To celebrate International Women's Day and equality for women across the world I interviewed the CEO of the Children and Women's Trust and a great champion of peace in Gulu Ms Doris Allimadi. Dee has campaigned tirelessly for the children and Women of Gulu to have the basic things that we all take for granted. Here she talks to me about her drive and challenges she faces on a daily basis.
Your background, who is Doris, where do you come from?
How did The Children and Women’s Trust come about? What’s the background?
The Children and Women’s Trust was established in 2006 as a result of lack of certain key services in our then local geographical area of operation. I lived in a residential area and when I had my second daughter Alyssa, I discovered that there were no parent and toddler groups in the immediate vicinity and parents had to travel to nearby areas with their children to access these services. Bearing in mind that, although the distance was not great, because they were out of borough they would be charged more than those resident in those boroughs. I then formulated a plan to have the service on our doorstep.
I approached a local church first of all to enquire whether I could have the use of their hall. To my delight, they were more than happy for me to use it and free of charge too because I would be providing a community service.
I next approached the local council who were more than happy to fund the project after reading my proposal.
I printed out flyers and distributed them in our locality letting parents know that we would now have our own parent and toddler group. The group expectedly took off, we were later able to incorporate exercise for toddlers and healthy eating and healthy lifestyle workshops. In mid 2006,The Children and Women’s Trust was registered with the Charity Commission 1126296. We continued to raise money by putting on concerts as we do now.
How does it speak to women especially as we approach International Women’s Day?
Women
have come a very long way from the days when society believed we should just be
child bearing machines chained to a kitchen sink. Attitudes have changed. We are now looked upon as contributing
members of society and indeed we occupy a variety of positions of power. Women are now actively involved in politics
at the highest
level, we are CEOs, we are entrepreneurs, we are principals of higher education
institutions, we can be whatever we want to be.
Let me make one thing crystal clear, there is nothing wrong with being a
stay at home mother if that is what a woman wants to be, as long as it is not
what society dictates. In this era of educational, industrial and economic
development, we have choices.
I am a woman, a founding member and Project Coordinator of The Children and Women’s Trust. If I can do it, any woman can. It takes self-belief, determination and hard work.
What drives your support for Gulu?
I have very fond memories of Gulu as a young girl. My family and I always took a 2 week vacation there during Christmas in the mid to late 80s. We lived in Kampala at the time, the capital city, due to my father’s job.
In 2013 I took my daughter Alyssa to Gulu. It was her second visit. The first time she visited she was too young to enjoy it. This time, she was 8 years old. I remember on one occasion we were in Gulu town and she was eating something when she saw a hungry street kid. She wanted to give her food away. I then pointed to several others, asking her who would then feed the others. She couldn’t feed them all. She was distraught. I had never seen such heartbreak on my child before. I vowed to do something about it when I returned to the United Kingdom. This was my hometown. These were my children. They needed feeding. They needed clothing.
In December 2014 I organised a sell-out concert in Hammersmith, London attended by Illamadi, Bwoy Wonder, Nyino Mugisha, Hyper Hype, Sasha-Davina, all UK artists of Ugandan extraction and international superstar, humanitarian and peace activist Jean Paul Samputu, who is has recently released a new album, One Love.
The event was covered by Eyecon and renowned photographer Peter Hogan, their article ‘s caption was, I still clearly remember it, ‘major African stars fundraise for Ugandan orphanage’.
What drives my support for Gulu, is the hopelessness and desperation of the people of Gulu, marginalised for the last 30 years. I don’t believe in waiting for a government to fulfil a duty it has miserably failed. Sometimes it takes an individual to step in and do their little bit. My belief is that if we pour some resources into orphanages, then perhaps these orphanages will be able to take in street kids and care for them.
For the past couple of years, we have been supporting ‘The Future is Now Uganda’ and our aim is to reach as many orphanages as we can in Gulu first and then the rest of the North of Uganda which is where the work is needed.
What are some challenges, as well as proud achievements, you have faced as so far?
What do you attribute to women leading the growth of Africa?
What are your thoughts on FGM?
How do we get young girls involved in and keep them involved in matters of Africa?
Through education, by teaching them about Africa, the many countries in Africa, heritage and rich cultures. By showing them the beautiful Africa that they rarely get to see. Africa offers more than despots, chaos and corruption.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?
Tickets to the CWT Charity event
Date: 12th March
Venue: The Curzon Club, 362 Oxford Road, Reading RG30 1AQ.
Your background, who is Doris, where do you come from?
I am a mother, author, poet, and
humanitarian. I have published two
books, ‘Mother Duck’, a children’s story book and ‘Secrets of my heart’, which
is a collection of love poems. I am
currently working on a novel, ‘impossible relationships’ and ‘Abducted’, a true
story.
I come from Gulu, which is in the North of
Uganda but live in the United Kingdom. 
How did The Children and Women’s Trust come about? What’s the background?
The Children and Women’s Trust was established in 2006 as a result of lack of certain key services in our then local geographical area of operation. I lived in a residential area and when I had my second daughter Alyssa, I discovered that there were no parent and toddler groups in the immediate vicinity and parents had to travel to nearby areas with their children to access these services. Bearing in mind that, although the distance was not great, because they were out of borough they would be charged more than those resident in those boroughs. I then formulated a plan to have the service on our doorstep.
I approached a local church first of all to enquire whether I could have the use of their hall. To my delight, they were more than happy for me to use it and free of charge too because I would be providing a community service.
I next approached the local council who were more than happy to fund the project after reading my proposal.
I printed out flyers and distributed them in our locality letting parents know that we would now have our own parent and toddler group. The group expectedly took off, we were later able to incorporate exercise for toddlers and healthy eating and healthy lifestyle workshops. In mid 2006,The Children and Women’s Trust was registered with the Charity Commission 1126296. We continued to raise money by putting on concerts as we do now.
How does it speak to women especially as we approach International Women’s Day?
Women
have come a very long way from the days when society believed we should just be
child bearing machines chained to a kitchen sink. Attitudes have changed. We are now looked upon as contributing
members of society and indeed we occupy a variety of positions of power. Women are now actively involved in politics
at the highest
level, we are CEOs, we are entrepreneurs, we are principals of higher education
institutions, we can be whatever we want to be.
Let me make one thing crystal clear, there is nothing wrong with being a
stay at home mother if that is what a woman wants to be, as long as it is not
what society dictates. In this era of educational, industrial and economic
development, we have choices.I am a woman, a founding member and Project Coordinator of The Children and Women’s Trust. If I can do it, any woman can. It takes self-belief, determination and hard work.
What drives your support for Gulu?
I have very fond memories of Gulu as a young girl. My family and I always took a 2 week vacation there during Christmas in the mid to late 80s. We lived in Kampala at the time, the capital city, due to my father’s job.
In 2013 I took my daughter Alyssa to Gulu. It was her second visit. The first time she visited she was too young to enjoy it. This time, she was 8 years old. I remember on one occasion we were in Gulu town and she was eating something when she saw a hungry street kid. She wanted to give her food away. I then pointed to several others, asking her who would then feed the others. She couldn’t feed them all. She was distraught. I had never seen such heartbreak on my child before. I vowed to do something about it when I returned to the United Kingdom. This was my hometown. These were my children. They needed feeding. They needed clothing.
In December 2014 I organised a sell-out concert in Hammersmith, London attended by Illamadi, Bwoy Wonder, Nyino Mugisha, Hyper Hype, Sasha-Davina, all UK artists of Ugandan extraction and international superstar, humanitarian and peace activist Jean Paul Samputu, who is has recently released a new album, One Love.
The event was covered by Eyecon and renowned photographer Peter Hogan, their article ‘s caption was, I still clearly remember it, ‘major African stars fundraise for Ugandan orphanage’.
What drives my support for Gulu, is the hopelessness and desperation of the people of Gulu, marginalised for the last 30 years. I don’t believe in waiting for a government to fulfil a duty it has miserably failed. Sometimes it takes an individual to step in and do their little bit. My belief is that if we pour some resources into orphanages, then perhaps these orphanages will be able to take in street kids and care for them.
For the past couple of years, we have been supporting ‘The Future is Now Uganda’ and our aim is to reach as many orphanages as we can in Gulu first and then the rest of the North of Uganda which is where the work is needed.
What are some challenges, as well as proud achievements, you have faced as so far?
Challenges? I would say money to accomplish our projects
and also building public trust but I believe I and The Children and Women’s
Trust have proved ourselves. We have
provided pictures of the orphanage before we got involved and development
to-date which is nothing short of amazing.
Last month we managed to acquire 10 bikes from bikes4life, an
organisation based in Australia.
There are so many things that we are
proud of and this year, we have teamed up with Berkshire Women’s Aid, an
organisation that supports women escaping domestic violence/abusive relationships. We aim to raise funds to contribute to the
very worthy and necessary job of BWA.
What do you attribute to women leading the growth of Africa?
Not only education, self-belief,
determination and hard work but also changing societal attitudes. It is now imperative for women to hold
positions of power. We also have
exemplary role models, to name but a few Ms Winnie Byanyima who is head of
Oxfam, Ms Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia, author Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie and fearless journalists like Bahati Remmy.
What are your thoughts on FGM?
I am obviously not an expert on the
practice but going by what I have read on the practice, it is nothing but a
horrific and barbaric practice that should be banned in every country
immediately. I am cringing as I
write. Imagining the pain and shock that
the victims have to endure.
How do we get young girls involved in and keep them involved in matters of Africa?
Through education, by teaching them about Africa, the many countries in Africa, heritage and rich cultures. By showing them the beautiful Africa that they rarely get to see. Africa offers more than despots, chaos and corruption.
By mentoring and empowering them and
introducing them to the brilliant African role models.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?
Not to let anyone ever tell me that I
couldn’t because I can.
Tickets to the CWT Charity event
https://shoobs.com/events/10822/international-women-s-day#.Vqk4j3yPRfs.twitter
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