Meet the young lady who recently spearheaded the #LendAhandUg campaign online alongside renowned female influencers Fiona Kemi and Faith Mulungi. Her newly found purpose is to tell stories that create both social and behavioural change. Well, not always, sometimes the stories are for sheer entertainment.
She is a graduate of Public Administration and Management but she has also charted her path in the multi-media industry where she now stands as a Script-writer, Voice-over artist, Video Producer and Editor.
Naturinda is into vlogging on YouTube and podcasting as well, to further enhance her story-telling zeal and share her conversations with the world.
“The first time I knew that this was my calling was way back in 2018 when I decided to tell a story about the plight of People with Albinism (PWAs).”, she explains.
Armed with information from her friend, Phyllis (a PWA), they together with some friends and well-wishers, started creating awareness about PWAs while calling for communities to educate themselves about the Albinism condition.
“I believe that it is only when you truly understand something, that you can fully make informed decisions about it.”, she adds.
What inspired the Lend a hand UG campaign?
The #LendAHandUg campaign was a 3-day fundraising campaign that I initiated alongside two other phenomenal women; Fiona Kemi and Faith Mulungi, without whose support, I’d never would have accomplished much or even caused the change at all. Kemi and Mulungi used their platforms on Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp to ask people to fundraise towards this cause. Using a small Twitter DM group, we set a target of UGX500,000 but in 2 days, we had hit UGX800,000.
A simple conversation that started with me sharing a devastating photo of someone’s flooded house in Ggaba, transitioned into a successful initiative that saw at least 4 families receive basic needs like food, soap, clothing and sanitary towels. In short, great things happen when women come together!
Two weeks ago, I got an opportunity to go film and produce a documentary story in Ggaba for a client. While there, I interacted with some people who had been greatly affected by the rising water levels of Lake Victoria. For context, Lake Victoria’s water levels started rising from 2019 to late 2020, a phenomenon attributed to the impact of climate change.
When this happened, families that reside(d) and operated businesses near Ggaba landing site were immensely affected. Their houses and kiosks were flooded, leaving all the contents and inhabitants of the houses drenched. The floods were so disastrous that families had to flee in the middle of the night in fear of little children drowning in their sleep. Fishermen became stuck as there was a shortage of fish due to the flooding. But also, the fishermen could no longer risk their lives to go casting their nets in the middle of the night on a terrifying lake that they once called home. Food and market vendors deserted their stalls and kiosks, leaving them without a source of income.
What used to be a sound market or business hub is now a dilapidated ruin left with a horrendous amount of garbage collected by water from, literally, everywhere. The place is now a breeding ground for bilharzia, cholera and is conducive for fish to spawn.
On mobilizing funds and the reception of this campaign by the public?
Huh!… This would be the third time I am publicly mobilizing funds towards a cause. Each time, the reception has been mind-blowing.
This time though, I might have shed a tear or two, knowing that even with the impact of the pandemic on everyone, people still selflessly jumped onto this campaign to support strangers. That was a kindness I’d never witnessed. The fact that there had been more campaigns where people had parted with a lot of money but still supported this cause, left me with a deeper appreciation for humanity. To put it into context, we set a target of raising UGX500,000 in a week and raised UGX800,000 in 3 days.
Is this a campaign you hope to continue doing? If so, how?
Mulungi, Kemi and I discussed this and decided that with time, we shall look at how we can contribute to the livelihoods of some families down in Ggaba in terms of sustainability. So, yes, as of now, the plan is to continue with it. But also, after lockdown, I intend to go back to this area to deliver more items like sanitary towels, clothing and beddings as I identified a few more families.
Any partners?
None at the moment but there’s a prospective partner who says she is willing to make a trip to the Ggaba landing site, post-lockdown to see how her organization can continue offering help.
What challenges did you face executing this campaign?
I honestly can’t spot any especially because we did everything together with the general public from inception to fruition.
The only hindrance would be the fact we would like to see a world where the victims/survivors of the floods get back on their feet but we still don’t know-how. How much more can the public keep contributing their money for the same cause? If anyone has an idea of how we can find a solution, we’ll be happy to hear it.
What kind of impact did this campaign create?
It still wells my eyes remembering how relieved and grateful the beneficiaries were the day I made the deliveries. I was showered with praise and near-hugs that I constantly had to avoid because of Covid-19 haha. But, it’s not the praise for me. It’s the knowledge that the families now have some sort of buffer for the next 2 months as they figure life out. On a personal level, my heart is forever grateful to every human being who supported in all forms.
