Margarate Namusisi is part of the grandmother’s savings group in Mpigi District, she is taking care of her five grandchildren. Her daughter sadly passed on and she took on the mantle of taking care of her five grandchildren. 

Namusisi heard about the grandmother’s project from her friends in her community and decided to join. “It has changed my life, it is a space where I can meet up with other grandmothers and we just sit, talk and catch up and most importantly support each other. I have made new friends in the group,” she shared

The Grandmothers’ Project is a peer support group bringing together grandmothers who are primary caregivers to their grandchildren in Mpigi District to improve their well-being. Through the project, we are empowering them with financial literacy, savings and entrepreneurship skills so they can be able to take care of their families.

Namusisi shares with us that through the group savings scheme, she has been able to access a loan to support her family “I joined the group three months ago and have been able to access a loan, I bought five chickens for each of my grandchildren,” Namusisi smiles as she shared with us. “I want to teach them how to be responsible at a young age, they are all in primary school and I believe this is the right age to teach them,”  Today her youngest grandchild is back from school early and is helping feed the chicken. 

Each day after school Namusisi tells us that her grandchildren have to feed the chickens. “I love seeing them get so excited to feed their chickens after school,”  She hopes to sell the chicken once they mature to pay school fees and boost her household income.

The group meets once every month to discuss issues like parenting and how to save “Every month I look forward to meeting with my friends. It is one of the highlights of my month,”  she tells us. She is hopeful that the peer support group will continue to improve her life and that of her grandchildren.

By supporting grandmothers just like Namusisi, we hope to bring attention to the importance of kinship care in Africa.