Namata Gorretti's family is from the village of Byerima where Sr. Maria grew up. She has two children from a previous marriage and six children who live at home with her and her husband Sengooba Kaluuna. Their daughter's names are Namazzi Sylivia and Nakabiito Gorretti, who are thirteen and four years old respectively. They also have four sons Sengooba Kaluuna, Kiweewa Kenny, Kalema Eric and Serwadda Nerica who are fourteen, nine, seven and six respectively. Namata and Sengooba's children miss many days of school because they cannot always afford to pay their school fees.
Dear donors, my name is Namata Gorretti and I am married to Mr. Sengooba Kaluuna. Before I got married to Mr. Sengooba, I was married to Mr. Kasozi who died from cancer a few years ago. I had two children with my late husband. After my husband died, his relatives told me to leave the house and they also sold the piece of land where we used to grow food. I was desperate and had no idea what to do next.
Since my mother was still alive I decided to take my two young boys to live with her while I was looking for a job. After a few months I was offered a job in the nearby town and I was working as a bar attendant. This is where I met my husband Kaluuna. We have six children together. Both of us are peasant farmers. We grow the food we eat and also try to sell the surplus to get tuition for our children. Getting enough food to eat and surplus to sell is a big struggle since often times we do not get enough harvest due to the fact that the soil is depleted.
Every quarter our children miss several days of school when they tell them to come home and get the tuition which we do not have. Sometimes we are forced to tell them to stay home and wait until we get that money to send them back to school. When this happens they missed the material that other students have covered that day and this has affected their performance in different classes. We hope to be able to make a positive change.
We hope that when we get the pigs we will be able to earn some extra money to pay for our children’s tuition and to get them healthy meals. The nice thing about the pigs is that we will be able to use the dung to fertilize the soil which has lost all its nutrients.
