Success Stories: People Sponsored through the Mityana Charity

Francis - Bachelor of Demography and Reproductive Health, Makerere University, 2015

I am from Mityana District. My father was a primary teacher but has since retired, and my mother has been a housewife since my childhood. She is of those ladies who tested the challenges of inequality when her parents refused to educate her, believing that being a girl she would only benefit her husband in future.

I am the firstborn of six siblings. I was selected by PaCT in 2007 after I was recommended by my teacher at Mityana Secondary School because of absenteeism from school due to lack of school fees. I often missed school, though this never deterred me from performing well in class, and it was my good performance that prompted my teachers to search for a possible sponsor.

While I was in senior two Mr. Steve Mathias started sponsoring me. I managed to complete my A-levels and joined Makerere University where I graduated with a Bachelors of Demography and Reproductive Health in 2015. I was lucky that Trans-cultural Psychosocial Organization, an NGO based in Mityana where I conducted my internship, called me to fill a volunteer vacancy immediately after my graduation. Later in 2017 I was confirmed as a full time staff member as a data clerk and I find my job very interesting. The sponsorship opportunity was my turning point and it was crucial in preventing from joining fishing activities at the lake when I was getting frustrated with the frequent missing of classes.

I am very thankful to my sponsor and all those behind the running of PaCT and Mityana Charity. I can now earn a living and both sustain myself and support some of my siblings. I am very strong and determined that in the near future I will be able to also give back by supporting my community in any way possible, including sponsoring a child.

Charles - Shattered dream redeemed by PaCT

My childhood dream was to become a medical practitioner, but I had lost hope of achieving that after I completed A-level with 20 points in 2007 due to lack of university tuition.

I came from a polygamous family with ten siblings. My father, a taxi driver, had done his best to support me up to O-level before he lost his job. My mother, a bar attendant in the suburbs of Mityana, then had to take care of my fees together with my other 4 siblings. I had no choice but to let my young siblings benefit from the hard- earned resources available my mother.I resorted to doing manual work at construction sites.

I had a friend, Lubwama Peter, who had a sponsor from PaCT. One evening he asked me to go with him to Enro Hotel meet her. That visit was the turning point of my life. His Sponsor Ann Potts Rosemary (RIP) was with her friend Maggie Samea, who was impressed by my A-level results and offered to pay for my University tuition. It was a miracle - even now I still ask myself how it happened. I always pray for Maggie and her generous heart has benefited not only me but my entire family.

In 2008 I was admitted for degree in Pharmacy at Mbarara University of Science and Technology and I graduated in 2012. I then worked as a Pharmacist at R&T Pharmacy in Palisa, Kwikiriza Pharmacy in Iganga and Kampala Medical Chambers Hospital before my sponsor Maggie connected me to Supreme Care Pharmacy in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates where I have been working since 2017.

My job in Dubai has earned me and my entire family a lot of joy and progress. I have been able to support four of my siblings' education, including Cate, who has completed her Diploma as a Laboratory Technician from Mulago paramedical school, Cosmas,  graduating in December 2019 with a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from Kyambogo University, and Bridget who is currently in the 3rd year of a Bachelors in Accounting and Finance at Kyambogo University. Once in while, when need arises, I give support to my parents. I feel so blessed and lucky and I thank God that I have been able to achieve all this in such a short time.

I thank PaCT founder Ms. Jean Ajin for the visionary dream of starting this great organization and the entire team for being so transparent and ensuring that donations get to the target beneficiaries, or I wouldn't be what I am today. My family is transformed and I have no doubt that my siblings will lead empowered, and self-sustaining lives and support other needy people in our society.

I am now determined to give back to my community by sponsoring children who are in a situation like mine twelve years ago. My wife Daisy and I plan to establish a first class pharmacy back in Kampala to contribute towards ensuring the availability of genuine drugs on the Ugandan market.

Sarah -  Retail Mamager and Tutor

My story dates back to 2005 when I joined PaCT for education sponsorship. I lived with my parents in Buwaali Village in Mityana District. My father didn't manage to study beyond O-level, and my mother stopped school in primary seven.

I am the 5th of nine children, 7 boys and 2 girls. Although my parents were poor, we enjoyed life as young children, collecting water and firewood from the nearby forest. What mattered to us then was food, but as I grew up I was often sent home due to unpaid school fees. It was always so painful leaving my friends in class and walking back home and at times I would cry all the way.

After my Primary leaving exams I didn't know what would come next, but expected to have to end my studies. However, as God never forgets his people, my brother Samuel and I got a golden life opportunity when we were recruited into the PaCT sponsorship program in 2005. I joined Trinity College School, while my brother did a motor vehicle mechanic course. I later joined Mityana Secondary School and this was a dream come true, since the school was then regarded as the best in the region. My fees and all study requirements were provided and I could not imagine being sent home for school fees. All the tears I shed in primary school had turned into joy. My parents were happy too, and concentrated on supporting my other siblings.

I completed my university studies in 2014 with a Bachelor's Degree in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management from Makerere University Business School.

My dream was to become a medical doctor. I never achieved that but I don't have any regrets, as I have already started benefiting from my professional skills and I view my future as a brighter one. After University I was taken through business mentorship workshops at PaCT to broaden my practical business skills. I now own a retail shop and at the same time I am employed at PaCT under the Education and Livelihood department to support others succeed in their education.

I encourage my fellows, especially girls, to devote themselves to hard work. Opportunities wasted now can only be regretted in future. We have got to be innovative, creative, committed and honest. The world is revolving at a very terrible speed and we need to embrace change and not remain rigid.

It's my pleasure to extend my sincere appreciation to the founders of PaCT and my Sponsor Tarbrooke Hemingway for their kind hearts and unconditional love that has seen me this far.

Edison - Welder

I am from Mityana District, but currently living in Kampala. I went to Mityana Orphanage and Vocational Primary school, then to Mityana Secondary School and finally to Kabasanda and Kakira Technical Institute.

I was born in a poor family in Kikumbi, Bbuye village. We used to survive by making papyrus mats, which we sold around the streets of Mityana. With the money we got we used to buy food and whatever else Mum had asked for. Some money we took to Mum at home. We were always happy when our mats were bought or rented out. Each mat brought only 1,000 UGS (60p). People like Sophia Namutebi AKA Maama Fiina would often buy them just to rescue us from our bad condition. I know God has blessed her for the good she did to help us like giving us other things like mangoes and jack fruits we could hawk around the town.

Mum agreed with Riverside Primary School that I would study there and she would supply the school with mats instead of paying fees. Unfortunately I did only one term, because the next term our papyrus got burnt in the swamp and I had to stay home since indeed Mum had no money as she had spent all her savings to buy a piece of land.

A friend of Mum who was in the same situation took me and her son, who was at Mityana public school, to Namukozi and Mityana Orphanage. They registered us and I started in P4 and her son in P6 so we really had to start another journey of moving from Bbuye to Namukozi. Luckily I had an old bicycle so I used to ride my friend Patrick to and from school. My bicycle really helped because even the teachers used to trust me and send me here and there to buy some items for them from the trading centre.

When by chance Jean Ajin brought Colin Rouse and 3 other teachers from St Sebastian's School in England she decided to get me a sponsor. The next day she introduced me to Kim Spooner when they came back to the school. That's how I got sponsored and everything was free and great. Ny sponsor loved me and did whatever was needed at the school like paying my fees.

I now work with the National Water and Sewage Corporation. Now I can stand on my own in the city, able to pay for food and rent and help my family. All this is because of Mityana charity in Uganda and Mrs Kim Spooner and Mrs Mildred Mbabasi who introduced me to her. May the Almighty God bless all the good Samaritans who made the way for me to be somebody. To my little friends please kindly respect your elders, your fellow friends and give a hand to where it is needed because what you may be planning to dump in the bin, somebody needs to survive. Above all be God fearing then the sky is the limit.