Today we’d like to introduce you to Emmy Emmilia Kateme Joroh

Hi Emmy EMMILIA, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.

MARLVIA She Global Initiative as a not-for-profit organisation (N.G.O) was founded in 2023 by 3 siblings; Victor NAMUTWE Joroh, Juliana NALUWU & me, Emmy KATEME . However it started as a Community Based Organization (CBO)as an appreciative & creating a legacy to young mothers & single mothers since I was brought up in a female based homestead who played a vital role in my upbringing plus my siblings singlehandedly (my maternal grandmother & mother respectively ( the late Mary NASSOLO Kamugwa & Sylvia NANTUWA) hence the name MARLVIA a combination of their names MARY & SYLVIA and SHE GLOBAL is a recognition to all single mothers, vulnerable women who work tirelessly to cater for their families globally, to bring up and raise, educate, discipline the next generation of children regardless of the hustles & hurdles they pass through.

In relation, Nusula NASSOZI & the late Margaret NAMAGULU, as single mothers too were also an inspiration in this, She Global Initiative as they engaged in safe, dignified employment to rebuild their lives and those of their children singlehandedly by doing all sorts of odd jobs hence widening doors to accept employment from varying backgrounds of vulnerability and exploitation.

The inspiration started during the 2020 COVID 19 epidemic when all people were under a global lockdown for approximately a full year & could hardly afford a meal for themselves & their families as they lived on government support & from a few individuals who could reach out, which was a wake-up call for us to advocate & reach out to many vulnerable people in the community I lived in that we sought for help because people were out of employment, were starving yet as humans it’s a fundamental right to live in a happy healthy & safe environment.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

No, it hasn’t been a smooth road. The struggles as an organization we faced are financial constraints of setting up the organization from the very start.

Most people I tried to approach…making inquiries about how an N.G.O can be run weren’t ready to open up & others were giving very little information about how smooth an organization can be run for it to be successful & recognisable.

Poor coordination strategies with the communities we intended to serve. Many of the local leaders in these areas see N.G.Os as politically affiliated/motivated organizations, who have proven to have selfish goals towards their communities and therefore disrupting community peace and prosperity for all.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

MARLVIA She Global Initiative (MSGI) is an indigenous non-profit organisation whose main objective is to carry out activities in the field of reaching out to vulnerable groups, providing basic needs to vulnerable children, promoting easy accessibility and visibility for developing talents, establishing empowerment projects, education and promoting of livelihoods among the deprived plus advocating and strengthening legal framework programs for the girl-child protection. We are a legally registered organisation and licenced to operate in Kamuli district located in eastern Uganda and other parts of Uganda.

What makes me proud is the fact we have created a positive impact in the communities that we have reached out to since for example in schools as we have endeavoured to mentor & sensitize of the girl child about menstrual hygiene, what they have to do so that they don’t skip school regardless of the menstrual period, how to use menstrual towels since many of the teenage girls come from impoverished families which can’t afford buying them sanitary towels on a monthly basis.

Uganda is having a high unemployment rate especially amongst the youth, As a charity organisation, we have tried to reach out to the youth (both boys & girls) in mentoring them on life-skilling activities for instance; how to make craft shoes which skills can be taught to other people plus creating jobs for themselves than being idol & redundant in the society which would lead to increased crime rates.

Many youths have been mentored on how to start up small-scale businesses like brick laying within their homestead since it doesn’t require a lot of capital. With this venture, many people in Kamuli district are diverting from living in mud & grass thatched houses to modern day architectural houses hence creating job opportunities for brick layers within the community.

With the instant reach out to communities, many people have embraced the idea of education. parents and guardians of school going children have been mentored on how important education is. Many parents often complain of not having funds to take their children to school & preferred that they stay at home & help them on their farms, in their sugarcane shambas, and many others remain in the fields chasing birds from rice estates yet paid a little wage or nothing at all.

These people’s mindsets have positively changed to the best ever since our mentoring & sensitization on how important education is and can be.

Having reached out to different priority groups like the disabled people in Kamuli district, many of these vulnerable people have changed their mindset that being disabled isn’t inability or a curse as many of these people were resorting to witch-doctors & sorcery to seek solutions & healing. However, with this mentorship & sensitization, many have resorted to seek medical advice & consultation from registered & recognized health facilities within their communities.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?

NETWORKING being an exchange of ideas & information among people with a common interest has paved a way for inter-dependence on one another and donors plus the communities we serve because before doing a project, the respective government institutions have to be informed like the District Local Government, police, local councils of the area where we are supposed to operate so that we don’t seem like we are operating illegally.

Networking is vital in an organization setup because it acts as a passive advertisement as we have endeavoured to share the organization mission & goals with different people, shareholders & organizations with whom we share the same interests.

Networking has enabled me in meeting new people; it has enhanced maintaining existing relationships thus staying in touch with contacts, sharing updates on the different projects and offering support where necessary.

With MARLVIA She Global Initiative (MSGI), as an organisation, networking has played a vital role in mobilizing resources because sometimes when a project is ongoing, we tend to run out of funds but because of our mutual trust from different stakeholders, they give us goods on credit & pay after getting funds.

All in all, perfectionism does not advance anything. As a charity convenor and humanitarian, there is no wrong way to go about the future of one’s initiative or drive. The only failure is not to try. At the end of the day, it is the refinement of that work, which will define who one is. Most importantly, one must have mentors (dead or alive). One has to connect to a body of work or someone who formulated a thought and aesthetic and then build one’s own upon that/based off that. What most people don’t tell us is that the people we look up to did not invent these things or ideas themselves – everyone has this sort of brain programming that once you learn the thought process, you can actually see yourself in that idea or see yourself doing that thing and then just add to it!

For anyone out there, on their journey to life’s opportunities and offers, “You need to forge your own paths. And perhaps you’ll do that after reading this interview… In any case, you shouldn’t have any limits put on yourself”. I continue to be very inspired by my predecessors, but no one tells me which direction I should take. You need to go with the flow and see what happens. Being an optimist is what gets me out of bed every day. I see a future that is better than our past. Whether it’s in terms of creativity, artistic integrity, or mentorship, social responsibility and humanitarian works or people’s way of life, keenness and humanness in general regardless of the media that take us towards a “bright future for us All”,…I have faith!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.marlviasheglobalinitiative.org
• Other: https://joroh-clothing-line.myshopify.com/

Image Credits
Creative, M/s Emmy KATEME NABIRYO – @eemmelia (https://www.facebook.com/eemmelia)

M/s Juliana NALUWU