Creator: Adrienne Shaw
Message from Uganda
Almost all older persons supported by ROTOM depended on subsistence peasant farming for their survival. With old age (average age of ROTOM supported seniors is currently 78 years), many of the seniors are sickly, weak and frail. 56% have visual impairments while 36% have physical disabilities. They are no longer able to participate in this manual and tedious farming. For those who are able to farm, they are still very limited in what they are able to produce. As a result, they either depend on ROTOM, a friend/family members with jobs in the city and neighbours.
ROTOM is currently providing monthly groceries to 242 (28%) of the 858 seniors currently under her care. Senior Veronica Buyinza (82 years) is just one of the many seniors receiving this monthly food support from ROTOM. Thanks to friends like you, one thing she doesn’t have to worry about anymore is having enough food to feed her grandchildren.
For the past 5 years, Veronica and her 6 grandchildren have been receiving a monthly food package from ROTOM to supplement the little food they grow around their home. Now more than ever, Veronica is so grateful for this support because many households are unable to put food on the table because of the increasing prices of foodstuffs.
Relief and gratitude overwhelm senior Veronica as she says,
“I have received food from ROTOM every month for a very long time now. It always comes in the same quantity and they have never missed a month. The food has helped me a lot because I am now very weak and sickly. I can no longer till the land like I used to. Also, I have a very small plot of land and the food it produces is not even enough to last my grandchildren and me through one month. Sometimes, we have no harvest because of the bad weather and pests which destroy the crops. The increasing prices of foodstuffs these days has worsened the situation for many older people like me. We cannot afford to buy anything now with the little money we may have.
I love the silverfish very much because it’s very nutritious. It produces a good aroma and makes a delicious soup for my grandchildren and me. It also doesn’t require a lot of firewood to cook which is a blessing since firewood is also very hard to find these days”.
Friends, we thank YOU, for all the small and big ways you help ROTOM to feed different older persons’ households every month. Because of the different ways you give to ROTOM, we are able to celebrate many older persons and children getting back on their feet because they are not hungry anymore.