How cash assistance helped disaster-affected families to rebuild their livelihoods
Rehema Bulage’s story shows how timely emergency support can help a vulnerable household begin rebuilding shelter and stability after sudden flood loss.
The night the flood entered Rehema Bulage’s home in Doho Village, Butaleja district is one she still remembers clearly. The water rose quickly, leaving little time to protect anything.
“We tried to rescue what we could,” she recalls. “But the water took almost everything.”
When flood waters swept through her compound, the house collapsed, leaving Rehema and her grandchildren without safe shelter. Household belongings were damaged, sleeping spaces were lost, and daily routines were disrupted almost immediately.
For Rehema, who cares for her grandchildren, the loss felt even heavier. For days, survival meant finding where to sleep and how to keep the children safe. Rehema’s experience reflected what many families in flood-prone communities faced after severe flooding.
“We had nowhere to stay,” she says softly. “It was a very difficult time.”
Rehema Bulage from Doho Village, Butaleja District, sits outside her rebuilt home. After floods destroyed her previous house, she used financial support from the project to reconstruct a safer home for her family.
The support reached Rehema’s household through the Crisis Modifier mechanism under the ECHO-funded project. The Crisis Modifier allows humanitarian partners to provide emergency support more quickly when floods and other sudden disasters affect communities.
Through emergency recovery support, affected households received cash assistance for shelter, food, and household recovery needs. The assistance helped affected families begin repairing homes, replacing household items, and meeting immediate needs after flooding.
When emergency cash assistance of UGX 650,000 reached Rehema, she says it did not solve every problem at once. But it helped her address some of her most immediate needs after the flood.
“I first bought tarpaulins so we could sleep. Then food, and little by little, I started rebuilding. Today, she is back under a stable roof and continues rebuilding her household after the flood. “I sleep peacefully now. Before, I had nowhere to stay. Now, I have hope again”
Starting again after Loss in Kween District
Violet Kissa’s determination to start again reflects the strength of families rebuilding livelihoods after landslides take away the land they depend on.
In the hills of Kween District, Violet Kissa’s life changed in a single moment when a landslide swept through her community, taking away the land and crops she depended on.
For Violet, farming had never simply been work. It was how she fed her children, paid school fees, and sustained her household. The small plot she cultivated was at the centre of everything.
When the landslide struck, it destroyed the only piece of land she had purchased and depended on for farming. Banana plantations, onions, maize, elephant grass, and other crops that provided food and income were swept away during the heavy rains.
Kissa Violet, smiles with relief after receiving a mobile money message confirming her Crisis Modifier payment. This support arrived just days after the landslide, helping affected households meet urgent needs.
“I stood there and watched everything disappear. The land I had worked on for years was gone. I did not know where to begin again.”
Like many families affected by the disaster, Violet struggled to meet even basic needs. The future felt paused.
Support later reached Violet’s household through the Crisis Modifier component under the ECHO-funded project. The emergency cash assistance helped her address immediate needs and begin planning the next steps for her family and livelihood.
“I used the money carefully,” she says. “It helped me buy new land and fertilizer for a new garden.”
Kamurtai Samuel from Chemuron village, Moigut stands with his friends, smiling as they look at the mobile money notification on his phone. His friends Chebet Robert (left) from Kabekerisa village and Kubai Fred from Chemuron village (middle). The group shares a moment of laughter and relief, celebrating that the emergency funds arrived.
Slowly, she began considering her next steps, including looking for land to cultivate and finding ways to restore her source of income. As she began making those plans, she says she felt more able to focus on rebuilding her household.
About the project: With funding from the European Union Humanitarian Aid, Oxfam in consortium with Caritas Tororo and Uganda Redcross Society (URCS) are implementing the Early Warning Early Action, Strengthening Multi-Hazard Disaster Preparedness in Mt Elgon Subregion project to enhance community resilience to shocks and stresses through effective and participatory multi-hazard anticipatory action and Preparedness measures.