It is 23rd December and there is unusual activity in the city. Vendors and business persons of all kinds have put out extra merchandise. Families frantically shopping those practical gifts so they may exit the city to our ancestral homes for Christmas.

I wade through, looking for a tailor, I need the length of my gifted dresses reduced, just a little bit, but staying true to the culture-normal appropriate length. It is the holiday season, after all, and the chances that you may bump into an in-law are high. It is advised you dress appropriately.

Okay, getting to the point of this post.

As an organisation, in vision, mission and action, our biggest influencers are those disadvantaged men and women who, against all odds, stay the course, are resilient, are doing their best to engage in self-reliant participatory development activity to better their lot. They refuse to play victim. They are the ‘powerful underdog.’

It is they whom we have in mind when we envision our organisation’s ultimate target group. Those whom we intend benefit from our actions as we strive to stimulate the development, dissemination and widespread application of technologies suitable and adaptable to the social cultural and economic conditions of Uganda.

It is they, in fact, such as the tailor, that our Dr. Paul Hargrave Memorial Centre Human Development Project targets, specifically the component on financial management.

Click here and read more about this call ….

Her stall is within the big secondhand clothes market in the centre of the city. I deduce that here biggest business is exactly what I seek. Making simple adjustments and repairs to clothing. Likely second hand ones, even though mine are new.

She is busy. Manually working her sewing machine. She looks up with a warm smile, clearly not expecting my kind of client. She smiles and waits for my request. I explain what I need done and she says she can do it right away.

She asks me to put on the clothes. I do so on top of the ones I wore. There was no need to undress and redress. One by one, she grips the spot and makes a cut at the appropriate length. No tape measure in sight, but she exudes confidence that she knows exactly what she is doing.

Then, she clears a spot for me to sit at her stall and wait for my dresses. Sitting comfortably, I observe her at work. She cuts and sews the new shortened hems. I strike up a conversation with her about the campaign poster prominently placed in her stall. And she tells me:

“I love Imat Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng so much and I am going to vote her again.”

Dr. Aceng is the current Woman Member of Parliament Representing Lira City; and she is also the Minister of the Ministry of Health.

I ask for permission to take a photo. She is suspicious and asks why? I explain that I am a blogger and I simply what to share that candidate Dr. Aceng has a loyal supporter. She smiles and gives me permission. Hence, the profiled photo.

In addition, I was testing difficulty and ease for beneficiaries of our CPAR Media Youth Training to apply their learning. I took the opportunity to practice:

• Being a behavioral change communicator in one’s community, with consent from one’s community, in a respectful manner portraying the community in dignity.
• Taking technically good photos, which communicate intended story and more.

Yes, the CPAR Media Youth Training is also among components of our Dr. Paul Hargrave Memorial Centre Human Development Project, which CPAR Uganda is jointly implementing with Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief. Click here to read more …

Anyway, less than 30 minutes later, I think, she is done. Then I ask if she could turn the cut offs from my dress into hair puff holders, such as I was wearing. She asks me to remove the puff holder I wore and hand it to her. She examines it, and says yes.

And so it was, in under an hour, and for only 10,000 shillings (less than 3 dollars), I had three new ready to wear dresses and three hair puff holders too. A significant boost to my wardrobe!

Thank you to those who refuse to play victim, the ‘powerful underdog’ for inspiring and motivating us.

Oh yes, I would welcome your feedback on whether I got my assignment right. Did I take a technically good photograph? What does it communicate to you?