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RECALLING THOSE HARD MEMORIES WASN’T EASY FOR JOY.

It wasn’t long before big wet tears rolled down her cheeks. Joy methodically used her wide thumbs to wipe them away. One on each side, in a steady rhythm. Like fat drops of rain on a window, I thought. She didn’t sniffle or heave. They just poured out.

Every 3 seconds a child dies in the developing world because of a lack of access to basic health products – simple medicines that cost less than a cup of coffee.

Approximately 270 million people in Africa lack regular access to essential medicines. Furthermore, retail prices of medicines in Africa are often marked up and sold for 350% of the manufacturing costs, due to fragmented markets of resellers and a nonexistent supply chain.

Starting in Uganda, Living Goods trains female leaders in their communities to become health promoters, going door-to-door selling essential health products at affordable prices. Women earn commission off every sale, and each micro-entrepreneur serves a catchment area of 800 people. They provide expectant and new mothers with sound advice, house calls and referrals. Because Living Goods operates a strategic network of branches, they have a streamlined supply chain, selling their drugs 10-40% below market pricing.

....

We sat outside with Joy and sipped our Cokes.

The sky looked ominous and the upper branches of a tree rustled loudly in the wind. Ronald, Joy’s supervisor, assured us that it wasn’t going to rain.

Joy told us the story about how she earned a job at Living Goods because she was nominated as a leader in her community, an older mother people trust. She applied, took the health test, and was accepted. How has her life changed, we asked? Joy straightened up and spoke passionately.

“(Before) I could live in a tiny room and not look at myself. I could just go to market and not think about myself. You don’t bother looking for yourself. Nobody knew me,” she said.

“Now I have a name. Now they call me 'Musawo'.

"Musawo is a Lugandan word for someone who treats people. I would like to keep that dignity when I go out of my home. I changed my life totally to fit with that name, Musawo,” Joy said, assertively, eyes beaming.

“It has changed my life.”

Despite the rain, the waste and the disease plaguing the Kawempe slum, there’s a beacon of light. Because there, among the muck, you can now find Joy.

Help Women like Joy:

You can improve the lives of women like Joy by joining our Women's Fund. Your support empowers women leaders with the tools, funding and skills to end extreme poverty in their communities.

Becky's Update on Joy:

I've always loved data and research. But I've never been one of those great, fast-talking, excitable entrepreneurs with the super-slick marketing messages and elevator pitches. I will never be good on Shark Tank. But here's what I can tell you:

Years after I wrote this story, Living Goods revealed in a random-controlled study that having one Community Health Worker in a village reduces child mortality rates by 27%. In my "industry," that's historic. Literally, life-saving.

I've stayed in touch with Joy and visited her during the summer of 2019. She asked that we meet her at her grandson's private school, where she's proudly paying 50% of his tuition. She could never quite help her own kids through school; I think she wanted a picture with him.

If you are a The Adventure Project supporter, I hope I convey the weight and value of your donations, so you feel it, too. Your support is doing measurable good, in incalculable ways.

You helped a mother (now grandmother) move out of a storage container. She's now the hero in her community. And most importantly, she feels it, too.

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