Nassaka lays bricks for her children, fight poverty
Ms Noeline Nassaka, a single mother of seven from Kyengera Town Council in Wakiso District earns a living through bricklaying. Photo/Prisca Namulema
What you need to know:
- While in Kinaawa, she first worked as a maid before she met a man with whom she bore five children. Her relationship, however, did not work out since the man was promiscuous.
- Ms Nassaka had two more children in her second relationship, which too was short-lived.
Kabojja Village in Kyengera Town Council, Wakiso District, is home to Ms Noeline a single mother of seven, who ekes a living through bricklaying.
Bricklaying is a job that is predominantly for men in the area but Ms Nassaka, 37, a native of Kannabulemu, which is located on the Uganda-Tanzanian border in Kyotera District, beat all odds to fend for her family through the venture.
She shares that as a young girl, she was raised in a deprived family that could not cater for their basic needs.
She was born to the late Joseph Muwawu, and the late Annet Nantongo, both of whom were buried in Kannabulemu.
“I am the eldest daughter among four siblings. Our father died in 1992 when I was six years old and she grew up with my mother, who also died in 2002,” Ms Nassaka says.
She dropped out of school while in her Primary Four due to a lack of school fees.
Ms Nassaka embarked on the journey of raising her siblings at a young age since they were left alone in the house.
“At the age of 16, I had to make sure that they find what to feed on, treatment, clothing, especially through digging the small piece of land my parents had left us with,” she says.
Later, some neighbours suggested that she go to Kampala to work as a maid so that she could support her younger siblings who were not schooling at the time.
This was a brilliant idea for her and without further ado, they got her a job in Kinaawa, where Nassaka spent three years.
While in Kinaawa, she first worked as a maid before she met a man with whom she bore five children. Her relationship, however, did not work out since the man was promiscuous.
“We separated after the father of my children threw me out of the house with my five children. I later got another job serving porridge in Nalukolongo market and by this time, I was 19 years old,” she says.
Among the customers she served was a man who later married her and they rented a house in Kabojja.
Ms Nassaka had two more children in her second relationship, which too was short-lived.
“He left me in a precarious situation while I was seven months pregnant,” she narrates.
At this point, she decided to leave things to do with marriage and focus on bringing up her children by all means.
“After I was ejected from a house I was renting, the idea of washing clothes in the neighbourhoods sprung up. I ploughed the fields of those in her locality and the nearby villages to earn a living,” she says.
Buried in misery, she approached one of the landlords in Kabojja village and asked for a small piece of land where she could erect a temporary shelter.
“I thank God that this man understood my situation, and I started getting iron sheets one at a time, even people around started giving me some, and I put up a temporary structure where I am currently staying,” he said.
Having established herself in the ramshackle house, it was obvious that the money she was making out of washing clothes and digging could not cater for her family's needs.
She was introduced to bricklaying, having seen the men in her neighbourhood survive through the same hustle.
Despite her hard work, Ms Nassaka cannot independently look after her family.
“We cannot afford two meals a day and the house where we stay is full of holes and the mosquitoes give us sleepless nights and the snakes are always inside the house since it is located near a swamp,” she says.
“I always hear my children screaming after finding snakes in their beds; because I also fear hitting them, we usually call our neighbours for help,” she adds.
Mr Stanly Musoke, who gave Ms Nassaka a place to put her temporal shelter, said the woman and her children live a miserable life.
“I didn’t give her the land, I let her put up a hut while she plans her next move,” Mr Musoke says.
Ms Nassaka says much as her dream is to see her children through school, this might not work due to lack of fees.
“What I am now focusing on is to make sure each child learns how to read and write, and whoever reaches this level, that’s the end of her studies,” she says.
Ms Nassaka’s seven children are all girls but she cannot even afford to get a pair of shoes for any of them.
Her oldest daughter, Amina Nalubega (17), says life is tough for them as most of the time they have nothing to eat and to use as girls during their menstruation period.
“Our mother usually advises us to use clothes as pads [during menstruation]. Our situation is difficult,” she says.
