The Opening was Grand

Big day for Musana this week— the Grand Opening for our retail store right here in Lugazi! Over the past couple weeks, HELP International team members have been working hard designing a lovely display room utilizing ordinary local materials and turning them into real shnazzy display items (for example, with a little paint, they successfully turned a local sieve into a darling earring rack). Ultimate Home Makeover-Uganda.

True to form, the event scheduled for 10am began at twwwwelve, as we awaited some key components of the event to arrive. However, the delay was no sweat, as our local Musana Manager, Luta, had us rolling with his stand-up comedy act impersonating American girls, poking fun at funeral customs throughout East Africa, and having a dance-off with his cross-dressing friend (who honestly could move like MJ). One of our biggest expenses of the day was hiring the DJ and booming sound system—an essential component of any proper Ugandan event. This drew in a huge crowd of adults and kids from the surrounding village, turning it into a real community event.

Our 7 Musana women looked lovely- they wore their “smartest” dresses accented with each of their favorite pieces of Musana Jewelry. 

In attendance were the Mayor, Town Clerk, Village Women’s Representative, other members of the Lugazi Town Council, and several other influential people. Pastor Francis, Musana’s incredibly capable and dynamic Chairperson, led the ceremonies with the Ugandan and then American national anthems and a great talk on community development in Lugazi. He then concluded his speech with the most precious of shout-outs, “And last of all, I want to put out a personal request for Melissa to apply for a Ugandan citizenship so that she can buy land and live here. And as her Ugandan father, I am personally invested in finding her a Ugandan husband, so all of you single men out there will have to pass an interview with me.” Oh, Pastor!

I got to speak next. I talked about how the name “Musana” (“sunshine” in Luganda) is symbolic for our mission of illuminating the inherent beauty in women—revealing potential that was there but was not visible before. Working for Musana is not just a job, but is a training opportunity that builds women’s capacity. A “Musana Woman” is one that is productive, creative, timely, literate, community involved, financially responsible, and a nurturing mother. And (this was my favorite part)… a Musana Woman is STRONG. Not strong like a man, but strong like a woman. Our goal of empowering women is not to replace men’s role in society, but to build and work together with men to elevate homes and communities.

Last of all, the Mayor spoke half in English and half in Luganda. He talked about how good it was the Musana had remained small over the past 3 years and established a strong foundation to now expand upon. Many organizations in the area start very large, and quickly topple without the proper infrastructure. He affirmed his support of Musana in our new focus to expand to employ additional women over the next few months (meaning…. granting our proposal for a plot of land to build our own place on!). He then invited me up to cut the ribbon and then the cake (wedding reception-esque) with him, to signal the official opening of the store.

The public was invited in to view the jewelry and we had a bunch of sales right on the spot.

The event went on for a couple more hours with the Musana women performing a couple of dances (one traditional dance, and one together with HELP girls to “Girls just wanna have fun”- darling), and a dance-off with some local kids that have serious moves.

What a day.