I am Nabakooza Vero a widow with two daughters. I am determined to see my girls educated and blossom into young mature ladies. I got married off at eighteen and had my first daughter at nineteen, Two years later I had my second girl. My first girl was four years when I ran away from my late husband because of his polygamous nature. My daughters are currently in school, the first one in primary two and the last one in top class nursery school.

After his death I repossessed the three room house in the trading center. I could not have achieved this if I did not have the support of fellow widows from the village widows club. My first idea was rent off two rooms and survive on the rent fees. When I talked to my mother she was against the idea and asked me to start a restaurant.

My first six months were a nightmare with heavy losses. I began looking for customers and even reduced the price of different dishes. God gradually answered my prayers and I got a mini contract to supply food to a small road construction company. Middle of this year an estates developing company asked me to also supply them food.

The two bookings for outside catering have helped me buy the girl’s exercise books and clear the school fees. I pray that they will not close this year. I only hope that this month I can acquire more outside catering bookings and sell them to profit to pay the loan debt that he left in the village bank and save.

I hope that in a year I will have improved my restaurant and outside catering business expanding my client base and be able to purchase more plates, cutlery and saucepans . I also dreams of my children joining vocational institutions to acquire skills for self-reliance. The community especially the elderly ladies have been very helpful through their moral and social support to my children.

Although my father passed away last year, my mother has been very instrumental in assisting me bring up the children. As Vero recounts her agonizing experience in the hands of her husband, her words resonate with raw emotions of distress, bitterness and helplessness. I never loved him but he was the father of my children.

The uncertainty surrounding the future of my children bothers me so badly that it drives me to work harder by the day. The children’s constant demands on a day to day basis challenge me to find solutions. The ARVs from the health center have kept me alive and medication for the children at times that has allowed me to see my children grow. I pray that someday God answers my prayers of getting more capital to expand the restaurant.