Avako Folsker

Folsker dropped out of school without completing Senior Four. Her parents could not support her any further as the cost was too much to the family, and she couldn’t attend school because she had no one to leave her child with.

Folsker first applied for the Vocational Training Scheme in 2015 but was not successful because her baby was steel breastfeeding and she had nobody to leave the child with. She was not put off and a year later Folsker applied again and received funding for a scholarship in Hairdressing at Nazareth Vocational Training Institute. She is very talented and has really enjoyed the programme.

“In 2013 I was studying in Senior Four and lived with my parents. My mother was unemployed and my father a security guard at a local school. We lived within financial constraints, which meant I often went to school hungry and could then not afford breakfast or lunch at school. Upon returning home after classes, I completed most the housework and chores. After experiencing such struggle for a long time, I decided to get a boyfriend as I saw that all my friends had boyfriends and were living happy lives. However, I practiced unprotected sex and found myself pregnant. This seemed the end of the road for me. Then the opportunity arose with Uganda Creates, and it has enabled me to acquire the skills to help me out of helplessness”.