Christmas is a time for reflecting on the many blessings we enjoy every day. Throughout the year, we here at ChildVoice wrestle daily with how better to serve the war-affected girls we work with in Uganda and Nigeria. Given that, I’d like you to picture the following story:
“Now I’m independent. Before, I suffered a lot. But now, I can do everything for myself!”
A young South Sudanese mother, desperate to escape the horror and violence of civil unrest in her country, flees to northern Uganda with her infant son. Traumatized and alone, she is eventually brought to the safe and nurturing environment of the Lukome Center and begins receiving counseling and vocational training. She struggles with many painful physical and psychological challenges, including a poorly-healed foot injury that makes walking difficult. But through the help and guidance of staff and fellow students, she gradually overcomes these challenges. Donor-funded surgery corrects her injured foot so that she can walk normally again. Finally, she graduates from the program, and with her newly-earned business and hairdressing skills, starts her own successful salon business.
What a gift and a blessing it is to know that this is the true story of Hanan, who graduated from ChildVoice’s Lukome Center in 2017! I know you are as overjoyed as I am to see Hanan living a happy and successful new life. But make no mistake –Hanan’s journey out of despair would simply not have been possible without the generosity of donors like you. The war-affected adolescent girls we serve—like Hanan—have never been in greater need of your help.
Today, Hanan runs her small hairdressing shop on one of the busiest streets in the city of Arua, Uganda. Hanan is incredibly grateful that she’s now financially independent and able to provide for herself and her young son, Joshua. Hanan credits the skills she gained at the Lukome Center, including “saving, record keeping, and business plans,” as she put it.
Together, we can continue transforming the lives of girls like Hanan whose lives have been shattered, their homes, their villages, and their dreams destroyed. Hanan’s story is just one example; in fact, three recent graduates from the Lukome Center—Gladys, Florence, and Onesta—recently opened a little restaurant in Imvepi Refugee Settlement. With your help, their stories can become just two among thousands!
But that work requires the help of generous donors like you. In order for us to keep providing our life-changing programs to Nigerian, Ugandan, and South Sudanese girls, we need your help today. Your gift will help us meet and maintain our center- and community-based programs.