The resourcefulness and persistence of Namutebi Hajjarah is rewarded
by Hannan Canada, 2022 WWK Summer Intern
One of the first women I met as I ventured through the Busega settlement community of Kisoboka Nano Initiative (KNI) was Namutebi Hajjarah. Hajjarah joined WWK’s partnership with the Kisoboka Nano Initiative (KNI) in 2018 selling snacks such as samosas (meat-filled pastries) in the morning and handmade clothing such as shirts, pants, hats, and scarfs during the evening. Like many, her business was hit by Covid19 which caused a decrease in sales. Many of her previous customers stopped coming as they lost their jobs. She necessarily took a slight pause and went abroad to find work, yet started back up again in late 2021. Today, she continues to sell her clothing items through the local market and by walking through neighboring communities. Hajjarah is also a member of the KNI bookmaking cooperative and will soon be joining the WWK’s VSLA (village savings and loan association) program to have access to greater capital. It was her dream to have a sewing machine to help her produce more homemade clothing items at a faster rate for her business. In WWK’s July News, a donor responded to this story and funded a sewing machine for Hajjarah. Per Nakangu Mary, WWK Program Lead for KNI, “Hajjarah is so excited as it seems like a dream, yet it’s real.”