Summary

​This is a family of seven children living with their parents in a small room in a suburb. The room is availed to them free by the landlord but it is a wonder how they all fit into it. The father is blind and the mother does odd jobs so there is no stable source of income.

 

Dollar Rate

USD. 1 = UGX. 3,500

 

Monthly Income

The collective monthly income for this family is estimated at UGX. 20,000 ($5.71 USD). The mother, Nnalongo does odd jobs like washing clothes where she gets some money for food. She also digs and is sometimes paid in potatoes, cassava, maize or whatever else is in the garden.

 

Monthly Expenditure

Food $85.70 USD (UGX. 300,000)
Electricity $4.28 USD (UGX. 15,000)
Health <unknown>
Water <unknown>

Education $428.57 USD (UGX. 1,500,000/year)

 

Challenges

Ssalongo was not born blind but about 9 years ago he lost his sight. He says that this was because of witchcraft although the stains in his eyes seem to be as a result of trachoma (we would need an eye specialist to confirm the cause of blindness). Before that, he had no real skills and did as many jobs as he could to keep the family fed.

 

Currently, his partner Nnalongo is earning some income for the family and their oldest son, Wasswa is looking for odd jobs at a major city market. Their collective efforts is what is feeding the family but even that is not enough. We visited the family at about 2:00pm and there was no evidence that a meal was prepared for their lunch or was about to be prepared. Nnalongo was washing clothes at a client’s place and their little child was crying in her blind father’s hands.

 

The oldest son decided to drop out of school completely because he was so far behind and yet he is growing older. In frustration he made the decision to never go back to school because he was tired of waiting for help that was not coming. Their second oldest son is interested in school despite being eight years above the class age. At the time we visited, he wasn’t at school because he did not have pens and books.

 

Family Priority

1. Food

2. Start a Business

3. Education

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Suggested Intervention

Arrange paid apprenticeship for the oldest boy to learn metal fabrication, automotive mechanics or woodwork. We will need to discuss with Wasswa where his passions are and hopefully enrol him at a nearby workshop with the hope that he will be retained or gain the skills to find work somewhere else.

 

We can help the rest of the children to continue or start school which will be three children in total. We will find a government aided school in their neighbourhood where they can start.

 

Explore starting a charcoal and food stall for the family which would include construction of a wooden structure and buying a few sacks of charcoal and fresh food for the start.

 

Other Deliberations​​

Ssalongo/Nnalongo are local titles for a man/woman who has had twins. Unfortunately, they lost the younger twin boy. They are also currently living for free in the single room that they have and the space that we would attempt to rent for them to set up the business would be in the front yard of their landlord’s house.