Lucy the Security Lady
The schools that are part of the AIA primary partnership program usually send their students to the center for the Creative learning classes and these are welcomed with a warm smile by Lucy at the gate.
If she is not screening people at the entrance, Lucy Akot is patrolling the Centre to determine the safety of its daytime occupants, including the hundreds of children that come to the Centre for After School Programs. Being a mother herself, Lucy is glad for Action in Africa’s work in supporting the education of vulnerable children in the community. Her contribution to the grand scheme of things is ensuring the safety of all people who visit our Community Centre.
It has been a year since Lucy joined the Action in Africa team as a security guard. Every day, Lucy works tirelessly to ensure the safety of the people at the Action in Africa Centre in Nakuwadde. She has spent over five years in the security profession since her training, working with different organisations. Before Lucy joined the AIA security team, it was comprised solely of men. This is typical of many places in Uganda; it is not very common to find female security personnel, this is because of community perceptions against women, Lucy’s work is a testament to how unfounded those perceptions are.
A typical day at the AIA centre for Lucy starts at 10 a.m., that is the time she arrives to relieve the night shift guard of his duty. Lucy’s first task is usually cleaning and organizing her workstation- the security office at the AIA entrance, ahead of a busy day. On some days, she also cleans the gate. She then organizes the staff arrival and guest registration books. She requires everyone entering the Centre to register upon entrance and exit to ensure effective monitoring.
The schools that are part of the AIA primary partnership program usually send their students to the center for the creative learning classes and these are welcomed with a warm smile by Lucy at the gate. The Action in Africa Centre welcomes hundreds of guests every day; these include staff, children, students and community members who come to visit the community center for the various services and programs offered like Medical Outreach, Teacher Training, Adult English Classes and After School Programs for children within the community.
Lucy is in charge of ensuring that all these people are safe, detecting and preventing any threats to their security at the center. She makes sure that the Action in Africa community center is a child-friendly and safe environment. The assurance of a safe environment is important to the school and parents that send their students to the AIA Centre.
During the day, anyone who comes to the AIA Centre is subjected to a comprehensive security screening where they are searched for any weapons or harmful objects using a hand-held metal detector scanner, no weapons are allowed inside the Centre to ensure a child-friendly environment. The search also happens as people exit to ensure the safety of the property at the Centre. Lucy’s work is complemented by a 24-hour security surveillance system that records everything and everyone at the community centre, to ensure that all persons and property are secure.
Since she joined Action in Africa, Lucy is particularly glad that she can take care of her family, especially affording her mother’s medication and her Children’s School fees.
