Jenipher - An Amazing Lady

My host mom Jenipher is basically an amazing woman, with an amazing life story. My first evening at her place, we sat on the porch and she told me some of her story. She left secondary school part way through to get married, and very soon found herself with five small childen, and another on the way. Her husband was an insurance salesman, and from the photos she’s showed me, it seems they were doing fairly well for themselves in those days.

Unfortunately though, when the Tanzanian forces swept in to rid Uganda of Amin’s regime in 1979, this took a heavy toll on Masaka and the surrounding area, which was one of the first places they hit. Jennifer’s husband was shot and killed, and the house (where I stay) was almost completely destroyed. Like many of the residents, she gathered up her children and fled to the bush until it was safe to return.

In reflecting on that time, Jenipher told me, “After becoming a widow, I wasted two years crying and looking for someone to help me. Finally, I woke up one day and realized that no one was going to help, and that I had two hands and a brain in my head, and I would have to use them and work hard for my kids.” She did work hard, farming and doing handicrafts and other small businesses to rebuild her home and raise money for school fees to put all of her children through school.

These days, Jenipher is a jia jia (grandmother), and well-respected member of the community. She is the member/chairperson of a number of voluntary groups, including a women’s savings and credit group through FINCA, and a “Good Life Team” that volunteers to go out and provide training to nearby villages on health and hygiene, family planning, and HIV/AIDS prevention (see photo of Jenipher in her uniform). She takes a lot of pride in her income generating and voluntary work. I’m very lucky, because she likes to bring me along to her group meetings, which is an amazing “in” for a muzungu like me.

One other thing about Jenipher is that she loves to laugh, and to shout ‘hallelulah’ to the Jesus she credits with bringing her through some very tough times. That’s one thing the other interns and I have noticed about many of the people here- that both laughter and faith have helped them to persevere and keep smiling through some very tough times.