DRDIP Gave Us Direction and Hope, - Kyegegwa Woman
T hings are not the same again for Grace Bitaranza, a 35-year-old mother of four from Iringa village, Mpaala Sub County in Kyegegwa district. She is grateful for the livelihoods support sub project to women in her village through the Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project (DRDIP), an initiative under Office of the Prime Minister, funded by the World Bank. She narrates her ordeal to Robert Owiny. Two years ago, Bitaranza was oblivious of how she would raise her children. She had challenges of feeding, she was troubled by her children’s school requirements, she had no business and not any family asset to proudly talk about. “You know, here we are far from town and most projects do not reach us”, she explains, adding that it’s difficult to get any form of work in her village where one can earn from, be it mere casual work. One day, she recounts, “my children were all sent away from school because of school fees and other requirements”. This was when Bitaranza and her husban