Matilda's Story: 5 years on
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Matilda became a Habitat homeowner 5 years ago. Here she tells her success story
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Here she shares how her life has changed and the difference her Habitat home has made. Matilda tells of the peace she experienced knowing no one would come knocking at her door asking for the monthly rent …
"I was out of someone's house and now had my own home. This enabled me to focus on other things, like paying my children's school fees, food for my family and of course my monthly mortgage payments. The loan repayment period of 10 years was lenient but even then with the challenge of feeding 10 hungry mouths it took us 8 years to pay off the house.
"Together with other homeowners in the area, we have formed a homeowner's association that buys goats. We raised funds and purchased a goat for one of the members and after the goat littered, he passed on part of the litter to the next homeowners and sold off the rest. When it came to my turn, I merged some of the money with profits from the sale of kitchenware and was able to purchase some poultry. My poultry-keeping business grew and I started a small piggery. When I finally paid off my house, I extended it … something I had always longed to do."
Matilda has added 3 extra blocks with 3 rooms each to her house as well as a shelter for the piggery and the chicken house. Her home has been sealed off with a fence and she has two small gardens – one for vegetables and another full of beautiful flowers. She has also been able to pay for water installation so the family has a tap in the compound that saves them the trouble of traveling long distances for water. She proudly tells of her children's progress at school – two are now at university.
Matilda sums up the secret of her success and what she learnt from being an HFH Uganda homepartner … "With hard work and determination, anyone can achieve their dreams. From HFH Uganda, I have learnt the importance of saving and good record keeping of all transactions. This has enabled me to succeed both with my income-generating activities and running my home."
Find out more about Habitat for Humanity's work in Uganda
