{"id":367,"date":"2015-03-27T05:08:59","date_gmt":"2015-03-27T05:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asdhostingservices.com\/awdf-2\/?p=367"},"modified":"2015-11-25T01:08:33","modified_gmt":"2015-11-25T01:08:33","slug":"the-story-of-aujo-grace-esunget-from-voiceless-to-aspiring-politician","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awdf.org\/OldSite\/the-story-of-aujo-grace-esunget-from-voiceless-to-aspiring-politician\/","title":{"rendered":"Grantee highlight: The story of Aujo Grace Esunget"},"content":{"rendered":"

From meek housewife to aspiring member of parliament Aujo Grace Esunget\u2019s\u00a0story is a true inspiration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Esunget is the General Secretary of Soroti Women Entrepreneurs Association\u00a0(SWEAR), in Uganda. She is an AWDF grantee partner and holds the position of\u00a0the District Representative for Women in the Serere district. She describes her\u00a0journey to attaining these positions as something of a miracle given that she has\u00a0struggled with public speaking for most of her life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Due to her extreme shyness, when she got married, she initially opted to be a\u00a0housewife. This made her solely dependent on her husband for everything.\u00a0However, in 2003, she joined a group of forty-two women from SWEAR, an\u00a0association aimed at empowering women. With the encouragement of her\u00a0husband, she participated in a number of training sessions organized by SWEAR.\u00a0It was at one of these training sessions that she realized that she also had the\u00a0potential to do something for herself.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a member of SWEAR she made weekly contributions of 500 Ugandan shilling\u00a0($0.2) thus gaining the privilege to borrow 50,000 Ugandan Shilling ($20) from\u00a0the association in order to set up a small eatery. Starting the business with no\u00a0means other than the financial support she received through the loan and a\u00a0couple of dishes from around her home, she was able to make an incredible deal\u00a0of progress and gain significant exposure within a matter of three months.<\/span><\/p>\n

With this exposure, Grace acquired an interest to further her education. Despite\u00a0only having an O level certificate, she applied and got admitted to do a diploma\u00a0course in project planning and management, which she completed in 2001. She\u00a0was able to help finance her education through the income she made from her\u00a0eatery and upon completion of her diploma course, she was offered a job at the\u00a0Church of Uganda Development Project as the assistant project coordinator.<\/span><\/p>\n

From there her career took off. When the Serere district was created, she\u00a0grabbed the opportunity to stand for the position of district representative for\u00a0women. She competed for this position with three other women and won 70\u00a0percent of the votes. She was sworn into her position in 2011, and will hold the\u00a0position until 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

With her new office, she advocates for the rights of women in her district,\u00a0ensuring that activities that will enable them have a better life. She still runs her\u00a0eatery. She has employed six people at the centre and with the income from the\u00a0eatery, she is putting up a building a guest house in the district.<\/span><\/p>\n

With her commitment to her new position, members of her community are\u00a0encouraging her to contest for the Member of Parliament position in the 2016\u00a0elections.<\/span><\/p>\n

Join us in supporting work like this by making a contribution to AWDF today!\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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