Meet Jennifer Dengo

Jennifer Dengo is a grandmother and caregiver in Aboke, northern Uganda. She is also a volunteer in her community, providing home-based care and peer support to other caregivers and families coping with HIV&AIDS.

After raising her own children and seeing them become parents, Jenifer once imagined spending her older years enjoying time with family and relying on her adult children for economic support. However, instead of enjoying her retirement, Jennifer has had to mourn the passing of her children and finds herself the sole breadwinner for grandchildren who have been orphaned by AIDS.

Seeking support in her role as caregiver to orphans, Jennifer joined the Aboke HIV&AIDS Women's Association (AHWA). She quickly took on a leadership role serving as Treasurer for the organization.

The first support that Jennifer received through CAP/AIDS' partnership with AHWA was a bicycle. This small input immediately improved her daily life. It allowed her make the most of her volunteer time to reach more of her neighbours with home-based care and counselling. Her increased mobility also made it easier for her to engage in agriculture and income generation projects.

Then, in the Spring of 2011, Jennifer started participating in income generating activities with support from AHWA and CAP/AIDS. First, she was provided with training and improved seeds to improve the productivity of her small plot of land. She is now intercropping* maize and soy beans which has greatly improved the income she earns from farming.  Jennifer also received two pigs (one male, one female) so that she can breed piglets to sell in the local market and supplement her farming income.

Finally, Jennifer is also part of a cooperative group of Aboke caregivers who have received two pairs of oxen to help them in ploughing their fields, thus allowing them to farm larger plots. When not using the oxen themselves, Jennifer and the others are renting the oxen to other farmers in the area. The earnings they receive are being saved collectively to be loaned out to group members in case of emergencies or shocks to their incomes.

Jennifer is incredibly proud of being able to provide for her family through the fruits of her own labour. She also says she rests easier now, knowing that should anything happen to her crops she will be able to borrow enough to keep food on the table and to keep her grandchildren in school!