Igulu’s Story

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

Now, Igulu’s mother 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 Igulu’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. Igulu 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. Igulu is enrolled in a local primary school and she hopes to one day become a doctor. Life is looking up and Igulu hopes one day to help pull herself and her mother out of the poverty they were both born into.