CPAR Uganda Ltd

“It is because of mummy.” This is one of the most common words spoken not only by many children in rural areas, but also those in urban areas of Uganda. Gender issues have made some women to become bread winners in their respective households, despite tradition and religion acknowledging men as the bread winners.

Some women carryout different activities in their homesteads so as to ensure progress and stability of their homes. According to Lango tradition, by the way, homesteads where women are not are normally not respected and such homesteads are not considered homes.

In fact, men without a wife or wives, are given less respect as compared to men who are married and living with their wife or wives at their home; except for Catholic priests.

Some women do more extra work so as to ensure that their families have food to eat. Work like cooking, taking care of homes, fetching water, fetching firewood, digging for home consumption and for generating development.

According to tradition of Lango, women are also supposed to be submissive and respectful to their husbands. This makes it difficult sometimes for women to demand for things needed at home. Things like salt, sugar and cooking oil. This is because some men expect the women to provide such things.

If a woman fails to do something, like digging for money so as to get income to provide for the family, some homes will be without food to eat. Thus, in such homes, she becomes the bread winner. She is the one that ensures that there is food for consumption for people at home.

By Awino Gladys, Innovator in Training in First Cohort of CPAR Uganda programme: “Mentoring Young Adults into Innovators against Poverty”; and Volunteer Fundraiser with CPAR Uganda. Gladys generated this blog post using her learning from the content of and discussions during the training sessions of Module I: Understanding Poverty in Rural Uganda of the CPAR Uganda programme.  Read more about Gladys here.

Photo: Awino Gladys constructing a utensils drying rack at the CPAR Uganda Lira Learning Centre, her innovation to make a positive change at the centre and in demonstration of her creativity that she will apply as an innovator against poverty. Photo taken by Ms. Norah Owaraga, Lead Mentor.