By Hope Mafaranga
As you enter
Kyangwali refugee’s settlement Camp in Hoima district, a big signpost bearing
the picture of Luciano Agago promoting male circumcision ushers you into the
camp.
How she ended up in Kyangwali
Agago was living with
her family and was a happy child like any other. She grew up in a cattle
keeping family.
To her, life was about taking milk and enjoying her parent’s
love. However in 1997, together with her family they flew their home village in
Lobira in Eastern Equatorial in South Sudan, during the Sudan People's
Liberation Army (SPLA) insurgency at the age of six.
The second born of four children, Agago remembers the day as
if it just happened yesterday. Narrating how they were tortured and the
suffering that led them to Uganda is a moving story altogether.
“We ran away when the Garang’s war spoke out. I was six
years old then. We walked long distance and ended up in Acholi Pii camp in Kitgum
district the current Pader now.
I never imagined this was the time to become fatherless and
homeless. My father was killed by SPLA’S rebels and all our cattle of about 500
herds were robbed.
During this long walk, my youngest sister who was used of
drinking milk could not bear the torture and she died.
None of us had the time to bury our father and sister. Their bodies were left to be eaten by birds.
This is one of the of the saddest memories in my life and whenever I see
people’s graves is, I wish, I could also see my father and sister’s grave. It
hurts me so much and after 18 years, I am still coming to terms with that
reality.
Mother disappears too
We settled there up to 2002, when the Lord’s Resistance Army
(LRA) of Kony intensified in northern Uganda. We had no choice but to run for
our safety.
This is the time our mother and another brother disappeared.
I stuck to my uncle’s family up to now.
At that time I was in primary four we footed through Lira to
Kiryandongo settlement camp.
At that camp we
stayed there for two days and we were relocated to Kyangwali where I call home
now.
Her education
She went to Agago primary school in Kitgum up to P.4 then
Rwenyayarwa primary school where she completed her primary school education.
Agago attained 17 aggregates which earned her a scholarship
to the only secondly school in the refugee camp Kyangwali SS.
Double tragedy
As she was completing her S.4, her uncle got an accident and
he could not feed the family anymore. As if that was not bad enough, her aunt
also developed a spinal code problem and right now she is in a wheel chair.
“ I persisted and finished senior four but could not
continue as I had to support my family to survive in the camp. You know after
three years, the Office of the Prime minister allocates land to refugees so
that they can cultivate their food,” she said.
Humble beginning
Despite her young age, Agago has actively promoted
self-reliance and sustainable livelihoods and enhanced her own and her family’s
livelihood by a variety of means.
After her senior four, she knew she had to support her
family. She started to do business by selling sugarcane with a starting capital
of sh 500.
“ I bought sugarcane at sh500 and cut small pieces . I made
a profit of sh2, 500. This was a good start. I saved slowly until I accumulated
sh 12,000 and I started going to Lake Albert to buy mukene (silver fish.
The first basin of
mukene I made sh25,000. I paid an extra attention to other traders how they
were measuring their mukene and I learnt a trick that the cups they were using
to measure were small than what I had.
I also changed my tactics. The third basin I made sh 60,000.
I never looked back,” she said.
Getting into hotel
business
At one time a friend of her aunt identified as Mary Atelo
approached her aunt and requested that Agago should come and work in her
restaurant so that she is saved from the
hassle of going to the lake to look for
Mukene and she allowed.
“ I used to work in Mary’s restaurant for free for three weeks in a month and the fourth
week, I would still go to the lake to get mukene,” she said.
From Mary’s restaurant,
she gained experience and started nursing her ambitions of owing one.
One day she was
invited to attend a workshop in Hoima by
one of the NGO that works in the camp
she was given sh 300,000 as per diem, she saved the money and again
after a month she was again invited to Fort portal where she attended training
and out of others were shopping for clothes, Agago was looking at attaining her
dream of becoming a restaurant owner.
The sh 500,000 was an engine to kick start her hotel
business. She now manages her own restaurant, which employs four single
mothers.
She is now also in farming to ensure food security and a
steady income to sustain her family. She
rears pigs and she has 12 with a hope of increasing her piggery project and
also gives the piglet to other young girls in the camp to sustain themselves.
Her inspiration
Agago was scared that after a while, the OPM and other NGO
will stop giving refugee aid and food and this pushed her to work to ensure she
puts food on the table.
“The fear of sleeping on an empty stomach and seeing my
uncle drop out of school pushed me to think out of the box,” she said.
Community work
On top of her businesses, Agago has done remarkable work for
her community. She has started a Rebeneteko
community group and served as the women representative of refugee welfare
council.
The group save money for development and own two oxen which
they use to dig for orphaned children who lost their parents during wars and
HIV.
She is also a Village Health Team member for Kasonga and
offers free counseling services to other members of her community.
“People come to me after having fights at home or wanting to
gain business advice. Many have seen my business grow and using it as an
example have decided to start their own businesses,” she says.
Achievements
About ten years ago Agago’s uncle and aunt fell sick and
since then Luciano has been responsible for supporting the family financially.
She has managed to send her sisters and cousins study
outside the refugee settlement and pay for all of her mother’s medical bills.
“ I spend about sh 2.5m per term on school fees and saving sh 1m per month is a miracle. I also
gained people trust I was elected to represent refugees and this is not a mean
a achievement,” she said.
Advice to other women
“ I want to encourage others to follow my example. Women
need to be encouraged and stop feeling petty in their currently situation but
look at challenges as opportunities,” she said.
Agago was in Monday 20, 2016 was awarded Refugee Woman of the Year in Uganda.
The selection is made in co-operation with the Finnish Refugee Council (FRC),
UNCHR and Office of the Prime Minister.
The awards is aimed at increasing awareness of refugee
issues and encourage refugee women to go forward and promote positive images of
skilled and resourceful women in Uganda.
The winner will be awarded sh 3m of which sh 1m goes to the
winner and sh 2m go to a community project of her choice. She is the fifth women to be awarded.
Fears
Agago freezes whenever the thought of repatriating them
crosses her mind. “ I have grown up from here and I call Uganda home. Sometimes,
refuges are sent back to their original countries when peace returns. I cannt
imagine going back to Southern Sudan to homeless land with no relatives,” she
says.
Her vision
Agago dream the day she will see refugee women empowered and
are able to depend on themselves. “ You are not sure when the food will be
delivered. We live a life of probability and not sure of your welfare of
tomorrow. But if women are empowered all these worries will be no more and it
will reduce on donor dependence and give a chance to the new entries a chance
to have a meaning resettlement,” she said.
She also wants to go
back to school to attain higher education and expand her business. “If I had a
degree, I would one of the country directors of some of these NGOs,” she said.
The numbers
Tarja Saarela-Kaonga, resident
representative in Uganda, The Finnish Refugee Council said Agago was awarded
for promoting self-reliance and sustainable livelihoods.
According to Tarja, Uganda has currently 538,252 registered
refugees and asylum-seekers, adding that women constitute the biggest number.
“About 35,000 of these are asylum seekers, leaving about
503,000 refugees and of these, 51% are women.
The purpose of selecting the Refugee Woman of the Year is to raise
awareness on refugee women’s issues and bring forward a positive and
progressive example of a refugee woman, who is an inspiration to other women,”
she said.
Who is eligible for the award?
Tarja said the selection committee looks at exemplary and
inspirational refugee woman in general, who have been active in promoting
self-reliance and practicing sustainable livelihood.
“We were looking for a refugee woman who has enhanced her
own livelihood by for example skills training, self-employment and small
business development and supported the livelihoods of other refugees in her
community in economically, socially and ecologically sustainable manner,” she
explains..
She said one to qualify must be registered as a refugee in
Uganda and have a ration card number or registered under her head of
household.
Vox pops
Felister Hisita: I had given up on life
but Agago gave me a reason to live and start life all over again.
Micheal Odele: she is an extra ordinary human being with a
golden heart, a listening ear and her hands never get tired of helping others.
Redina Kabasumba a community worker: Agago is a mult-tasking
person. I was once shocked seeing her fixing boreholes for the community and
she never misses meetings
Elder Akello: I was focusing on living on aid but Agago
approached me and advised me to join a group so that I can save for my family.
I will be forever grateful for her advice.
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