Kirabo's childhood was difficult. After her parents separated, she lived with her grandmother who often couldn't afford food or school fees. She faced hunger, a lack of clothes, and even a house fire during her early education. Despite these challenges, she persevered in her studies. Project Yesu, our local partner, stepped in during Kirabo's high school years, providing her with financial aid, resources, and the opportunity to attend a good school, which improved her life significantly. Kirabo’s resilience and grit is beyond admirable; incredible kids, like her, inspire us to work tirelessly until every child has the ability to attend school.
My name is Kirabo. I was born into a family with many children. At four months, my mother and father separated. As a child, I had to suffer due to their separation. Then, my mother decided to take me and my siblings to my grandmother's place, where I grew up until I completed Primary Seven. My mother had to go and look for money to pay our school fees. But when I was at my grandmother's place, life was not easy because she was poor and could not afford food for us. Sometimes, we could go two full days without having a meal. It was also hard to take us to school. One day, when I was in Primary Six, my elder sister was in Primary Seven, and the one who followed me was in Primary Five, the school bus driver sent us back home to collect money for school fees. To our surprise, our mother and grandmother could not afford to give us ten thousand shillings to take to school. Hence, we needed to stay at home for one good month.
We went to people's gardens to dig for them and get some money to pay school fees. Still, by the time we went back to school, our fellow students had covered a lot in class, and we had to copy notes. That affected us a lot, but we had to put in our efforts to catch up with the other students and even ask the teachers to help us. The other challenge we faced was dressing; our parents could not buy us clothes, and some people used it as an advantage to call us street kids. This lowered our self-esteem a lot.
I even remember the day our grandmother's house got burnt, which made things worse. The issue of sleeping was one of the challenges we faced. Four people could sleep on one mattress. Life became miserable for us, but I want to thank the almighty God for his grace towards me and my family. When I was in Senior One, I met Project Yesu, which changed my life and gave me a chance to study at some expensive and good schools like Musana Vocational High School, where I completed my Senior Four.
The school gave us comfortable resources, and I got to study skills like BCP, Building, and Concrete Practice, which has helped me go and work and get some money for me and my family throughout this holiday.
Project Yesu also gave us mattresses, and now I sleep comfortably. It has also helped my mother save money to buy us new clothes and other school requirements, but the credit goes to Project Yesu. May the almighty God bless the founder of Project Yesu. Now that I have completed Senior Four, I plan to go for Advanced Level (Senior Five and Senior Six) and do History, Entrepreneurship, and Divinity/ICT. I have to work hard and achieve my goal. After Senior Six, I want to go to university and work hard since Project Yesu still gives me a hand in my education; while at university, I will be doing business administration or business management as my course.
I want to thank Project Yesu for the support it has given me throughout my education and towards my career. May the God Lord bless them abundantly and bless the work of their hand.
This story has been edited for length and clarity.