group of five girls who met to share and cry together every Friday at Barbeque Lounge at Centenary Park.

The number soared rapidly.  Namboka then started a closed Facebook group of women going through the same and as we speak, the group boasts of 2,000 members who share about different issues each day of the week except weekends.

Career growth, health, sex, pregnancy and children are majorly the issues tackled in the group.

  ambula showing off the bag she made herself Sambula showing off the bag she made herself

 

In September 2012, Namboka registered Gals Forum International as a member based NGO whose main focus was balancing career and family roles. It has over 150 subscribers who have paid a membership fee.

It should be noted however that the mandate of the NGO has long evolved and issues like girls' safety and skilling women are top on the agenda. As a family based organisation, Gals Forum International has chosen to pay attention to the vulnerable mothers and the girl child.

Achievements

In 2017, Gals Forum International skilled 200 women vendors in partnership with Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives in four clusters; tailoring, hair dressing, cookery and bakery and shoe making.

This year they have skilled 300 women making it a total of 500 women vendors in two years. Namboka is further committed to supporting these women acquire capital, equipment and support them in marketing their finished products.

Girls Forum International also provides free health services and information including Hepatitis B vaccines, family planning and HIV/AIDS counseling and testing to the woman vendors and vulnerable girls around Kampala.

 Namboka also sensitises women vendors on financial literacy, women's rights and gender based violence.

In partnership with Lwengo district government and the Gracas Machel Organisation in training women and youths in social entrepreneurship and saving through a model called financial inclusion through Savings and Village Enterprises (FINISAVE).

This financial co-operative model is aimed at increasing finances in remote areas. Over  sh4b has been saved so far.

 Slum girls skilled in making door mats

In 2017, Namboka organised the first ever mothers' summit and mothers' dinner to celebrate mothers and bring mothers together to share experiences on motherhood,she says.

"As a mother to an epileptic child, I understand very well how hard it is to raise children and I am so blessed that mothers across the country have picked interest in this summit and my only hope is to keep hosting this summit and dinner every year. This way mothers across the country will have their true day.

You can imagine May 14th is mothers' day across the globe but how many people really know about this day and its relevance?"

 In partnership with UTAMU University, the NGO is in the process of supporting the vulnerable women and adolescent girls in Makindye, Kampala district to acquire basic computer skills to help them grow mentally.

 A phone application called ‘safe for her' has also been launched as a part of Gals Forum International's and Plan International's safer cities project running in Makindye division to secure the girls in the neighbourhood.

This app shows the routes in the Makindye area that are not safe for the girls so as to take other safer routes. This application is available to all the girls in Kampala.

  ecurity of the girls should begin with boda bodas Security of the girls should begin with boda bodas

 

Safer cities for adolescent girls

Gals Forum International in conjunction with Plan International is currently implementing a project called ‘Safer Cities for Adolescent Girls.' The objective of the project is to ensure that girls are safe within Kampala city, have easy access to safe public spaces and are included in the governance and leadership of the city.

The project targets 600 out of school girls and 150 boys. The other stake holders in the project include the transit operators like boda boda riders, parents, notorious gangs (like the famous ‘Lost boys' of Kisugu Namuwongo who snatch bags and phones or worse still rape innocent girls in the area), local leaders, entertainment service providers, among others.

Through the project, the NGO is also skilling 150 ‘out of school' adolescent girls and boys in different business skills. This is on top of empowerment programmes like mentorship.

Challenges

According to Namboka, the biggest challenge is funding for the women vendors' skilling programme. The number of women vendors needing the skills has increased yet she doesn't have enough money to budget for them.

Namboka also decries not having enough statistics on the woman vendors. She cannot know how many there are and where.

There is resistance from parents of most of the adolescent girls who do not understand what Gals Forum International is trying to do in their neighbourhoods believing that the organisation is turning their daughters against them.

Also the young women who have been prematurely married fear their husbands so they cannot attend these workshops that could have been of great help to them.

 Vendors graduate in shoe-making, cookery & bakery

Way Forward

Namboka is looking forward to having more partners on board to better the vulnerable woman and the girl child in Uganda.

Having more women vendors off the streets to get into more sustaining businesses is Namboka's dream.

She is also looking to engage KCCA to designate four strategic areas around the city for women vendors. There are people who cannot go to the markets yet need groceries for example. Namboka believes that these stop centres will be of so much help to the woman vendor in Kampala.

he first lady mentoring school girls in akindyeThe first lady mentoring school girls in Makindye

What others say

Kalule Charles, project facilitator

I am the main project facilitator for the safer cities project in Ggaba, Kabalagala and Kisugu areas of Kampala. Girls Forum International has boosted girls ‘confidence. We have shown the girls black spots in most parts of the city during the safety walks we do with them. Doing this has personally made me value gender equality and now I view girls differently.

Irene Sambula, avocado vendor

Esther came to me as I went along with my daily duties of vending avocado in town, she took me under her wing and enrolled me at Management Training Advisory Centre (MTAC) Nakawa in her skills project class. I had no idea how to even put a thread in a needle but after three months I can comfortably boast of my skills at tailoring. Now I make very good extra money because of Namboka. She is heaven sent.

Hassan Katende, Chairman Kiwafu zone, Kabalagala

Namboka has helped child mothers in Kabalagala settle, she has skilled them in tailoring and cake baking and as a chairman of this area it just makes me happy that my people are prospering. Before becoming chairman, I had worked with Girls Forum International which gave me confidence as a person to articulate people's issues which made them elect me as their leader. I owe all this to madam Namboka.

Olivia Nabiryo, Project facilitator

Madam Esther has given hope to the girls in the ghetto. Most of them had turned to prostitution but if you go to Kabalagala today and ask most of the prostitutes there, they will tell you they are considering quitting the business for a much cleaner way of making money Gals Forum International has been teaching them. The girls are confident these days and you can see this when we organise football competitions or music galas. It is priceless.

Andrew Agassi, Country Director Brass for Africa

As a music man, I have come in to help Gals Forum International to train the girls not only to play but also to read music. The skills we are imparting onto these girls are for the future, we are giving them identity.

There is nothing more gratifying than seeing a girl who had no hope for tomorrow happy as they play different musical instruments. I thank Madam Namboka for this.

Okuku Richard, Chairman Kisasizi zone, Kabalagala

My area is one of the most populated among the slums in Kampala and most of the girls are school dropouts hence resort to child marriage for survival. I have the most bars in my area and prostitution is so high so having Gals Forum International intervene to skill these girls gives me so much satisfaction.

I applaud Namboka because now there is a clear understanding of gender equality in my area. A woman is as good as a man and that message needs to be heard all over the world.

 

 

 

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