14 February 2011
After spending a few minutes in her living room, you can’t help but wish you lived in her home. Momma Esther Nalubowa, 54, has a contagious smile and liveliness that just melts any heart. Little wonder that her children can’t wait to get back home at the end of a long day at school. She has been a Watoto mom since 2008 and lives in House No.79 at Bbira Children’s Village. Her passion for life and what she does says so much about how grateful she is to God for what and where she is right now.
Esther’s average day begins at 6:00am when she gets up and wakes her eight children for morning devotions. Devotions lasts for thirty minutes every morning. Thereafter, she lights the charcoal stove to get breakfast ready for the children before they leave for school. Breakfast usually consists of porridge or black tea with bread and boiled eggs occasionally.
By 7:00am, the six older children walk to school, leaving her with the two little ones, Sarah and Angel, both 3 years old. She showers them, dresses them and walks them to nursery school at 7:30am. In order to get the kids ready and early enough for school in the morning, they all do their share of the house chores (according to the house rota) at night before going to bed.
After dropping off the young ones, she walks back home to start preparing lunch, just enough for her and the little ones because the rest of her children have lunch at school.
As lunch is cooking, she attends to other chores like the laundry, breakfast dishes, cleaning the bathroom, bedrooms and the compound. Every Tuesday and Friday, Esther is responsible for distributing bread to the houses in her circle, so she goes to the village store with other mothers to pick the bread and she does the distribution per house.
At 12:20pm, Esther makes another trip to school to pick up Sarah and Angel, who finish their school day at 12:30pm. They walk back hand-in-hand as the little girls elatedly sing the new songs they learnt at school. At 1:00pm, they have lunch together, which usually consists of rice, matooke, posho and beans. She then puts Angel and Sarah to bed for an afternoon nap, while she also takes a break.
At 3:30pm, Esther starts preparing the evening tea. She cooks porridge, milk and hot water and she stores these in separate flasks so that her children can choose their favourite. “I always look forward to spending time with my children in the evening after school. It’s time well spent as I get to catch up with them, talk to them about their day's activities and anything else going on in their lives,” she says..gif)
At 6:00pm, the oldest child in Primary 7 goes back to school for night prep. This takes place from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. His food is kept aside for his return. "Sometimes the children prefer to cook dinner themselves which gives me time off. On Sundays, however, I do the cooking because I like to prepare special meals for my children,” she beams. Dinner is a highly anticipated time for every member of the family. And thereafter, they all gather for evening devotions before going to beds. Esther uses this time to teach her children how to pray as well as some insights on everyday living.
Esther is very happy and content with the peace of mind she experiences at Watoto, knowing that her needs are well met unlike before when she didn’t know where the next meal was coming from. “I always thank God for sending Watoto to rescue me from my previous life,” she says.
By the close of 2010, there were 305 mothers providing basic care to over 2,000 children in the three Watoto children's villages. Like all mothers around the world, Watoto moms are some of the key shapers of values, attitudes and skills that remain with the children throughout their lives. And just like the children, Watoto mothers also require monthly sponsorship. By sponsoring a Watoto mom, you are helping to raise the next generation of Africa's leaders. For more information about Watoto sponsorship, go to www.watoto.com/sponsorship
