March 8, 2025
Today, on International Women’s Day, the world celebrates women in boardrooms, in parliaments, and in science labs. We applaud them all. But here in Wakiso, the real power isn’t found in air-conditioned offices.
The real power is walking down a dusty path at 5:00 AM with a sack of vegetables on her head, heading to the market to secure her family’s future before the sun comes up.
For the past five years, Fecane Child Foundation has worked inside the intricate web of this community. We have realized a fundamental truth: if you want to know what is really happening in Wakiso, if you want to get anything done, and if you want to understand resilience in its purest form, you talk to the single mothers.
Redefining “Head of Household”
In many official statistics, these households are labeled “vulnerable.” In reality, they are powerhouses of efficiency and grit.
In Wakiso, due to various social and economic pressures, a significant percentage of households are led solely by women. These mothers are simultaneously the breadwinner, the caregiver, the accountant, the security guard, and the teacher.
They run micro-businesses—selling charcoal, tailoring clothes, frying cassava—with a business acumen that would rival any MBA graduate. They manage budgets where every single shilling is accounted for with mathematical precision because there is zero margin for error.
“They don’t just raise their own children; they hold up the sky for the entire neighborhood. When a crisis hits, it is the network of mothers that activates first.”
The “Shadow Cabinet” of the Community
While men often hold the formal titles of local leadership in the slum, the mothers form an incredibly effective informal infrastructure.
They run the “merry-go-rounds” (informal savings groups) that finance school fees when the banks won’t lend. They are the de facto dispute settlers when neighbors fight. They are the eyes on the street who know which child is skipping school or which elderly neighbor hasn’t eaten today.
When Fecane needed to distribute emergency soap in 2020, it was the mothers who organized the lines. When we needed to find the 100 best students for our Valentine’s kits last month, it was the mothers who vetted the list. They are the glue that keeps Wakiso from falling apart.
Partners, Not Victims
In 2025, as Fecane looks toward our ambitious “Vision 2030,” our relationship with these women has evolved.
Five years ago, we might have seen them primarily as people needing help. Today, we see them as our most vital strategic partners. We know that no program we design—be it a digital literacy lab or a football academy—will succeed without the endorsement and guidance of Wakiso’s mothers.
They are not passive beneficiaries waiting for aid. They are active agents of change who demand better for their children. They are the fire behind our work. We are simply providing the fuel.
These women are carrying the weight of the community on their shoulders. They deserve a safe space where they can put that weight down.
Our proposed Fecane Community Learning Center includes a dedicated wing for women’s economic empowerment and safe community gatherings. Help us build a space worthy of their strength. Donate to the “Women’s Wing” of Vision 2030
