Aims

“Together we will change our future.” This initiative gets a name: Kyebajja Tobona Women’s Group.

History

• in 2010, mebra, robinah, veria and other local women from namwendwa meet on a regular basis and discuss each other’s’ needs and successes. other women join and the number of members steadily grows to 35. the name ‘kyebajja tobona womens’group means ‘watching others, learning from others, doing yourself’. the members meet each month. Each time, every member donates 5 000 ush (about €2), and the group decides who most needs the resulting sum: for school fees, medication, seeds, or which common initiatives may produce the best results for all.
• a belgian branch is founded in 2011 by jos and frieda. each month, belgian women contribute €2. this doubles the group’s monthly yield and supports them in the realization of bigger dreams: buying piglets, following and organizing a workshop, an extra present for christmas, organization of a business to rent out materials for festivities (cooking pots, chairs, tents) in order to generate extra income.
• in 2016, a second group is founded : ‘kidiki tweyambe development group’. the belgian branch decides to also support this second group.
• 03-23-2018. veria passes away suddenly and unexpectedly. a tremendous loss for the kyebajja tobona womens’ group. veria was the co-founder of this group. she was an exceptionally strong woman with remarkable leadership qualities. we knew her as a good friend and a lady with a great sense of humor. an example for many among us.
• in 2019, both groups extend the ‘festivities project’ and kidiki tweyambe buys a plot to built a storeroom (in order to storage all of the materials and equipment). kyebajja tobona starts a sewing-class.
• 2020. corona turns everything upside down! no more meetings. no rental of party tents. no sewing workshop. some members start a small vegetable garden. kidiki tweyambe is slowly building on the storage space. end of October, cautious first meetings.
• in 2022 quietly resume of the operations. super high inflation is a new game changer.
• 2023: some members of 'kyebajja tobona development group' start pilot projects with simple irrigation systems.
• 2023: Four rooms are rented out in the house of 'kidiki tweyambe development group'.
• 2023: Each time now, every member donates 20 000 ush (about €4). the monthly contributions for the Belgian members of both groups are increased to €4.