A Little History

Festival of Trees at the Peoples Church of East Lansing

Is it still Tuesday?  Did I miss it?  

I am tired.  I've been busy counting donations (woo hoo) until my eyes cross (booo).

It's a good problem to have for an Executive Assistant at a small non-profit with ginormous goals.

Have you like the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project on facebook yet?  

Part of the reason for the craze in our office is the Grandmother Basket Project.  Considering this is the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day, I thought I would start with a little history lesson on the Grandmothers of Nyaka. 

Prior to the sweeping death toll of HIV/AIDS in Uganda, there had been a stretch of over 20 years where no one died.  I am not making this up.  My boss's tale to tell but it's true.  Families were built, children loved and educated a plot of land at a time.  Children are considered the only retirement income necessary in rural Uganda.  Parents literally sell their assets piece by piece in an effort to ensure an educated, free of poverty future for them.  The children grow up and support their parents.

HIV/AIDS shattered that historical tradition.

After years of sacrifice, the children of our grandmothers died.  Some were left owning only the small plot of land that their shabby home stood on.  They had no money, no livestock, no agriculture to sell and no way to come up with any of these things on their own.  They lived hand to mouth and sometimes the distance could not be crossed.  On top of these struggles, on average they now became the guardians of 7 very young, very hungry grandchildren.

This was the line at Jackson Kaguri's door.  A line of women and children requesting food for tuition, food and medicine from a young newly married, college graduate.  This was the beginning of Nyaka AIDS Orphans School but you can read more about that in The Price of Stones.

In order to support the children in their home lives, the NAOP needed to support the women who were sacrificing so much to care for them.  This is when the trade began; a student for the school nurse to tend to sick grandmothers.  This is when the grandmothers started learning about how to keep small gardens from the Farm Manager at Desire Farm so that they could provide nutritious produce for those growing minds and bodies.

Eventually, the baskets that they traditionally made and sold at market caught the eye of the organization as a way to support the Micro-Finance Program.  

Chase Bank on Grand River :)

So now, every trip made to Uganda, brings a return of hundreds of baskets and bead necklaces.  I was lucky enough to get Lunch With A Purpose to swing by and help me inventory them this time.  I have just hired an intern and I have a high school student who volunteers after school helping me ship the baskets all over the country for our in home Grandmother Basket Parties.  It is a good thing too!  

These baskets are a life line for the Grandmothers.  Our organization buys them upfront so that the grandmothers can go on creating while we sell their inventory.  They have taken that money and started to sell pottery, more baskets and produce from their gardens.  These women didn't need charity.  They just need a way to lift themselves up one hand at a time.  

We have also listed a few of their baskets in the Etsy Nyaka Grandmother Shop.

Fortitude.  That is the word I think of every time I look at their photos.  I can't wait to visit them and show them the photos of people all over the country who have lovingly purchased their baskets, shared their stories and supported them with prayers.  

Love...the world over.

Check out this photo of Grandma Matrida!