She Launched a Rocket to the Sun!

Spring break is coming up fast. I am excited because I will get extra sleep. I doubt I have anything fun I am looking forward to doing, but sleeping and running in the neighborhood are my fun places. I will get time to take pictures as well. I was seated in the library practicing for the upcoming mid-term math test when two gentlemen approached me and offered me a Red Bull. I looked at them, puzzled, and they insisted I take it. I took it and smiled with the obvious statement, "thank you." This left me wondering, though. It reminded me of when I had joined high school, and whenever I saw my classmates drinking Ribenna or Splash every day, I would declare them the wealthiest people. I was used to drinking bushera made by my grandmother or mother as my thirst quencher. Ribenna was for the sick at home. Anyway, Red Bull is precisely one of those "elite" branded drinks in my country, and here I am being offered a free Red Bull. Actually, these fellows come to school every week and give out as much Red Bull to students as they have carried. There are so many wonders in the world!

Free empty calories yet cost a fortune in Uganda.

That's not what I intended to write about, but the wonder couldn't let my mind wander into thoughts without getting it off. Each year we are blessed with that special day that runs the whole month(literally), where women are celebrated for their outstanding achievements worldwide. Sometime last year, while interviewing a lady, she said, "Namagunga girls or these top schools are always quick to celebrate the Old Girls that have made it. They never face the reality that some old girls from these schools have not achieved as much as those handfuls fronted each day" - a statement that hit home. Each year we celebrate the most outstanding women; she launched a rocket to the sun, was appointed to the board of directors, and works with CNN, but we forget to shed light on those women who have done the small nitty gritty within our local communities or even homes. She may not be the woman that tarmacked the road to your "kafunda," but she is the woman that is selling vegetables by the roadside, the woman that is washing your clothes for a penny, the woman that stays home to watch your child grow, name it all.

Image Source: Wikimedia. Show some love to these women!

Mid-last year, I was frustrated by the man that used to do my laundry. He was overpriced and would demand until you feared walking out of the house. He was the gatekeeper, so he would be the first face you see on the compound. So I reached out to the lady who sells vegetables by the road leading to home and asked if she could find a woman who could do my laundry. I was connected to a lady from the neighborhood. The first day she arrives, I bring out my two big laundry baskets and ask her to tag a price to the whole activity. She asked for UGX 10,000 for the two laundry baskets full of clothes. My heart sank. I felt like I was part of those ruthless people that pick on people in disadvantaged situations and take advantage of them. I just walked back to the house and kept replaying the whole scenario. For those same clothes, the man had been charging me between UGX 40,000 to UGX 50,000. It was definitely overpriced, but again UGX 10,000 was underpriced. After she was done with the task, I paid her a reasonable price, and we agreed she would come every two weeks to wash. She was inconsistent in the planned routine, and I was intrigued to know why she wasn't coming through. Once in a while, I would purchase a few house necessities like sugar, salt, beans, and maize/corn flour, which I would give to her. She wasn't living in any situation close to the desirable social living standards. She lives in a single room in a typical uptown ghetto with her husband and two children. I learned she strongly wanted to work and make that extra money, but her husband couldn't let her work. He rides a "bodaboda" for a living. Their two kids always ride tyres by the street and play soccer using an old deflated ball. School is something they hear from the kids they play with when they come back from school. By the time I left, she had a third child on the way.

Image Source: Flickr Photos. Photo by: David. Give these women their flowers.

I had to look for another lady with a similar story-best left for another day. Just a word for thought, "How do you treat those women that come to clean your mess at home? How do you relate with the lady that roasts maize by the roadside?" Celebrating women doesn't mean going all the way to buying decorated cakes and blowing balloons. Let's do the simple things always with these women. Small statements go hard. Say thank you, add an extra UGX 5,000 to her pay and remind her that she can also drink a soda today, buy her pads (you will be shocked by how many women out there are struggling with their monthly period necessities), buy an extra pack of salt while shopping and give it to her, if your shoe no longer fits tell her she can give it to her child, buy something for once without bargaining; there are so many ways you can celebrate women in these disadvantaged positions all year round.

Everyone deserves to be celebrated regardless of the status quo. Happy Women's Day!