The Women Like Us Centre would like to introduce you to Agnes Sagimo. She is a 54 year old wife and mother of 5 children.
Unfortunately, many of the women that come to the centre have suffered physical and mental abuse. Fortunately, this is not the the case for Agnes. However, even though she has not been a victim of abuse, she has suffered extreme poverty. This is the reason she came to the centre at 51 years old.
Agnes grew up in the slums and was married at age 15. To us in the western world, this seems like a very young age – which it is, but very common in the slums of Africa.
She became a house wife, but always had dreams of going to school and becoming a fashion designer. Since the Women Like Us Centre offers the opportunity to learn to sew along with learning other skills, Agnes decided to become an active member.
Not only is she a member, but also a brand ambassador and facilitator for various support groups. These support groups include Teen Talk. This group concentrates on peer pressure, early pregnancy and substance abuse. Another support group is Health Talk. Health Talk’s focus is on family planning, FGM (female genital mutilation) and GBV (gender based violence).
Her goals are to raise more chickens to sell their eggs; have her own sewing machine and have a shop to sell material. Through the centre’s table banking – a micro-enterprise for learning how to run a business, she hopes to buy a sewing machine by the end of the year.
She and her husband are still together. Agnes describes him as a very supportive husband. He is a pastor at a local church, and also makes chairs which he sells.