Testimony of a Refugee

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One of the members of the group that was present at the DRDIP exhibit tent on World Refugee Day is Innocent a refugee from Burundi who fled to Uganda in 2012 due to conflicts at home.  When he arrived he went through an interview and screening process and was subsequently passed and granted refugee status.  He was allocated a plot of land to settle in within the Nakivale Settlement and where he could also do some cultivation for food and income.  Innocent shared his experience with Simon Kisaka; 

“Many organizations offered humanitarian assistance and I persisted with small income earning projects but they were not enough for our needs. In 2021 DRDIP came and guided us on how to form small groups in the villages for further support.  Unlike other projects, DRDIP came with a strategy of direct support where were given funds to invest in our own selected projects so as to earn profits so we can develop our communities and individual families. I thank DRDIP and wish other organizations could come up with the same approach of giving us financial literacy training so we can also develop and forget our traumas of the past. DRDIP taught us how to keep records, how to manage our business of trading, and how to run a profitable business.” 

Innocent who is also a motorbike mechanic and repairs bikes for income is also a chairman of the Nyakatonda Produce/Traders.  When he is not repairing motorbikes and bicycles, he engages in the produce trading business with his group members. 

Nyakatonda Produce Traders (LSP Group) 

Nyakatonda – A Producers/Traders is a DRDIP group funded under the Livelihoods Support Programme. The group engages in buying and selling of stock.  They get profits and share the proceeds.  They received 24 million and bought maize at first then beans and sorghum.  They also bought equipment and stationery for trading and keeping records but also rent a store.   They sell to the communities and to wholesale buyers who buy in bulk.   Of the 24 million they had withdrawn 8,350,000/= as of June 20th, for stock buying and had realized a profit of 450,000/= in their first season of operations.   They are hoping that every individual will benefit as they continue, though currently, the benefits are to the group as a whole. 

 

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