Achiro Agnes Kasule is 62, a widow and has two children aged 39 and 20. Her eldest child is living independently near her mother’s house. Achiro, her youngest son and her grandchildren live in exile in Banda, a suburb of Kampala city. For the loans, she borrowed, had always repaid on time. This is her tenth loan fully funded pending disbursement.
Achiro is an Acholi, originally from the village of Pajok in South Sudan, close to the south Sudanese-Ugandan border. In the past years, there has been widespread violence on the border, with insurgents torturing and killing innocent civilians. All of her properties was burned down, including her home and all of her possessions. Achiro’s mother was beaten to death, and two of her brothers were shot and killed by LRA rebels. She has lost most of her relatives due to this force, but she has one surviving brother still living in southern Sudan. Unable to live with the violence, Achiro relocated to the Acholi Quarter outside of Kampala, over 20 years ago. It is home to many Acholi families displaced from Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan.
When Achiro first came to the Acholi Quarter, she began to work in the stone quarry. After many years of this arduous labor, her health has severely deteriorated. She suffers from severe chest pains caused by tuberculosis, is partially deaf, and fragile. Achiro often cannot afford to seek the medical attention she needs. Fortunately, a donor paid her doctor’s consultation fees, medicines, and another follow-up. Achiro has recovered, fit and is doing well, and has not seen a doctor for last three years.
Her second job is crushing big stones into small pieces of hardcore to sell for house-building that to make a living, and her first venture is making and selling beads that also generates a good income. Her husband Kasule, who used to work as a security guard death two years, adding her more weight on top of their already existing difficulties to provide basic needs for her large family.
Achiro cares for her twelve grandchildren. Hope Ofiriha is planning to sponsor two in 2015 when funding is made available by the donor who had promised to give a Hand Up. Achiro pays for the rest to attend school, but regularly struggles to afford the fees.
