Meet the girls

Age: 11

Class: P7

School fees: $50 per term/ $150 per year

My name is Alia, I’m 11 years old and I currently cannot go to school because I don’t have enough money to pay for school fees, pens, books and the uniform. I lost both my parent because of AIDS, and I started living with my aunt. She used to help me going to school, but she died in October 2018. I was really good at school and I’ve been promoted to P6 class, I really like to study and I started selling some brooms made by local cheep materials, earning $14: I used them to buy 12 black books and six pens. I also asked my teacher to not provide my lunch at school, because I didn’t have enough money to pay for my lunch bills. Unfortunately, in one month I have been sent away from school three times, because I don’t have my scholastic material. My favourite subject is English and I hope to become a teacher when I grow up.

Age: 16

Class: S3

School fees: 250$ per year TBA + uniform

My name is Christine, I’m 16 years old and actually I’m not going to school because I don’t have enough money to pay for the books and the uniform. I lost my mother of AIDS, while my father is bedridden because he had an accident and he broke his back, so he moved to my grandparents’ home to be assisted. I live with an uncle who works in a school far from home, and I tried attending that school, but I would like to come back to Impact Secondary School, where I can be next to my father. I would like to become a nurse so I will be able to treat people with AIDS like my mother.

Age: 15

Class: S3

School fees: 450,000 Ugandan shillings

My name is Annet, I’m 15 and I’m attending S3 class. I live with my mother, one brother and two sisters: I’m the oldest and I have to take care of my siblings, especially of my little sister, who is only 8 months. My father and my mother divorced, so she became a prostitute to pay my studies and she’s rarely at home because she often goes to the capital, which is 5 hours from home. I have to walk 7km each day to reach the school. My favourite subject is English, and I would like to become a lawyer.

Age: 13

Class: P6

School fees: $50 per term/ $150 per year

My name is Liliah, I’m 13 years old and I’m currently stuck at home because I cannot pay for my uniform and for the school fees. I would like to become a nurse so I will be able to treat people with HIV/AIDS: I lost both my parents because of AIDS, and also two aunts and an uncle. I started living with my grandmother when my parents died, but she has high blood pressure and she has no possibility to support my studies.

Age: 10

Class: P5

School fees: 30,000 Uganda Shillings + uniform

I’m Majory, I’m 10 years old and I’m attending P5 class. I’m an orphan, my mother and my father died together: they were hit by a lighting strike when I was six months old, so I was raised by my grandmother and now I live with her. My favourite subject in school is English and I would like to become a teacher.

Age: 12

Class: P5

School fees: TBA

I’m Phiona, I’m 12 years old and I’m attending P5 class. I’m an orphan and I live with my grandmother. I have a 5-year-old sister and a 2-year-old brother, so I have to look after them as the oldest sister. When I grow up I would like to become a nurse to treat sick people. My favourite subjects in school are English and science.

Age: 16

Class: S4

School fees: 450,000 Uganda Shillings

My name is Prussy, I’m 16 years old and I’m attending S4 class. I live with my mother, 3 brothers and 10 sisters. The oldest one is 20 and the youngest one is 11. My father and my mother divorced, because my father left the family to marry another woman. I have to walk more than 7km to reach the school. I really love mathematics and actually I’m the best in my school at that subject. I would like to become an accountant and work in a bank, or maybe a nurse to help sick people.

Age: 12

Class: P5

School fees: TBA

My name is Sharon, I’m 12 years old and I’m attending P5 class. I live with my parents, my 3 brothers and my three sisters. I’m the oldest of my sisters so I look after them when I’m home. My favourite subject in school is science and I would like to become a teacher. I like going to school because it encourages me to chase my own dreams.

Age: 12

Class: P5

School fees: TBA

I am Atugonza Evas, life has been a struggle since I was born my mother is a housewife while my father is a motorcycle rider but both didn’t go to school.

But my mother is the only one who has been taking care of us. We are eight siblings at home, my father does not care or we have food, education, clothing, and health it is my mother’s toils.

My mother has a small village restaurant that helps us to raise money to take care of us but sometimes even she not paid. Some eat and run away without paying any single coin of money.

I have one dress my mother bought me. It acts like a uniform and a visiting cloth, when it gets torn I knit it so that it can be able to work for me.

Sometimes we sleep hungry since we cannot eat business food because its also so little sometimes or we either have always gone to school-

Age: 14

Class: P7

School fees: TBA

My name is Rosette, I’m 14 years old and I’m attending P7 class, the last class of Primary School. I live in a refugee camp with my family, because a big sugar factory bought our land and threw us out. My house is made of wood and straw. I’m good at school and I would like one day to have a good job to permit me and my family better living conditions.

Age: 10

Class: P5

School fees: TBA

My name is Asiimwe Ronald, I’m 10 years old and I’m attending P5 class.

Going to school has not been easy because of school fees and scholastic material. I study in a school where we sit under the tree when it rains the books are spoilt and we cannot see some words in the books. I haveto first dry the books., I have only two books where I write of which my uncle helped and provided.The distance from school to Home is very far I have to move for all that long barefooted untill I reach school.

Sometimes I reach late for school and I am punished and I don’t study full time because of school fees which my grandmother does not have at the moment. So it has been hard growing up.

Age:9

Class: N/A

School fees: TBA

I am Nasike Patience, I was born in 2012 and I am the fourth child, My mum separated from my dad and works as a maid in someone’s home to look after us.

She has endeavored to see that we put on at least a cloth on our bodies. She has tried to give us herbal medicine when we get sick and many others.         I pray to God that one day I will study hard and I become a doctor with a lot of money and I will help my mother, my sisters and brothers to live in a better life.

With the little help I have got it has really helped and changed a lot.

Age: N/A

Class: S.4

School fees: TBA

Am Mutoni Gift from Kawere Memorial High School living in Kyenkonge Village with both my father and mother.

My father has two wives. He does not provide basic needs at home anymore. He is even not interested in our education. He refused to pay our school fees. My mother toils she does casual work like weeding gardens for the neighbors and gets a small fee that she uses to support us at home. Sometimes our mother buys things at home and our father takes them and gives them to the other wife.I have repeated very many classes due to school fees Issues, but my mother works very hard to make sure I go to school no matter what. Sometimes the second wife of my father comes and abuses my mother. She does not accept my father to give anything to us and I end up staying at home and never going to school.

Age: N/A

Class: N/A

School fees: TBA

My name is Kyalisiima Pauline from Najjeera High School, our mother has raised us as a single mother but it has been very difficult.  

At school, we are being minimized by our fellow students because of things like school fees, lack of scholastic materials, and others. We pass through a lot of hardships. We are being disturbed by boys on the way as we go to school and those who pay us part-time jobs. Diseases attack us but we take herbal medicine which just stops the pain only because of the lack of medication and hospital fees.

Age: N/A

Class: S2

School fees: TBA

I am Nakibuuka Harriet from Bbale Secondary School, I thank madam Nakakande Josephine for making me part of Eco- Agric Uganda and who has enabled me to be in school.

I faced problems in my daily life that have left a lot of scars on my heart and are still creating more scars, our father always never gave us any help in terms of helping us with paying school fees or even treating us when we fall sick.

Age: N/A

Class: S3

School fees: TBA

I am Nakato Angella in Senior three at Kira Secondary School in wakiso district, I live with my mother and father but my father is an alcoholic and my mother is a housewife.

My father works in the shamba for sugarcane plantation and all the money my father gets he spends it in the bar and comes back home without even salt, then he asks for food when the food is not there he beats up my mother badly and my mother cannot leave because of us. My mother works so hard and provides school fees and scholastic materials.It is not some times easy because my mother fails to get money. We are nine children and the elder left school so that we may go to school, since the money cannot sustain  us, we eat one a day or no food until the next morning.

Age: 15

Class: S.2

School fees: TBA

My name is NAKASI ANGELINA from Kira Secondary School, born in a family of 4 children and I am the first born

I dropped out of school for over a year after my parents separated, things became tougher and I faced very many challenges like, later I went to school again but without any school requirements

I faced a problem of no medication for any health problem I would face. I remember I was walking from school to home and I was scared during the way and I heard something come from behind and I decided to run. Accidentally I tripped and I fell and I got a big wound but due to lack of medicine the wound almost made me become lame because it became so infectious. I was really a hard moment.

Age: 10

Class: P3

School fees: TBA

My name is Katusiime Peace, I’m 10 years old in P3 class, I live in a refugee camp with my family, because we were relocated. My house is made of wood and straw. I’m good at school and I would like one day to have a good job to permit me and my family better living conditions.

Age: 10

Class: P3

School fees: TBA

I am  Sssentongo Martin living with my grandmother in the village. It has been hard for my grandmother to raise me, Since I was a kid.

My grandmother is a farmer that grows vegetables to sustain us. It’s from the small income that we live in. Neither my mother nor father care about me. I remember I became very sick and my grandmother didn’t have money to take me to the hospital it was the village members that helped me out but if it was not for them I couldn’t service.

Age:9

Class: N/A

School fees: TBA

I am Kanyunyuzi Priscilla, my mum separated from my dad when I was six years when i had just started school and I have grown up with only my mother. She works as a maid in someone’s home to look after us.

It has not been so easy I have seen my mother struggling to pay our school fees, she has struggled so much to feed us, she normally packs for us the leftover from her boss’s food.

She has endeavored to see that we put on at least a cloth on our bodies. She has tried to give us herbal medicine when we get sick, I pray to God that one day I will study hard and I become a doctor with money and I will help my mother, my sisters, and brothers to live a better life.

With the little help, I have got it has really helped and changed a lot may God bless whoever gives us help no matter how small it may be.

Age: N/A

Class: S.4

School fees: TBA

Am by the names of Kyalisiima Pauline from Kawere Memorial High School, as a girl, I have gone through different problems but let me first thank the ones who have donated to us Sanitary pads and the School fees.

When I was in S.2, my mum was sick and she was not working they called me to the office and they told me that they demand one million and it was the end of year exams, I went back home crying at the end I never wrote the exams of the end of the year.

We thank you all for your donations and we promise to work hard

Age: N/A

Class: N/A

School fees: TBA

My name is Namiyonga Peace from Najjeera High School, our mother has raised us as a single mother but it has been very difficult.  

Our father left us when we were still young and our mother does some small jobs to take care of us, we usually eat once because it is so difficult to collect money as a result some of my elder sisters got early pregnancies.

We are being neglected by some of our family members because of our endless problems whereby we reach a point when we are sick and we cry for help but they just chase us even though they have the money to help.

Age: N/A

Class: p5

School fees: TBA

My name is Ayamba Patience, I have grown up with my mother only, my father left us when I had just been born saying that I was not her daughter.

When I was a little grown we would go together to the job she was doing and we would work together. Later she took me to school though things were not straight forward and I had to go home several times when they have chased me for school fees especially when my mum had got an accident

One day as we went to fetch water we found rappers on the way and they were going to rape us and we shouted and people gathered and rescued us.

Age: N/A

Class: S3

School fees: TBA

I am Ariouru Josephine Future in senior three at Kira senior School I joined school when I was the only one with four years in baby class.

With both my mother and father who didn’t go to school my mother does stone quarrying and my father is a bodaboda man in a family with four children that’s why my mother struggles hard so that we can go to school our father doesn’t care at all.

I finished all of my primary without shoes and a bag my first time to wear black shoes and white socks that I got from my aunt’s daughter when I joined secondary school, school fees became a problem, i remember my first monthly period I had a very heavy flow and blood came into my uniform.

Age: 10

Class: P.5

School fees: TBA

Age: 14

Class: P7

School fees: TBA

Without a uniform while at school, there was a bigger challenge at home and that was lack of food at home I had to eat a lot of food on lunch which would take me till tomorrow and worst of it they served us little food at school. The rest of the family ate supper and they would take porridge at lunch.

But I thank God that Madam Nakakande Josephine gave me a hand in my school fees and this has helped improve my life