Hadji reaps from building modest shelters for people with special needs
He fled the Democratic Republic of Congo to Uganda in 2013 with nothing other than his two little boys and wife. Haruna Hadji, a resident of Base Camp 2 zone, in Rwamwanja settlement now owns a home, boutique and motorcycle.
With zeal to offer his family a decent lifestyle even when away from home, Hadji looked out for any opportunity to earn a living as soon as he was settled in Rwamwanja. House construction was one of the major income activities in the settlement as he explains that the Lutheran World Federation was constructing houses for people with special needs (PSNs) like the elderly and those with disabilities.
Having been a casual builder back home, Hadji didn’t think twice about joining the building team. “I joined a construction group and started building for a living in November, 2016. I would save at least UGX 60,000 (€14) from the income I earned from each shelter we constructed,” recounts Hadji who explains that the group would earn UGX 500,000 (€116) per shelter constructed.
Hadji continues to say that he worked tirelessly with a dream of owning a family business where both him and his wife would work to earn a living. He also dreamt of developing the business in to a chain that would be managed by his sons when they become adults. His dream got him working tirelessly to raise the business capital.
“I built at least 20 shelters before accumulating UGX 1,200,000 (€278) that I invested in our boutique, the only one in Base Camp 2,” said a grinning Hadji who sells men’s, women’s and children’s clothes.
As he goes out to execute his construction duties, his wife Fifi Bindu stays managing their family business. “We earn at least UGX 120,000 (€28) per month from our boutique which we supplement with my husband’s earnings from construction,” Bindu said.
A smiling Bindu narrates that their lifestyle is better and more comfortable now that they earn more money and are respected by the community at large.
“We don’t have to wait for the food ratio to get a decent meal, we can afford medical care and we also wear good clothes,” added Hadji who says that his family also has a warm house they call home and a motorbike for transport - all fruits of his construction work.
PSNs get warm shelters from the work of Hadji’s hands
While Hadji earns from construction of PSN shelters, the elderly, sick and those with disabilities get warm accommodation from the houses he constructs.
94-year-old Ngayabaseka Nyiragendo is one of the tens living in warm shelters constructed by Hadji. Nyiragendo lived in a falling temporary shelter before being identified as a PSN in need of descent shelter by Bahati Mayele, a Social Worker with LWF. Mayele explains that Nyiragendo was identified as a PSN because of her old age and inability to construct herself a shelter.
“The winds would blow through my lungs, the rain drops squeezed through my roof to my skin and the mud from the walls would hit me,” explained Nyiragendo saying that she feared for her and her granddaughter’s lives as she thought the shelter’s weak walls would collapse on them.
Two weeks after being identified by Mayele, Nyiragendo got herself a fully constructed shelter house and latrine in February, 2017 from LWF with funding from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO). “I made sure Nyiragendo’s house was constructed quickly so that she could access descent shelter and living conditions, away from insecurity and the cold,” said Mayele.
Nyiragendo speaks that she feels safe, comfortable and doesn’t have to worry about the fall of the night as she now has a modest shelter in which to sleep.
Just like Nyiragendo, Jeanine Mujawimana also resides in a house offered by LWF with support from ECHO. She lived under a plastic sheet with her four children before being identified by LWF’s Social Workers as a PSN in need of shelter.
“I was identified just after giving birth to my last child,” Mujawimana “We found her living under a plastic sheet with a new born and 4 other children. All their lives were at risk of airborne diseases like pneumonia and we had to construct her a shelter and latrine quickly,” said Doreen Mwima, a Field Extension Worker with LWF. Mwima adds that through an ECHO funded project, LWF offered 145 PSNs fully constructed shelters in Rwamwanja settlement.
“I now sleep in a decent comfortable house, the 6 of us don’t have to sleep in one room as 4 of my children sleep in one room and I share the other with the baby. Besides, I don’t have to worry about my children catching diseases due to the cold anymore,” added Mujawimana.
With support from the EU Humanitarian Aid, LWF provides modest shelters and latrines to PSNs for dignified living conditions and improved sanitation as well as improving livelihoods among youth through construction services for cash in Rwamwanja settlement.
