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Jewelry
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Lifestyle
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Impact
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Sponsorship
Much of Lamunu Susan’s youth was spent rising before the sun and going to bed long after the moon had risen. At a young age, Susan was sent to live with her aunt and uncle. Her mother dutifully sent money so Susan could attend school. However, with children of her own, Susan’s aunt found alternative uses for the money. By primary seven, Susan found herself no longer a student, but a field hand. Her day would start at 4am, when her brother and she would rise to head to the fields to work. They’d work all day with nothing more to eat than the little they carried. She’d return home each evening as the sun was setting and begin the time-consuming task of preparing a meal. A bit like Cinderella, her younger cousins would go to school, while Susan labored, and would enjoy the meal she dutifully prepared each night for the family. She’d lay her head down to rest, and repeat the sequence the following day. Day after day.
When Susan was 19, and a young mother herself, her mother intervened and brought her to the Acholi Quarter. Susan’s new routine involved working in the stone quarry. Despite the arduous work, often with her infant baby on her back or beside her, Susan found it easier than her time working in the fields. In the quarry, she’d generally work for just four or five hours a day and when she returned home, she’d find a hot meal waiting for her.
Later, Susan found work in a coffee factory. Still easier than the long hours with the equatorial sun shining brightly on her back while she worked in the fields of Northern Uganda, the factory was a stressful environment. Often, she’d find herself the victim of a temperamental boss, who would shout and berate her. After just six months, Susan quit. Project Have Hope had just begun and the business of crafting beads was a welcome relief to the challenges of both the quarry and the factory. No longer did Susan need to travel by foot long distances in all types of weather to sort coffee beans, or crack rocks with a rudimentary hammer with her infant on her back. Now Susan could work from home with her daughter seated nearby and roll paper into beads. “It was simple work, easy work,” Susan carefreely recalls. Not only was the work easy, but she’d earn twice what she earned in the quarry. “It was a very great change for me.”
As PHH expanded, with a focus on helping women build careers and financial security beyond the craft of bead-making, Susan was among the first group of women PHH enrolled in a tailoring course. From the beginning, she was thrilled with the opportunity tailoring presented. “You can work from anywhere. You can expect money any day, any time,” Susan beams. “Your neighbors may need clothes sewn or new clothes made. If I return to the village, I can bring my tailoring machine and work from there and still earn a living. I can work anywhere,” she emphasizes.
Pursuing a course in tailoring would have been an impossibility without the financial support of PHH. Although challenges remain, Susan has gained both a skill and a confidence that helps her to navigate the future and the challenges that persist.
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Meet the women who keep Project Have Hope moving forward every day. From Mama Oyet’s steady leadership and Santina’s entrepreneurial drive to Jennifer’s rising confidence and ambition, each woman’s journey is a story of resilience, growth, and community. Together, they are not only building brighter futures for their own families — they are shaping opportunity and hope for the entire Acholi Quarter.
