Gift’s Story

Aseru’s mother Alice was abandoned when she was a small girl. After the death of her father, all of his assets were transferred to her brother and Alice was pushed out to make a life for herself. She was married off at an early age, but her husband was an alcoholic who abused her terribly, so she eventually separated from him. At this time in her life, she was a young single mother with one child. A kind neighbor helped to build a mud house for her so she could have a place to live in exchange for keeping his property safe. While living in this village, Aseru’s mother Alice met another man and became a mother for a second and third time. Sadly, the second husband abandoned her, leaving her with three children and no income.

Aseru is the second born in the family, and she became old enough to walk, she started accompanying her mother to do casual work for people, such as digging, fetching water and collecting wood from the nearby Mabira forest. The family would sell wood to restaurants to try and make enough money to eat. There was never enough income to attend school and so Aseru focused on work, rather than her education. Now with a hand up from PFP’s Junior program, Alice is able to send her daughters to school. Aseru is enrolled in a local primary school and is able to spend time with her mother in the evenings. Life is looking up and Aseru hopes one day to help pull herself and her mother out of the poverty they were both born into.