That’s what we do in Cefarh: we help people to find hope and build a better future, one at a time; and sometimes it takes as little as a bicycle tire.
Let’s listen to their stories.
Wellborn hustling to survive
“Who knew I would be seen as a human being“ says Atine; this 34-year-old man whose life has been dramatically affected when he was a child.
“I was less than one year old when one night my mother went to fetch water at the well, leaving me at home, sleeping in bed covered with mosquito net; the source of light was a lamp which burst, burning the mosquito net with me inside. That night my whole body got burned; my mum got me when I was already smashed; she rushed me to the nearby hospital, and by God grace my life was saved, but I lost my feet’s and both hands fingers, leaving me disabled.
We suffered with my mother, as many people avoided me, calling me a ghost. Some charities helped me to go to school and study, I couldn’t make it to a better place, but at least I know how to read and write, and I can speak English.
Now am grown up; I don’t have a wife and children, and no woman wants me because I don’t have hands to work and I can’t maintain them. To get a living, I buy charcoal in the village at a lower price and sell it in the city at a better price using my bicycle – I know how to ride a bicycle – but the challenge comes when I don’t find a buyer, and I don’t have enough money to stock the charcoal.
Last month I couldn’t work because I needed a new bicycle tire and I had no money to get it; I couldn’t do anything until I met the director of CEFARH Foundation Uganda; I explained to him my challenges. He told me to come to the nearby office, and amazingly they bought me a tire and repaired my bicycle. Now am back on route, GOD bless CEFARH.
Atine Welborn
Bala Kole
From one boy in the class to many
My name is Odoch Walter; I come from Kwania village where there was no hope, I thought my destiny was to keep working the land, but it was not so.
When I learned of CEFARH SSDASR (Skilling School for Dropouts Adolescents for Self Reliance) project, I joined the department of fashion and design; in my class I was the only boy among 30 girls, which kept me worried, but I gained confidence and started loving my training.
Now I have completed my 9-month vocational training in fashion and design; I learned a lot and gained practical experience, especially in the advanced design of free wares and children’s clothes. I am doing my own business, earning my money as a tailor, not a fisherman like before.
I can now stand as a testimony to the world for the work of CEFARH; I received great care, mostly from the team, community, and my fellow trainees; and this made more boys join our Centre to get skills.
I want to thank CEFARH so much, and also TWAM UK and tool4change for the wonderful donation of hand tools they gave to CEFARH for training us during our course.
May God bless their initiative and extend it to other people as well.
Odoch Walter.
From denial with no hope to a smiling woman
During Covid 19 lockdown in 2020, I was 17 years old. I went to visit my aunt, and I was sent to buy some kitchen ingredients; on my return home I was assaulted by an unknown strong boy, who overcame my strength and raped me. I got pregnant, my study stopped in primary 5th, and people rejected me from home; nobody wanted to stay with me, not even my parents’ siblings.
In February 2021 I got in contact with CEFARH. I was badly suffering, but they brought me to the Centre, and offered me counseling, love, and a guide. I got the chance to meet other girls who had a story similar to mine but were fine again, and this gave me hope; then Cefarh enrolled me in the training program for fashion and design.
In May BBC came to take a documentary about CEFARH’s work, and my story was picked up to be told.
Now I have finished my vocational training very successfully, and my daughter has grown up; I can make some money to take care of her, we can eat meat, and even my parents now have accepted me back home. I want to go back to school as soon as my child reaches 4 years, become a lawyer and help other fellow voiceless ladies whose rights have been denied.
Janiah (not real name)