The following is a blog from one of our Uganda employees.

"The truth is not easy"

by: Andrea Reyes

The truth is not easy: telling the truth, wanting the truth, and knowing the truth. The story below is one I can only tell according to my truth and my comprehension of the events told to me. Truth is never concrete.

The workshop, which EPOH operates in, has grown from a garage to 3 rooms in a compound to a whole wing in a compound. The growth has happened in 5 months.

While working in the garage the 6 tailors each worked 3 days a week and alternated in two shifts. Three tailors worked Monday-Wednesday and the other 3 worked Thursday-Saturday. Now each tailor works Monday-Friday from 8am till 5 pm.

When I first came we started with 6 tailors and a scrap ripper. Five months later we now have 7 tailors, 1 production manager, 1 production assistant, 2 tailor assistants, and 1 lunch lady.

Many of the EPOH employees prior to working with us had never worked in a group environment. Many of the tailors came from the various markets around Jinja where they would work by themselves in a stall making one garment at a time. Some of our employees have never worked underneath anyone or over anyone. They have never taken orders from someone who is either younger than them, a different gender than them, or from a different tribe than them.

One sunny day at EPOH, Amber and myself where conducting interviews for new tailor assistants. Each tailor was told to bring people in to interview for this position. A position that consists of ironing, scrap ripping, and mild cleaning. During the interviews Amber noticed most of the tailors gathered together speaking aggressively. The argument was going on in more than one African tongue, therefore Amber could not decide if a disagreement or fight was at hand. Later we learned it was a fight.

The fight was something about the tailors not knowing who invited who to come interview, apparently the interview was invite only. Once I arrived back at EPOH, Amber was doing interviews while I was running errands. One of the EPOH employees came to me crying. Now, Ugandans don’t cry easily. I will just say that going into the hardships that many Ugandans have faced is another story. When this employee came to me I was not sure if something happened at home or at the workplace. She told me she wanted to resign due to the fact that she could not work in a place where her co-workers spoke such bad things about her(often called backbiting). The things she told me they were saying about her were very, very mean. Things that had to do with what tribe she was from, questioning her character, and saying things to the effect that she was nothing.

I tried to calm her the best I could and convince her that because she was a rising star and gaining more responsibility that jealousy was the cause of the bitterness. I told her she must stay strong and not let others get the best of her. I than went into the building to observe the other employees. Often people’s body language and face show guilt or uneasiness. The tailors could tell I was upset, which I found out later was a message to them that I was taking the side of the one who was upset at first. I told them that we would speak tomorrow about manners. My efforts to diffuse the situation did the exact opposite.

The next day Amber and I went into EPOH to get down to the bottom of this. We called in one tailor at a time. Naturally at EPOH some tailors have more presence than others. We told the “bigger” personalities at EPOH that they need to be role models for the others. We tried to teach them how to make problems smaller rather than making them bigger by bringing others into the situation. Some tailors we had to go as far to tell them that if they ever touched someone physically we would fire them immediately. Beating in Uganda in not uncommon. Whether it is for someone who has stolen, spoken rudely to an elder or male, or someone who is smaller and weaker than they are. EPOH has zero tolerance for physical or mental abuse.

At the end of the day we made each employee at EPOH sign a Communication and Behavior Policy stating that they would respect one another and that if anyone perform any disrespect in the form of verbal abuse they would be asked to go home without pay for the day. A second offense would result in their termination at EPOH.

I felt I needed to tell this story because life in Uganda is not always pretty. Each tailor we hire comes with baggage. Many people tell themselves that if they only had more money life would be better, easier. Life in Uganda has taught me that no amount of money will ever “fix", aid, or benefit people. These people that have grew up in poverty and still face poverty everyday will always have problems. Problems that I am never going to be able to fix. All I can do is stay with them day in and day out and assist them in executing the values that I feel are just and right. Values that are my truths, but who am I to say my truths are just and right?