Kwagala Racheal

“My name is Kwagala Racheal, I am a young girl aged 19 years. I am a member of Elite What Sapp group found in Buganza parish in Kitayunjwa subcounty in Kamuli district”.

Before the intervention of the AWF project which was brought in by VEDCO with support from Plan-International- Uganda, my life was a mess, full of miseries to the extent that I could not afford buying Vaseline, pads, Knickers and clothes for myself and thought that it is not possible for girls to speak in public, I had a mindset that girls were not entitled to earn any money and ever since my child hood stage I all knew that farming is a waste of time and not money paying. Besides it was a tag of war for my family to raise basic needs for my siblings and school fees was also a hard off too.” INFACT LIFE WAS FULL OF MISSERIES TO THE EXTENT THAT I REGRETED THE DAY I WAS BORN”

When I had about the intervention of AWF and its objectives, I was very excited and eager to join the project since I knew it could be a life changing opportunity for me. Immediately we formed a group of 30 youth members aged 15-24 years, started saving and it was through the VSLA that I managed to get a cash loan of 50,000/- from which I was able to buy chili seeds worthy 37500/- and i planted a quarter an acre of chili, and I used the rest of the money to buy some home necessities. Through the different trainings that VEDCO delivered to our group like VSLA methodologies, farming as a business, GAPs, financial literacy, I have now gained the momentum to speak in public, I now know and am convinced that farming is a well-paying venture and it is a great employment opportunity to our category of the school drop outs, I now have the confidence that girls also deserve equal opportunities and have the same rights compared to boys. In March 2020 I started selling my chili from my small garden. On a weekly basis am able to sell 50kgs of chili from which I get 75000-100,000/-, I used part of the money to buy myself Knickers, pads, good smelling Vaseline, trending clothes, support my parents to buy food for the home and saved the balance in my VSLA. “LONG LIVE AWF, LONG LIVE PLAN, LONG LIVE VEDCO”