Just scribblin' and jottin' some lines. : The Ballin' Esther Madudu

By the time Esther Madudu was my age, 20 and 1/2, she had been married for six years, lost a sister, lost a mother, and had three children. I'm lucky enough to have all my siblings, parents, and even grandparents. AND last time I checked I didn't have any children. Esther was married at age 14 to Sam Madudu. Within a few years of the marriage she would often be awoken in the middle of the night to her husband barging in their hut completely drunk. He would quickly lose control and beat her with his fists or anything he could get his hands on. Ester has multiple scars on her face from the beatings of her husband. At age 26 she packed up her few belongings and two of her four children and moved to Namatala to escape the physical beatings of her husband. After the move, life as a single mother in a new village wasn’t easy. In fact, it was much harder than the life she had in Kachumbala. Over the years, life has slowly gotten better. She is currently the sole provider to her three children she lives with (third child was left on her door, yeah, like Moses) as well as sends money to support her two children in Kachumbala. Elizabeth is blessed to have a sister living next door that is willing to watch her children and even share food if Esther is desperate. Esther is now 32 and performs a wide range of work to support her children. She will often spend her days farming locally to earn 1,000 shillings per day, which is the equivalent of $.40. She has learned to make paper beads and is grateful when she has the opportunity to sell them. Esther is first to admit that her life is very difficult, but she’s also first to have an ear to ear smile smacked on her face.

I don’t want you all to get this depressing impression of Esther, because she is what I like to call BALLIN’. Many of the women we work with refer to her as a “motor mouth” or a “talking machine”. They are right; the woman doesn’t shut up for anything. She will talk your ear off and her sarcasm puts mine to shame, which is probably why I love her so dearly. She also gives me great advice like, “Men are all useless.” And, “Eat more you need to get fat.” So yeah, she makes me feel really good about myself.

P.S. Not to make this one big, fat sales pitch. But if you’d like to support Esther you can buy her necklace at 1000shillings.com or wait until our new line comes out in September. Thanks guys.