Salmon for the Ladies

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One Thursday morning we had our final tailoring class that will be with me. On Monday they have a trainer from the area starting with the ladies. She will be with them 3 days a week for 6 months so I expect they will be very good seamstresses by the time the course is done.

I had my first experience with paying off a police officer this morning. We were coming back from Entebbe to the office and we admittedly turned where we should not have. The police office took their ID and said they could come back later to pay their ticket. So instead they got out with 20,000 shillings (~$5 USD) and gave that to the officer. At that point he said just be more careful next time, returned the ID and we were on our way.

Sonia who I have really enjoyed brought a women with her to speak with us. Her husband had gotten increasingly more violent. Her brother helped her with school fees so she could send her teenage children to boarding school to get them out of the home. The husband hired a boy to follow the women around. But, instead of actually checking up on her, the boy told the husband that she was not where she said she would be. When she was at work the husband told people he was going to kill so she never returned home and has been staying with Sonia. But, Sonia’s husband is a solider and so is the husband so she does not feel safe there. The first step with RWO was to help her report this to the police. The next step is to find her a safe place to go since RWO does not have their shelter at the moment. RWO will also connect her with a pro bono attorney and be involved with her counseling. I am glad that the different support organizations here can work together.



In the afternoon I explored the craft market for a while and suggested that the women in the tailoring class visit as inspiration of what they could make with their sewing skills. I also went to the grocery store to look for food that I could cook for dinner. The ladies have never had salmon and I found some, imported from Kenya, so that was the base of our meal. They also never eat broccoli, but I found some to add to the meal. The power was off when we got home so I couldn’t start cooking until around 8:30pm when it came back on. But, we sat down by 9:30pm with salmon, rice, roasted broccoli and avocado. They finished their plates so I’ll take that as a success!

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