“Life would be better if we all stopped asking, ‘what am I getting out of it?’ and started asking ‘what am I contributing to it?’ that’s what I think. And if we all had that kind of perspective and remembered that perspective every single day of our life. I personally forget it many times. I think this world would be a better place to live. I’m gonna paraphrase Jackie Robinson a famous baseball player who said ‘Life has no meaning except for the impact it has on other people’s lives’. Michael Jackson said in one of his songs, ‘if you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself then make a change’” (Makerere, Kampala)

“My father was a businessman he moved on trucks from town to town buying cattle. One day he fell from up the truck where he was seated and damaged his spinal cord. He spent 7 years bedridden, he couldn’t speak, eat, stand for seven years he couldn’t do anything by himself. We had to feed, bathe, and clean after him. It was challenging the first month but we had gotten used to it. My mother was brought in sick from Kenya where she worked. She was only admitted for a short time before passing away then two weeks later my father also died under my care. My father raised me alone. He took me everywhere with him since he couldn’t leave me at home. He literally carried me on his back. I remember he always told me to be grateful, humble and respectful in life. His death was the final blow to my life. I had to stop schooling in primary three. I stayed with my aunties and when I was about 14 I then started working at one of my aunty’s restaurant. It wasn’t easy we had to wake up at 4am every day to prepare food and us the waiters had to wait until 4pm to eat. That’s how I developed ulcers it was so bad I couldn’t even walk—I was hospitalized before quitting. I am now learning tailoring it’s my only hope in life. Since I never really went far with education, this is the only thing I can take pride in.”  (Namungoona, Kampala)

“In 2015 my dad ran out of funds he couldn’t see all of us through school, so he made up his mind to discontinue me from school. It was a logical considering two of my brothers were already in candidate classes. So all my school fees was transferred to them. I chose to leave home. Seeing my siblings go to school without me made me sad. I went to stay with a friend that made jewelry so I helped her hawk them around Hoima town. And to be honest my mom is the only person I missed when I was away. She’s a woman of courage. In 2013 I was bed ridden for two years and guess who was by my side supporting and taking care of me. They literally carried me off my sickbed to the examination room and then back. All the time she kept telling me I was going to get well and indeed I did get well. When I was packing to leave home she asked me to be careful and I promised her. She has never said it to my face but I know I disappointed her when I got pregnant in 2017. Honestly conceiving when you haven’t planned. I don’t wish it for anybody, it was hell on earth for me. Taking care of my unborn baby. Sometimes I feel like a failure when I think about my mom. I’m currently taking fashion and design classes I hope to open up a big fashion house—I hope it makes my mother proud because I’m working hard.”  (Namungoona, Kampala)

“I was raised by my grandmother I didn’t grow up with my father. I never even got to see him and there were moments when I really needed him especially when I was sent back home for school fees and other scholastic requirements. My grandma was very instrumental in my academics she gave me the little money made from selling malwa (local brew), when the money wasn’t enough she gave me beans and maize flour to take to school such that they let me stay and study. She was so optimistic and always told me ‘We’ll be alright my daughter if the God we serve still reigns we shall be fine’ My mother was around but she never had a job. I got all the support I needed from my grandma but it wasn’t enough so I had to dropout in my senior four and my dream of being a news anchor was broken. Sometimes we lacked what to eat and the malwa business wasn’t much profitable. So my grandma and I moved around Busamaga village in Sironko helping farmers to dig, weed their gardens and in return they’d give us food sometimes money in return. This was a very challenging time in my life but what kept me going was church it lifted my spirit and hope. There’s a bible verse which says ‘Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they’. My past has taught me to be patient because no situation is permanent all you have to do is stay hopeful and pray to God.”  (Namungoona, Kampala)

“In 2012 I got a scholarship after I emerged the best UCE student in Sironko district. Everyone was happy for me but I was sad when I realized most of my classmates had failed and they were going to repeat senior four. I feel success is best enjoyed when your friends are winning too, that way it’s fun. In 2017 I later graduated in comprehensive nursing. I won’t lie getting employed was tough but soon I got a job at a clinic. There was a lot of competition at work which I was prepared for. I was overworked instead of the agreed 8 hours I was doing 10 or 12 hours a day and I wasn’t paid at the end of the month. Another challenge was renewing my practicing license at the local council. It required bribing and also you had to be from a certain family to speed up the process. All these problems eventually made me quit because there was no reason continuing to work in a place where I wasn’t getting paid. I’m now learning fashion and design, a skill I hope to take to my village and empower the girls there.” (Namungoona, Kampala)

“After graduating I got a job as a teller at a bank. When I had my fourth child I was forced to extend my maternity leave because the baby was very sickly. So when I went back to work I had been replaced without my notice. My side hair salon business eventually closed because my former job literally financed it. That’s when it hit me that I was officially jobless. I got a job somewhere else but it required me to wake up very early and retire home late which I found very inconveniencing for my family especially my new born, so I had to quit. That’s how I became a stay at home wife surviving on my husband’s salary which wasn’t enough. I think being unemployed is hard especially if you were working before. I’d wake up just to sit around doing nothing productive it was very disturbing. I’d reflect on the times when I still had a job and I’d feel really sad and hopeless. My former school mates were laughing and making jokes about me. I think life becomes very complicated when you don’t have money on you and you have a family with huge responsibilities. I’m currently taking free a course in fashion and designing. I hope to start my own boutique soon as I’m done. God willing I’ll be able to sustain and support my family again”  (Namungoona, Kampala)

“My mother died when I was about three years old and I never got to see my dad I don’t even know what he looked like. He died when I was so young. My brother and I have been raised by our maternal aunty whom we call our ‘mother’ she has fed, dressed and educated us like her own kids. I’m grateful for what she has done for us even though I’ve only been able to study up to senior four I’m happy not many orphans get this opportunity. I remember one of our teachers was a practicing lawyer he used to tell us about the cases he had won and the various clients he represented in court. I admired him. He was a good role model that inspired a lot of us to want to become lawyers. So, instead of just sitting at home pitying myself I chose to come to AMKA Foundation and take free classes in fashion and designing to help me get some skills that will enable me earn a living. I hope to use the money to continue with my education that will push me towards becoming a lawyer—I’m trying to focus on what’s really important in my life and ignore the distractions.”  (Namungoona, Kampala)

“I wanted to be a lawyer after my secondary school but when I got pregnant during my senior four vacation everything changed. I couldn’t continue with school I had a lot of responsibilities after I gave birth. Taking care of my new born baby was a full time job then I also had to find something to do since I wasn’t going to continue with school and my parents weren’t ready to give full support. What happened…happened, there’s nothing I can do about it. I won’t lie to you I regret the decision and if there was a way I could go back in time. I’m sorry I wouldn’t have this baby. I’d be in school with my friends. I’ve learnt to be focused and also try to do everything at it’s right time and this goes to every girl out there—one wrong decision can change your life either positively or negatively”  (Namungoona, Kampala)

“My father is a construction worker. His work is seasonal he can go months without money. So I chose to stop in senior four to give my younger siblings a chance to study as I enroll in a tailoring course that I hope will give me the skills I need to earn a living. My dad’s construction work requires him to travel upcountry for months. I remember this one time he was away and my little sibling got ill. He had hernia and it got really worse. The doctors said he needed to be operated on. It was a trying time since our dad was away and they needed money which we didn’t have at that time. My mom was there to strengthen us and she kept asking me to pray and stay strong. The operation went well and I can’t thank God enough. My mom is a strong woman she always asks us to seek God’s guidance and protection at all time.”  (Namungoona, Kampala)

“I grew up with my father in Kenya till the age of 16 when I decided to come to Uganda to look for my mother. Living with my step mother in Kenya was very hard because I was almost like a house maid—actually I was worse than a house maid because house maids get a salary at the end of the month. I watched my step mother’s kids go to school every day for 16 years, it was so disturbing. My father wasn’t broke he had money. He always took us out as a family to fancy restaurants in Nairobi. He bought us gadgets and nice clothes. But I can never forgive him for not taking me to school, it still hurts me to date. It’s so embarrassing when I can’t even read a simple text or a sign post because I never had a formal education. I finally came back to Uganda and started living with my mother, it’s not what I expected. We were like strangers. This is someone that left me when I was about 2 years and I was seeing them again after 14 years. I’d feel angry whenever I looked at her because to me she was responsible for all my suffering. If she hadn’t left me maybe my life would have turned out differently. I later left her place and moved in with my boyfriend. Unfortunately I got pregnant while at my boyfriend’s place. He denied the baby and sent me away. I tried staying with my friends but nobody wanted me. They’d let me stay for a day or two then ask me to leave. I kept moving from one friend to another. I was now 7 months pregnant. I got so stressed out I resorted to drinking heavily from morning to dusk hoping I’d just pass out & die. I hated the father of my unborn child, he had spoilt my future and he wasn’t offering me support. I got tired of everything so I went back to my mother’s place. One day I got labour pains and my own mother couldn’t even help me. It was my step father that heard me groaning in pain and rushed me to a clinic where I gave birth from. My step father helped me with the hospital bill and we went back home. That night my mother came back drunk and the baby was crying. I tried breast feeding it but in vain. It cried for a full night till morning. My mother got fed up and sent me back to my boyfriend’s place. He had got another girlfriend. I asked him for money to take our baby for checkup but he kept making empty promises and dodging me. He then stopped coming back home. The baby later died in my arms I couldn’t believe it. I walked in the middle of the road holding its body in my arms wishing a car could just run me over and end my suffering. I was determined to die but it didn’t happen. People pulled me away but I wasn’t myself. I hated my baby daddy, I hated my friends, I hated my mother and them I hated myself. I started a new life, left all my old friends. I’m now learning tailoring which will help me earn some money. I’m so sick and tired of men disrespecting me, You know when you’re dependent on your partner for everything they despise and take you for granted—I learnt my lesson. To everyone out there, You can be going through some really tough moments feeling worthless wishing you were dead then you meet someone and your life changes forever. If you’re still breathing never lose hope because life can change in an instant. Personally whenever I see someone with a disability involved in an economic activity other begging. It motivates and challenges me to work even harder.” (Namungoona, Kampala)