‘I like helping other women to change their lives. I am what I am today because I was also helped by someone.’ - Ten questions for Nandawula Babra on how to #BeBoldForChange

Each year on the 8th of March, International Women’s Day encourages us all to forge a more gender inclusive, better working world.

Children on the Edge works with local partners to restore the ingredients of a full childhood to some of the most vulnerable children worldwide. A big part of this is working towards equality in opportunities and an end to discrimination for the women and girls we work with.

The theme for the 2017 International Women's Day is #BeBoldForChange and we are privileged to be partnering with a number of truly inspirational women, who use boldness and strength to bring about change for women and girls in their communities.

​Nandawula Babra is a social worker at Children on the Edge Africa, in Jinja, Uganda. She grew up in the slums here, and has been a social worker for 15 years. She is now responsible for the development, support and facilitation of the Child Protection Teams that work across four slum areas surrounding the main town. 

1. Can you describe why you first wanted to do this work?

It’s because my passion is helping vulnerable people change to a better life, especially children and single mothers.

2. Have there been things that have happened in your life that have inspired you to do the work you do now?

Yes. I went through a lot of hardships in all the 11 years I was married, until finally my husband abandoned me and my two children. I had no job at that moment. After some time of suffering, my elder sister offered to take care of the children and advised me to look for a job. It wasn’t easy for me because I had dropped out of school after completing senior year four.

After a while a friend directed me to the Jinja Social Services office.There I met Mary (the officer in charge) who found me a sponsor and I joined the Jinja branch of YMCA and studied social development. Immediately after completing my certificate, Mary employed me in her NGO as a community worker and I used the salary to pay to do a diploma in social development.

That is the reason why I like helping other women to change their lives, because I am what I am today because I was also helped by someone. My children are at school and I have a better job because of that support I was given when I was vulnerable.

3. Have there been barriers you have had to overcome to achieve what you are doing now and barriers in the present? If so, how did you do you overcome them?

The barriers I had in life at that difficult time were that I didn’t have any qualifications and I had a family to look after. However, because I did not just sit and cry, I managed to find a person who directed me to where their was the right opportunity and I also had the support of my sister, which gave me courage to go on. I don’t find any barriers now.

4. Are there any situations in your work that are made particularly difficult or in some cases easier because you are a woman?

I have not encountered any difficulties yet, but what helps my work is that most of the women in the communities where I work are single parents, so it gives me strength to help them change their standards of living. Because I have changed my life despite being a single mother, I know they can too, so they are encouraged and given hope.

5. What are some of the hardest moments you have experienced in what you do?

When I come across a single mother with many children who has no employment, who ends up sending children to do petty jobs to find something to eat, I find it hard as I cannot stop them immediately. At this stage they have to eat, and I cannot feed the family. It is a slow process, and especially hard if the mother refuses to take the education fund loan because she worries she will not manage it due to her many responsibilities.

I also find it hard when a child completes their education at the Early Childhood Development Centre and the parent can’t pay for their primary education, maybe because she has no job or because she is bed ridden. This is how the education loans will help.

6. What are some of the happiest/most inspiring moments you have experienced with what you do?

​The happiest moments are when I make follow-up visits and find a client who was depressed, that is now happy with her children. For instance when we identify a mother who has been abandoned by her husband, with all her children out of school and then through my work I can help to find her happiness, this tells me a positive story about her life.

7. What change would you like to bring through your work and for the people you work with?

I am looking forward to seeing empowered women who know their rights and can support their families, they will not be sitting back and crying all the time, thinking that they cannot do anything because they are women.

8. Can you describe any ways that the women and girls you work with have changed, or overcome obstacles in the time you have been working with them?

For the 15 years I have worked as a social worker, I have been talking to young girls especially young mothers, encouraging them not to think that giving birth is the end of everything. In those talks, I help them identify what they can learn (a skill) or do to earn a living, and also talk about how to be good mothers to their children. Through that, those who follow my words have gone into work like tailoring and hair dressing, all of which helps them to create an independent income and take care of their children.

Because sewing machines are expensive here in Uganda, I bought three machines which I lend to mothers who have completed their training and cannot afford a machine to use. The mother then buys the machine, by paying in instalments and I use the money to buy machines for other women.

I am also glad that Children on the Edge introduced the education fund scheme which helps mothers to start up businesses and gives training on small business management. This helps them provide for the basic needs of their families.

For battered women, I link them to different public offices which support women in need and train them on their rights.  I know they can stand up for their rights if they are properly empowered.

9. Are there situations where you have had to be brave or bold to bring about change? How do you overcome your fears?

I have to be bold when dealing with husbands who violate the rights of their wives and children, it is not easy to interfere in other people’s homes. I stand firm because I know that domestic violence and child neglect are crimes punishable by law. I do everything knowing I am protected by the different public sectors which protect women and children like the police child and family protection unit, probation and the social welfare office.

10. What would you say to encourage young or old women who would like to make a difference in the world?

​Women should know that they can do everything a man does to live a better life.  They should always offer support of any kind to fellow women who need their help, regardless of what their situation may be, because this co-operation brings hope and changes lives. 

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