Nakazibwe
92 years old
Kayunga District
We met Nakazibwe with two of her daughters chatting at about 2:00pm in the afternoon.
Nakazibwe, her daughters tell us, loves nothing more than the simple pleasure of drinking tea. “All
the time she wants to take tea,” they recount, “from morning, afternoon, and evening.”
When asked about the Senior Citizens’ Grant, Nakazibwe tells us that she has never received it,
even though she went with her daughter to Kitimbwa sub county when they were giving out money.
One of her daughters fills us in on the details of that visit: “We asked Collins (the District Community
Development Officer) whether her name was on the list but they told us that we have to wait for her name
to come back on the list.”
Nakazibwe tells us how this makes her feel, saying:
I see my friends here, the ones that are younger than me, they started getting money long ago.
And they always come here and tell me they have got sugar [money] and keep asking me when
I’m getting. And I just keep quiet and wish them well. But you think they can give you part of their
money? As who? I’m here and I don’t have even money for sugar.
But I will not stop hoping that one day I will get. Look at my eyes. I can’t see properly.
We notice that Nakazibwe has a cloth in her hands and keeps wiping her eyes. They are always
teary, and she says she can’t see well.
May be if I get some money I will be able to get some medicine; those ones that I can drop on
the eyes. But where is the money? Sometimes my daughters buy me some tablets like for 1,000
shillings; they give you 2 or 3 tablets. But those ones don’t help a lot. My eyes itch a lot and I
have some wounds inside.
When I used to get some droplets, I would put and then I could see properly. But now, I have
nothing.
Maybe I will just die from getting old.
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