Apedum’s Story

Apedum lives with her mother and her two siblings Olobo George and Lillian Racheal in the village of Mbiko, Uganda. Her father ran off just after Apedum was born and returned years later, only to begin drinking and abusing both Apedum and her mother. After a few more years, her mother Immaculate had borne two additional children, but the abuse only escalated. It got to the point where he regularly threatened both Immaculate and the children’s lives with weapons. Eventually, Apedum, her mother and her siblings had no choice but to flee.

Now, Apedum’s mother Immaculate works hard to support her family, but as she does not have a formal education, and jobs are so scarce in Uganda, she is only able to find odd jobs as a maid or digging in people’s gardens. Unfortunately, the money that Apedum’s mother makes doing this type of work is not enough to feed the family or provide for their most basic necessities, let alone pay for school fees and supplies for her children. Apedum and her siblings have all had to drop out of school and often accompany their mother to work as they try together to earn enough to survive.

Now with a hand up from PFP’s Junior program, Immaculate is able to send her children to school, as they all hope for a better future. Apedum is enrolled in a local primary school and she hopes to one day become a nurse. Life is looking up and Apedum hopes one day to help pull herself and her mother out of the poverty they were both born into.