Sometimes meeting someone can change—or save—your life. This is the case with Scovia Tumushukuru, who, along with her husband Jackson Uwamungu and their two children, fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo due to the war. It was April 2021 when they arrived in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement, Kikuube District in Western Uganda, where they met a pastor at Cepac Church in Kyebitaka Village, who immediately supported them with food, shelter, drinking water, and bedding. The pastor also orientated them with the settlement dynamics and supported their pursuit for asylum, which they officially obtained after six months.
The World Food Programme provided them with maize, beans, cooking oil, and salt, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees offered them clothes, cutlery, jerrycans, a hoe, a panga, tarpaulin, a blanket, and a mat. The Office of the Prime Minister further provided them land (14 x 16 meters), which kicked off their independent life in the settlement.
They faced significant challenges—such as inadequate food, lack of clothing, medication, and a leaky house—so they resorted to casual labour—fetching water from a water spring, from which they earned UGX 5,000 (1 Euro) per workday. Their children were not in school, barely had savings or even had a meal a day, and poor sanitation.
In July 2023, the 24-year-old and her household were enrolled in the Sustainable Market Inclusive Livelihood Pathways to Self-Reliance (SMILES) project, where they engaged in project activities such as coaching, Village Saving and Loans Association, Farmer Field and Business School.
“We learnt about saving, parenting, child growth and development, business planning, conflict management, and negotiation,” states Scovia.
Scovia and her husband increased their savings from UGX 2,000 to UGX 10,000 (2 Euros) per week and qualified for a loan worth UGX 150,000 (36 Euros) from their Village Saving and Loans Association to purchase a second-hand bicycle and 20 jerrycans and spent UGX 20,000 (5 Euros) for registration at the borehole. With this new development, they became sole proprietors, boosting their earnings from selling water, saving approximately UGX 10,000 (2 Euros) per day worked.
In addition, the family cultivated maize and engaged in kitchen gardening, producing vegetables including ‘Nakati’ and Amaranthus, which increased their food variety and enabled them to have three meals a day and a balanced diet. They received a mobile phone and a monthly cash stipend for food and basic needs from which they saved UGX 180,000 (44 Euros) that they used to buy two pigs that later multiplied to 17 piglets in a period of four months.
“We sold two pigs and fourteen piglets at UGX 1,340,000 (325 Euros), took a Village Saving and Loans Association loan of UGX 240,000 (58 Euros), received another loan of UGX 640,000 (155 Euros) from the community savings group, topped up UGX 955,000 (232 Euros) from the maize harvest and the asset cash transfer of UGX 825,000 (200 Euros), totalling up to UGX 4 million (971 Euros), to purchase a second-hand motorcycle for boda-boda business, register at the boda-boda stage, and procure five pigs,” clarifies Jackson.
The couple recognised the profitability, flexibility, and effectiveness of the boda-boda business compared to the water-selling business. The skills, knowledge, and opportunities from project interventions such as saving propelled them to switch businesses.
“I risked my health while doing the water-selling business—I sometimes coughed blood or felt dizzy from the heavy load. We also used to leave the children in the house isolated in the wee hours of the night. We resorted to a boda-boda business that provides a steady income, enabling further savings and investments,” explains Jackson.
Through the boda-boda business, they cover their basic necessities and save at least UGX 100,000 (24 Euros) per week. “Through the SMILES project, we learnt about savings. I am the secretary of our own saving group, which we started with the help of 37 community members, and we save UGX 40,000 (10 Euros) every week,” Jackson notes.
Scovia plans to expand their income through a petty trade business selling groceries, cooking oil, soy beans, cassava flour, and sorghum flour, and other items. The couple also plans to start up a produce business trading maize and beans. Additionally, they would like to improve their house, a pigsty, and switch their children from public to private schools which are known to have better-performing grades.
About the SMILES project
The Sustainable Market Inclusive Livelihood Pathways to Self-Reliance (SMILES) project is a five-year (November, 2022 – October, 2027) initiative funded by the IKEA Foundation. The project works with 14,000 households (extremely poor refugee and host community) comprising 70,000 individuals in Kyaka II and Kyangwali Refugee Settlements in Western Uganda with the aim of supporting them to become resilient.
The project delivers a graduation model integrated with a Market System Development approach targeting women and youth and their household members. Key sectors include livelihoods, agriculture, food security, protection, energy and environment. The project is implemented by AVSI Foundation in partnership with UNHCR and the Office of the Prime Minister and in a consortium with Innovations for Poverty Action, Renewable Energy, Powering Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods Enhancement (REPARLE), Makerere University Kampala, and DAI Global LLC.
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