Juwele Kinyuni has been a resident of Ndolelire Village, Bwiriza Zone in Kyaka II Refugee Settlement in Western Uganda since May 2019 when she arrived from Goma, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, following the armed conflict that ravaged her hometown. She struggled with life in a new environment, barely accessed means to address her basic needs and those of her mother and sister who were under her care.
“In May 2022 after a difficult period in Uganda, we made the decision to return home. But life was much more miserable because of our mother's untimely death and the ongoing instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
20-year-old Juwele explains.
Eventually, she decided to return to Uganda permanently in November 2022, and a month later, she was married to Celestin Irakiza, a young man she had met during her initial visit. The young family struggled significantly with financial instability, hindering their ability to meet basic needs such as access to food, health services, and education for her young sister. They survived on the monthly World Food Programme food ration of UGX 52,000 (13 Euros) and provision of casual labour in exchange of foods such as matooke and cassava or cash worth UGX 5,000 (1 Euro) per day in the host community. Juwele’s agonising situation prompted her to contemplate suicide but decided to live for the sake of her family.
In July 2023, she enrolled in the Sustainable Market Inclusive Livelihood Pathways to Self-Reliance (SMILES) project, which marked a new chapter in her life. Juwele and Celestin engaged in sessions such as coaching, Village Saving and Loans Association activities, Farmer Field and Business School, business coaching. The newly acquired knowledge and skills enabled Juwele and her husband to set business goals, start to save, meet their basic needs, and make decisions for their family collectively. She also received a mobile phone, a monthly cash stipend of UGX 13,000 (3 Euros) for food per household member for eight months, and a business cash grant of UGX 825,000 (199 Euros).
“From the food monthly cash stipend, I started to save UGX 5,000 (1 Euro), which enabled us to buy chairs for our living room after six months. We would also buy one local chicken every two months from the same money,”
states Juwele.
She currently saves up to UGX 25,000 (6 Euros) in three groups, including the SMILES project savings group where she saves a maximum share value of UGX 5,000 (1 Euro) per week. The child growth and development theme—one of the SMILES project components—encouraged her to front her sister’s education as well as in the nurturing of her one-year-old child. The household also currently enjoys a balanced diet and three meals a day.
“We were taught to plant crops in lines, how to space crops, pest management, and how to make organic fertilisers and pesticides from local materials. We implement these practices and have been able to cultivate eggplants, maize and beans,” she explains.
Juwele drew a business plan to start a fish-selling business; however, by the time she received the business cash grant, there was a temporary ban on fishing. Sighting that setback, she used UGX 400,000 (96 Euros) to establish a used cloth-selling business from which she got a profit of UGX 300,000 (72 Euros). She combined her initial capital with the profit, totalling up to UGX 700,000 (169 Euros) and added an additional UGX 400,000 (96 Euros) from the balance of the business cash grant which she invested in a poultry-keeping business.
“I kicked off the poultry business with 200 chicks, bought two bags of chicken feeds, drinkers, feeders, and medication for the birds. Additionally, I secured a loan of UGX 200,000 (48 Euros) which I used to construct a poultry house.” Juwele who currently earns a monthly average profit of UGX 250,000 (60 Euros) from the 250 birds continues to sell them in the nearby community markets. She plans to invest a bit of her savings and profits from the poultry business in running the clothing stall.
“With all the life’s hardships that I have been through, I feel self-reliant and resilient, and I have hope for the future–thanks to the SMILES project,” Juwele concludes in gratitude.
About the SMILES project
The Sustainable Market Inclusive Livelihood Pathways to Self-Reliance (SMILES) project is a five-year (November, 2022 – October, 2027) initiative funded by the IKEA Foundation. The project works with 14,000 households (extremely poor refugee and host community) comprising 70,000 individuals in Kyaka II and Kyangwali Refugee Settlements in Western Uganda with the aim of supporting them to become resilient.
The project delivers a graduation model integrated with a Market System Development approach targeting women and youth and their household members. Key sectors include livelihoods, agriculture, food security, protection, energy and environment. The project is implemented by AVSI Foundation in partnership with UNHCR and the Office of the Prime Minister and in a consortium with Innovations for Poverty Action, Renewable Energy, Powering Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods Enhancement (REPARLE), Makerere University Kampala, and DAI Global LLC.
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