Mercy Kalende
Mercy Kalende is one of the program participants currently pursuing the Higher Education Access Program at Busitema University.
Finding Purpose in Lockdown
When the COVID-19 lockdown was announced in Uganda, I ventured into hygiene-related projects. I ran a campaign to donate pads to girls in Eastern Uganda; unfortunately, the need was overwhelming, and with limited funds, I wasn’t able to reach every girl. I also tried my hand at agriculture and managed to harvest a basin of beans.
With the little savings I had left when schools closed for the pandemic, I started a pancake-making business — buying 10kg of cassava flour, a dozen packets of baking powder, a 10-litre jerrycan of cooking oil, and a bucket to sell pancakes in.
Small Business, Real Impact
The business did well. I was able to buy food for home — 100kg of maize flour to go with the beans I had already harvested — to feed my family. The earnings also helped me buy other household necessities like soap, sugar, and salt. I have managed to save UGX 30,000 every week, which I hope to use to buy young turkeys and rent a small piece of land to rear them.
“The encouragement, knowledge, and hope I have today are a result of the mentoring programs I have benefited from through FAWE Uganda.”
These programs have helped me start different income-generating activities, stay busy, and cope with the stress of schools not reopening, money troubles, and business losses. They have also given me the motivation not to give up on life.
Learning from a Loss
For instance, I once started growing oyster mushrooms but had to stop soon after — I was in the village, and there was no market. It was also the rainy season, when mushrooms grow naturally and people harvest them for free instead of buying mine, so I made a big loss. That loss left me in debt: I hadn’t fully paid the owner of the small piece of land and house I had rented to grow the mushrooms, and I still owed money for the spawns, since I had planned to pay it all back once I started reaping from the business.
I thought I would never recover from that loss, but I thank God, because He lifted me up again. FAWE Uganda gave me airtime, which I used to watch “Do It Yourself” videos on YouTube, where I learned hands-on skills like crochet and design — and it was on YouTube, too, that I learned how to make delicious pancakes.
Still Growing
I have continued researching to learn and improve my skills, including through Speak Your Mind contests, and I attended an online class called weLEARN School, which helped me with a lot of self-discovery. Personally, the upkeep, airtime support, and ongoing online mentoring have helped me a great deal, alongside running my different initiatives. I now serve as an example, or a living testimony, to my friends.