49-year old mother of four, Biira Pelucy Muyinga (on the right in the photo) lives in a small mud house in the outskirts of Kasese Town in Western Uganda.  She lost her eyesight some years ago due to complications resulting from a bout of malaria.

Her husband, unable to face a life with a wife who was blind, left her. So Pelucy had to fend for herself and her children on her own. Two years ago CanUgan, through KADUPEDI, our Uganda partner, gave her a white cane to help her get around.

Hoping to provide for her family, Pelucy attended a seminar on poultry keeping.   After the seminar, she began her own poultry-raising operation in her mud home with the help of a gift of one hundred hens. An old torn curtain separates the living space from the chicken coop in her home.

Kasese‘s municipal officials were so impressed with Pelucy’s dedication and hard work to be self-supporting, they gave her a grant of 600,000 Uganda shillings (about $240 Canadian). She also received a goat from Uganda’s national body of people with disabilities. The goat produced two little ones which she sold and increased her poultry flock.

She had a thriving business selling chickens and freshly-laid eggs, and she was looking forward to further expansion until bad luck struck in May 2013. The torrential rains and resulting floods that devastated Kasese washed away Pelucy’s chickens and parts of her home. But instead of being discouraged, Pelucy fought back, working harder than ever before. With support from KADUPEDI and local and district administrations, she began anew. Now she has 230 hens and her business is growing.

Pelucy is a highly respected member of her community and a role model for other people with disabilities. She is living proof that disability is NOT inability.