Benja’s Story

Benja was born into a large family of 7 children. His mother and father are dedicated, loving people whose dream is to see their children succeed and rise up out of the poverty they were born into. They reside in a slum area of Uganda called Masese and though both his mother and father are extremely hard working, they struggle to raise enough money to not only feed their family but to pay school fees for all of their children as well. Benja is a very bright student and performs top of his class at the day school he has been attending. Benja’s mother has noticed in recent years that he has been influenced by peer groups in the slum and he often does not come home until late into the night. The family was worried for his safety and for the choices he might make which would affect his future. Sadly, sending him to a quality boarding school (the preferred type of schooling in Uganda) was not an option due to cost.

In May of 2021, Benja was one of 6 young children who volunteered to play a role in the PFP film project. As it soon became clear that Benja had a desire to attend boarding school and focus on his studies rather than the influences of groups in the slum, PFP helped to make that dream a reality. Benja has now been welcomed into our PFP Juniors program and school fees and financial support will be provided indefinitely.  Benja and his loving family will now look toward his future with hope and the goal will remain to see him find joy in life and be empowered to rise up out of the poverty he was born into.