A Bed to Sleep in After 70 Years!
You may have seen videos of Lovisa on our social channels in the past few months. Prossy met her one day as she was sitting resting near the side of the road
Lovisa has a small business selling pancakes at one of the local schools. That day she had walked quite a distance and her leg was swollen. Lovisa is 70 years old and has been having a bit of difficulty with her physical health. She is doing all she can to raise her 3 great-grandchildren.
Prossy sat down and talked to her for a while, then decided Lovisa could use some help from our Bridge to Success program. This program meets some of the more immediate needs in the local communities.
What Lovisa needed was a small selling stall she could put up at the end of her property to sell from. She also needed a vegetable garden.
Lovisa showed us the inside of her home where she sleeps on a mat on the floor and how difficult it was to get up and down. Well, we knew she needed a bed to ease her struggle.
Last week Lovisa’s stall was built, her garden planted, and this week her new bed was delivered. Imagine living 70 years and never having a bed to sleep in! To say Lovisa was happy is an understatement. Prossy said she had so much joy it was wonderful to see!
We’ve all been impressed with Lovisa and all she has done to support herself and her children over the years. But it made me think of what might have been for Lovisa if she had programs like ours to help her when she was young.
On a recent visit, Lovisa told her story to Prossy. Her story is the story of many young girls in Uganda today. These are the girls we are trying to help every day get an education.
Lovisa’s Story
Lovisa had 12 siblings. She had to leave school when she was in the 4th grade because her father couldn’t afford the fees. She lived at home until the age of 17 and then was “married off.”
Her father accepted a bride price which is the custom of a groom paying a woman’s family with money, cows, land, or other material goods in exchange for a wife.
This often happens when girls are still at home in their teens and the family needs money.
Lovisa had many challenges and losses in her young life. She had two marriages that ended leaving her to raise her children alone.
Lovisa was able to get some small jobs to make some money. She found work picking coffee beans and it was here she met her third husband. She had two children, but one of those children sadly passed away.
Unfortunately, Lovisa’s husband died and she was sent away from the home that his parents owned.
Lovisa looked for work and was lucky enough to get a job being a matron at Kamuli Boys School from 1980 to 1991. This was considered a good job in Kamuli and Lovisa was able to save money.
She lost her job when the administration changed and they were hiring only people with formal schooling.
With her savings, Lovisa managed to buy a plot of land and she built a small house with two rooms to live in. She then started to cook and sell pancakes to make money.
Due to the death of two of her grown children, and two grandchildren, Lovisa is now caring for her three great-grandchildren.
Through all of Lovisa’s challenges, she continues to persevere. Everyone who meets her is inspired by all she has been through and what she has accomplished.
I wish I could say that Lovisa’s story is very different from other women and girls in Uganda, but it’s not.
This is why we work to protect the girls we can.
To provide ways for them to either stay in traditional schools or give them training in a trade when going back to school is no longer an option.
Reproductive health classes we hold in the communities are educating teen girls on how to stay safe, delay pregnancy, and what their rights are. We also provide period supplies which helps keep girls in school.
Lovisa is so thankful for the help she’s received from the Children’s Legacy Partnership Foundation, and that help is because of you, our generous donors.
Here’s a short video of Lovisa with her new stall, garden, and her bed!
With Gratitude,
Mary
P.S. If you would like to help girls get an education it’s easy to donate.
