A GLIMPSE INTO A LIFE OF A REFUGEE ENTREPRENEUR AND DETERMINATION OF A MOTHER.

“I wake up daily at 4am to make snacks (chapatis, donuts, mandazis, groundnuts) etc. By 6:30am, I am hawking my items in the community. Once they are done, I go to my small garden at around 8am. At 11am, I return home to prepare lunch for my children. I then sit at my tailoring machine at 2pm to sew clothes particularly mending torn uniforms for unaccompanied refugee children without parents to help. By 4pm, I go to buy items for the next day, fetch water and start to prepare supper for my family. After supper, I plan for my next day before going to sleep at 12am after my children.” narrates Kezia Leila Watts, a South Sudanese refugee mother of 5 children living in Kiryandongo Settlement.

When asked about what keeps her going, Keiza said,

"My motivation in doing business is to make sure that my children don’t become thieves, walk naked, dirty or fall ill without proper medication. I want to see my children succeeding like those living with both parents and studying in towns."

Have you ever thought of the impact such an experience has on the mental health of women? It takes absolute courage, resilience and determination to strongly go through that routine daily.

"Sometimes, I feel so bitter for what I am experiencing but I am hopeful that the fruits will soon be sweet.? I am unable to dress well, buy sandals on my feet or sleep well like other women but I am hopeful that once I prepare my children through education, they will dress me up in future.” Keiza Leila Watts.

On this labor day, may we be reminded to stand in solidarity, uplift and celebrate forcefully displaced people like Kezia who are relentlessly making ends meet amidst challenges in the refugee settlements.