Comments on: Project Diaspora Visits the Women of Kireka

By: Jacob

Jacob — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 10:45:24 +0000

I am happy to see that you have taken up the conditions of the people working at this quarry. First late me say how bad the land is being treated. Secondly the people who work in those quarries get so littel money that you may clasify them as slaves.

Did you know that the quarry is run by the royal family through THE UGANDAN PRINS HENRY KALEMERA LIVING IN AMERICA.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:09:02 +0000

Melissa:
Your points on the safety of the workers in the quarry are good ones, and we hope that some organization with resources greater than our own will take that on. Right now we are a very small enterprise and are very challenged with the goals that we have already established. Grace and the rest of the ladies chose tailoring training as a viable trade that would help them earn enough money to care for themselves and their families. We can make a small difference in the lives of these 15 women and their children and we feel that the task we have taken on is large (for us) but manageable. We are not equipped to tackle the safety issues at the quarry, but we are not the only group that is aware of their circumstance. So spread the word, we hope that something can be done and soon about the working conditions. In the mean time we are committed to getting this training program off the ground and the Women at Kireka want to be part of that process. If we can generate even a small extra income for them while we fundraise for training could mean more than we might believe. It means one less day a child had to work on the quarry and instead spend in school. It means medicine, or food or shoes. So although you are right it is a small, short-term solution that will not mean a life-long income… it is a step on the path to a better life. Like all things, it begins with the smallest of steps, followed by another and another until you get to your goal. What we can't do is take on more than we can deliver, make promises to these families that we have no skill or hope of accomplishing or just giving up because that task is to big. We can make a difference in this one small way and we hope that others will do the same.

By: tmsruge

tmsruge — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:23:50 +0000

Hi Melissa, I'll start by stating that I do agree with you on some of your points, but I will update my post on a few of your other points. To start, perhaps what I didn't (re)state clearly was the history of this Women of Kireka and how PD got involved, and what it is we are trying to accomplish. We started covering their story late last year: http://projectdiaspora.org/?s=kireka&x=0&...The original founder of this project Siena Anstis did a great job of outlining what the women wanted to do with the money we raise, http://nuwechi.wordpress.com/funding-goals/. True, if we help these 15 women train and do business as tailors—a far more sustainable, safer, and lucrative occupation than busting rocks—another 15 men, women, and children will replace them. At this point, we can only do one thing at a time. Once we accomplish our goal, then we will look into promoting safer working conditions perhaps for the quarry. The bracelets are a temporary fund-raising mechanism to help us raise $25,000 that will help pay for teachers, equipment and supplies required to train these women as tailors - something they said they wanted to do, instead of pounding stones. Fickle or not, if we make any money from selling those bracelets to train even one woman, then we've gone a long way... Trust me, these women would rather be tailors than pound stones 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. If you'd like to help us improve the conditions for those who will remain working at the quarry, we'd be happy to have you assist us. We are not saying our solution is the only solution, we are just saying that this is what we can accomplish within our skill-set at this time. Thanks for the input.

By: Melissa Goldstein

Melissa Goldstein — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:23:35 +0000

If the quarry serves a function in the local economy and produces materials with market value, and therefore any labourers who "make it out of the pit" will just be replaced by others (as you point out), wouldn't it make more sense to focus your efforts on improving working conditions at the quarry?

It seems to me that better equipment, protective clothing, etc. could do a lot to improve the quality of life for quarry workers in the long term. Bracelet-making for international markets doesn't strike me as sustainable an enterprise or as secure a skill-set as quarry work, given that profits and demand for bracelet-makers are subject to the fickle demands of the international marketplace.

Perhaps a combination of strategies would be most effective: improve working conditions while helping some move out of the quarry into other jobs.

I'm sure this is something you've already thought about, so I'd be interested in hearing about why you ended up choosing the bracelet-making approach.