Christine is a 22-year-old girl from Nyasonzi Iboroga in Kabarole district. She grew up in a simple house made of reeds and mud. She wasn’t born disabled. As a small child she came down with a serious illness and her leg became deformed. She has had great difficulty walking ever since. And yet it was her handicap, of all things, that was to prove her lucky break.
The future didn’t look rosy when Christine was born, the last of six siblings. Out of her six siblings, only two went to school. Even then, they stopped at primary level. She stopped in primary 5. The distance to and from school was a menace given her disability; besides, her father had no money to continue educating her. Life at school was not an easy one;
"my fellow children would tease me a lot. Sometimes, I would get them red handed imitating me, they would call me all sorts of names, always discriminated me and this would not go well with me"
Generally, Christine lived a miserable life at home. When we met her, she was so frustrated. She depended on her aging mother for anything that she wanted. At one time she got a job as a baby sitter but life was so hard. Her boss would give her basins of dirty clothes to wash and yet bending for a long time was really hard for her. Besides, she would openly bawl at her, abusing her about her disability.
“I became so desperate and almost cursed God who created me disabled. It is as if suffering was only directed to me. Yes, my other siblings were not doing well, but at least they are not disabled like me…”
Christine learnt about RSNF through a community member whose child had also studied at the centre in 2022. According to her, she could not believe that finally God was going to answer her prayers. She enrolled for a hair dressing course where she studied for a year. Christine doesn’t need to do odd jobs anymore to stay afloat – thanks to the vocational training programme at RSNF.
“We had support from administrators, teachers and fellow students as well. There were generally no cases of harassment or mistreatment. The administration instilled confidence in us always. We had several entrepreneur classes. This knowledge has helped me to run my small salon business. I can’t thank RSNF enough...”
Christine is proud to return as the woman she is now: a woman standing on her own two feet with a family, a job, and future. This energetic young woman now runs a salon in her small town after receiving her startup kit last month in August from RSNF.
“Better late than never; I used to work in people’s salons, from the time I received my items, my life has changed. I set up my own salon and I am now earning independently. I am able to care of myself and my aging mother. My prayer is for my business to grow; I kindly request RSNF to consider empowering us further by starting saving groups for us the disabled youth. This will help us sustain our businesses".
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