Mary’s Story

My father left the family in 2004, when I was just four years old. I haven’t seen or heard from him since. My mother had five children, but three of my brothers died because my family was not able to take care of them. I stayed with my mother when I was a young girl, but life was very hard for us. After a time, I went to stay with my grandmother and cousin, Sabina. My cousin and I worked to fetch water, collect and sell firewood and slash grass to get money for food.

School is so important to me and I would try to work so much so I could have money to go to school. I had succeeded to Primary 5 doing this because I know that I want an education to have a good life. One day, when I came back from school I received good news. There was a group from an organization looking to help orphaned children. They talked to me and took my information and some time later they came back for me and Sabina.

Now that I am in Peace for Paul, my life is so good. I can study at a good school. I get good food every day and have nice clothes and everything I need. If I fall sick, I can go to the doctor and get treatment. In Napak, life was so hard because of a scarcity of all basic needs of life. I am so thankful to have all these needs now.”

Mary now attends a highly ranked secondary boarding school and has big dreams to become a lawyer in the future. PFP makes it a priority for Mary to maintain a relationship with her mother, and other family members. During school holidays, Mary travels back to Northern Uganda under the care of our Karamojong social worker, to learn about and be a part of her culture. She enjoys spending time with her mom, cousins and grandparents during holidays and does her best to help them as much as she can.