Mayanja enjoys writing proposals

Social worker. Jamila Mayanja is the founder and team leader of the Smart Girls Foundation, a social enterprise that promotes the welfare of the girl child. She takes Nicolas Akasula through her week.

Monday
My day starts at 4.30am. I get my son ready for school and prepare myself for work. Mondays are synonymous with meetings. Our meetings are departmental. My team and I brainstorm ideas of improving different services offered by our organisation.

Tuesday
The morning routine for all the weekdays is almost the same until Friday. Tuesdays are entirely dedicated to partnerships. I am usually in and out for meetings with partners that sustain the organisation such as donors and stakeholders. We discuss project progress, challenges and lessons.

Wednesday
My Wednesdays are dedicated to proposal writing and review. It is quite a daunting task that takes up a lot of my time, considering that it requires research and extensive reading.

Thursday
We hold meetings aimed at planning and organising for outreach programmes scheduled for Saturdays. I use the afternoons to review organisation’s partnerships. I don’t take this time lightly because it enables me to be on the same page with all our stakeholders.

Friday
This is the day we do final touches on activities of a programme called the mentorship programme, strictly on Fridays. Thereafter, I go for Jummah (Muslim Friday prayers). I treasure my God and that is why I work half day on Fridays.
After Jummah, I go home.

Saturday
This is when we undertake outreach programmes. However, if there are no any outreach programmes scheduled, I stay home to have quality time with my family. I also like spending time with my friends, hosting visitors and cooking for them. Sometimes I go out with my friends for a movie.

Sunday
I use it to watch movies and cartoons from home. I love travelling too, and I can wake up and decide to travel to Jinja to relax. On such a day, I find time to write chapters of my book.

We also started supplying reusable sanitary towels to disadvantaged girls. On weekends, I traverse the country together with my team for this cause. Sunday is the day I do shopping.

Tit bits
Jamila Mayanja is a Young African Leaders Initiative -Yali alumni. She also hosts Girl Coffee Talks at the American embassy, where she mentors young girls in business, social life and innovation. She understands the language of proposals.