Ayita’s Story

Ayita lives with his mother Scovia, his twin brother Leta and his mother’s young sister Zaida in the village of Mpumude, Uganda. Ayita’s mother had at one time, been married to the love of her life. Sadly in 2021, he died in a motorcycle accident and Scovia was left on her own. Her late husband’s family did not accept Scovia or her children and denied her access to any of the property her husband had left behind for her. They demanded that Scovia marry an elderly man from the family in order to gain access to any of her inheritance. When she refused, they sent her away and she was left on her own to struggle for survival. Scovia has since been struggling to make ends meet and to care for her twin sons, as well as her young sister who was abandoned by their own parents.

Ayita’s mother worked hard to support her family, but as she does not have a formal education, and jobs are so scarce in Uganda, she was only been able to find work as a cleaner for very minimal pay. When she was done with her daytime cleaning job, Scovia tried to supplement on her income by carrying timber to the machinery area at a local workshop. Unfortunately, the money that Ayita’s mother made doing this type of work was barely enough to feed the family or provide for their most basic necessities, let alone pay for school fees and supplies for her children. Scovia understands very well the importance of education and has sacrificed as much as possible to ensure her children continue to attend school. Most terms they were unable to sit for exams due to unpaid school fees, but she sent them to school to learn nonetheless.  The pain of her loss, rejection and stress of being unable to feed her family has caused an impact on Scovia’s overall physical health and mental well-being. Scovia often fell sick and was unable to work. At the end of the school day, Ayita would come home and clean plates and clean their compound so that when Scovia came home from work, she could find some rest. Together, they have done their best to make it work.

Now with a hand up from PFP’s Junior program, Scovia is able to send both of her children as well as her young sister Zaida to school, as they all work toward a better future, together. Ayita is now enrolled in a local primary school and he hopes to one day become a doctor. Life is finally looking up and Ayita hopes one day to help pull himself and his mother out of the poverty they were both born into.