Namutebi Kadijah a resident at Luvule Village in Masaka district, a few miles from Lake Namugambo, a small lake adjacent to Lake Victoria, one of Africa's Great Lakes.
She has collected plastic now for over a year and half, and was inspired by the success of her friend, Hadijah, who is a local business owner and also collects plastic to earn an income.
Prior to collecting plastic, Kadijah, who is a mother of six children and a grandmother four grandchildren, often struggled to put food on the table. However, she turned this challenge into a positive, using it as motivation to change her situation, so started collecting plastic.
Gradually, she gathered her first 500kg of plastic, storing it in her back garden behind her house. Once she felt she have collected a sufficient amount, she contacted Eco Brixs who purchased the plastic and provided her with training about the different types of plastic she could collect.
Knowing Eco Brixs would pay her again as soon as she gathered more plastic, as the organisation pays as soon as the plastic is weighed and collected, she was inspired to keep gathering more and more plastic. Before she knew it, she had her own 'plastic collecting business' that feeds into Eco Brixs.
Kadijah has now helped to clean up tonnes of plastic over the past 18 months. Reflecting on her time collecting plastic, she said:
“I am proud of working with Eco brixs because it pays me so well and on time. Plastic waste collection earnings have catered for me and my 6 children and 4 grandchildren. Food on the table is no longer a problem and we eat three meals a day (breakfast, lunch and supper).
I am also able to support my grandchildren as they head back to school, providing them with enough pocket money and shopping for school supplies.”
Kadijah urges people in her community to avoid admiring things but instead work hard in order to achieve them. Like her, one way they can do this is through plastic collection.
For women in particular, especially those with no jobs, to join this plastic collection movement and live a better life just like her, so they can be financially independent and support their families.
She now looks forward to collecting more plastic waste in order to meet her a dream of buying a big home for her and her family.