Gladys—a strong young mother with a broad smile and a can-do attitude—runs a small restaurant at Imvepi Refugee Settlement in northern Uganda. It’s a far cry from her life just a few years earlier, when, shortly after becoming a child mother as a result of sexual exploitation, Gladys was forced to flee war-torn South Sudan with her mother and infant son Emmanuel.
There is hope for adolescent girls like Gladys to recover and build new hope and new lives for themselves. But don’t take my word for it. Read on to learn about Gladys’s triumph over hopelessness with the help of ChildVoice’s donor-funded programs.
“At Imvepi, my mother was often sick. I brewed alcohol to make money just to feed my family.”
- Gladys
By the time Gladys, her baby boy Emmanuel, and her mother arrived at Imvepi Refugee Settlement, she had endured several trying ordeals. After her father left the family in 2007, her mother did her best to support the family, even opening a small hotel. But as South Sudan’s civil war intensified, the business collapsed. Gladys had no choice but to abandon her studies. Then, she met a man who promised he’d help her go back to school. But when the families expressed disapproval of the relationship, he vanished, breaking his promise and leaving her pregnant and even more desperate.
As the war got worse, Gladys found herself enveloped by hopelessness, starvation, and death. In the midst of this devastation, she gave birth to Emmanuel at home, nearly dying from loss of blood and lack of access to medical care. Desperate to escape the deteriorating conditions, Gladys and her mother fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo to live with her aunt. But her aunt died not long after, forcing them to move once again. Eventually, they found themselves at Imvepi.
But Gladys got a second chance -- the opportunity to recover from wartime trauma, to get vocational training, to find hope, purpose, and meaning, and to make friends with those who have endured similar ordeals. And to do so with renewed spirit and faith!
“I am now raising money to support my family. I hope to be able to get my son the best education I can afford.” -Gladys
At Imvepi, Gladys and her family found relative safety. But just getting enough to eat was a constant challenge. Lacking any marketable skills, she resorted to selling home-brewed alcohol, with little success. Then she heard about her local ChildVoice Girl Empowerment Center. After being registered for the program, she started attending sessions. ChildVoice staff saw that Gladys needed more intensive services, so she was sent to the Lukome Center, where counseling helped her start healing from her trauma. There, she studied catering, hospitality, and bakery, successfully graduating in 2019 – and passing Uganda’s Directorate of Industrial Training exam with the highest possible marks! But just as importantly, Gladys learned how to make friends, be a responsible mother, and live peacefully with others.
Today, with her small restaurant at Imvepi, Gladys finds joy in returning to the settlement and giving back to the place—and the people—that helped bring hope back into her life. But more than anything, she finds joy in the peace she is now able to enjoy in her home life.