Shakira Nalumbwana
Age 15-years-old
School New Castle High School
Class Senior 3 (10th Grade)
City Nsambya section of Kampala
Family situation My father died five years ago when I was too young. I live with my mother, sister and her child in a Kampala slum without running water.
I want to be a nurse.
Ambition I want to help educate children who have lost their parents to HIV and AIDS.
Hobbies Singing and dancing.
My story
“My father died five years ago when I was too young. After my dad died, my father’s relatives abandoned us. They took all our belongings and left us to suffer in poverty with our poor Mom.
We passed through a lot of hardships because of poverty. We had to move to a slum. A lot of bad stuff is done there – smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. You can imagine how awful it is to grow up in such an environment. I suffered from diseases due to food malnutrition. Having one meal a day was a blessing from God. It was such a difficult moment at home.
Since our mother was unable to work, my brothers dropped out of school and started working so that they could help my mum pay the rent and buy food to sustain our family. Since everything was falling apart I decided to join my brothers and work. I collected small timber to sell as firewood. I earned 700 shillings a day (35¢). Working was difficult but I had no option.
Things kept getting worse and worse until my brothers Moses and Jimmy joined L.E.A.D Uganda and went back to school. They did well in school and that gave me a chance to join the program also – after staying out of school for a year.
I received a 1st grade on my 7th grade National Examination, so I now attend a top high school. I have a better future. L.E.A.D Uganda is my home away from home because they treat me like a their own child.”
