Sisters on the planet

Oxfam is sharing the stories of strong women from around the world who are determined to do whatever they can to fight climate change.

Martina Longom, from Caicaoan village in north-eastern Uganda, is one of our 'Sisters on the Planet'. She describes how the disappearance of the elele bird is yet another sign that strange things are happening to the weather.

Martina's Story

The weather has never been perfectly predictable in Uganda - no more than it is anywhere else - but in the last few years it has become increasingly unreliable, making life much more difficult for people, like Martina, who rely on farming to survive. In early 2008, six months after the worst floods in Uganda in 35 years destroyed much of the harvest, her family's grain store sits empty.

To feed her family, Martina is trying to earn a living by collecting water and firewood for people in the nearest town. But she must also care for her family alone, as her husband is spending several weeks away from home tending to their cattle at Longor (the nearest grazing spot in the dry season). The lack of food and milk is making her children ill, and collecting wood is becoming more difficult.

Deforestation is one of many problems the local women's group in Caicaoan is working to resolve. Members have planted evergreen and mango trees to replace the ones cut down for fuel and charcoal - a highly successful scheme which is also reducing erosion and helping people to earn an income. And because water is becoming harder to find, members have successfully campaigned for and helped to build a borehole. Instead of walking for up to seven hours to collect water, the women now make a 30-minute round trip. Martina is looking forward to joining the women's group and she keenly supports their work to safeguard supplies of water, wood and food. She is a strong advocate of the role education can play in the fight against climate change. As she succinctly puts it: "Education gives us alternatives."