Florence NAMUDDU

Florence comes from a single-parent family, raised by her mother. Her father left home when she was 9 years old, which has meant her mother has worked extremely hard making and selling bricks to see all her children complete Secondary Four education.

Two of Florence’s siblings suffer from sickle cell anaemia, which has placed extra economical strain on the family. As a result, her mother could not support her children’s education any further and Florence’s future was in doubt. For income, Florence starting making pancakes, and then was supporting her mother making bricks in season.

“I choose tailoring because the demand for clothes is high, and although there are some tailors in the community, I aim to work hard in my training to make me a different tailor and above all a better one.

There is also a potential market for fabric. My community is a developing area and has many upcoming schools in my area. The demand for uniforms is high and when I inquired from the teachers and parents where they were buying their school uniforms from, they said they buy them from Kampala, which creates an opportunity in the local area.”

Alex Muwanguzi

Alex is the second born of two sisters and two brothers. His mother is a local tailor and used their small piece of land to raise a few pigs and grow food. When Alex reached Senior Two the family unfortunately lost their land, which reduced the family’s income and Alex’s mother could not continue to pay school fees for him. He was asked him to leave school and engage in work so that he could support the family.

Alex recalls her mother sitting him down and explaining that to him, and it was the end of school for him. Alex started income generating activities such as basic farming and brick making; but realised that he needed the skills to support him and his family for the future as well as in the short term.

Alex regularly attending the sports programmes with us, so when Uganda Creates announced the VTS scheme in his community, he applied  for the scholarship.

“I choose welding and metal fabrication because I realise the demand of welded products is high. Every day I see every new occupants in the community installing metallic windows and doors. There is growing welding workshop in my home town, and I hope to be employed there and gain more experience once I completes my scholarship with the hope of establishing my own workshop in the next five years.”

Brenda NAKIMBUGWE

Brenda has been living with her grandmother since she was little, as her mother had many children and could not care for them all. Her grandmother educated Brenda up to completing Senior Four in 2011, and although her goal was to support Brenda until she had a degree or a diploma she could not afford to enrol her for further education. After two years of not going to school, Brenda was married and gave birth to three beautiful children over the next five years.

Unfortunately, Brenda’s marriage did not last and she has had to return to her grandmother’s home with her children. Both Brenda and her grandmother do not have sufficient stable income to support all the children with their least basic needs and so Brenda made the decision to apply for the Vocational Training Scheme to support her family.

“I have been married for six years and have realised the value of having a skill I can use for employment. I realised that my husband mistreated me because I was very dependent on him. When I have the knowledge, skill and employment, I will be an asset and will be able to provide for my children and be respected in my family and community.

I was listening to news on radio and the government has a new strategy of reducing importation of readymade clothes and especially second-hand clothes, with objective of supporting textiles development in Uganda, so I thought that the future holds a big market for textile products and thus I choose a tailoring course for my scholarship.”

Yasin SEKAJJA

Yasin comes from a big family of ten children who are taken care of by his single mother. He is very proud of his family because they have been supportive to him both financially and morally throughout his childhood. Yasin completed Senior Four in 2015 but since then has been working with his uncle on the neighbouring farm to earn an income to further his education. The money he earns he also uses to buy scholastic materials and school fees for his young siblings so has been able to raise sufficient funds to continue his education.

Yasin has been trying to pursue his dream of becoming a motor vehicle mechanics but in vein, until he saw Uganda Creates Vocational Training Scheme. Yasin’s determination and hard-working attitude were all apparent throughout the assessment and we are delighted to offer Yasin a place for 2018.

“Mechanics has always been my dream and while I was still in school I knew that the only way to achieve it was to pass my exams. Unfortunately, my family didn’t have enough money to support me at an advanced level and so I thought my dream was gone.

 The scholarship will now help me earn credentials in motor vehicle mechanics.  My passion for mechanics is matched only by my love for mechanical physics, so my decision to specialize in motor vehicle comes from the heart.”

Rashida NAKALEMBE

Rashida is the first born of five children who suffered the devastating loss of both her parents 6 years ago. Before the death of her parents she lived a happy life with her family supporting her in her educational and social development. Since then she has been supported by her grandmother with other relatives sharing the caring responsibilities of her siblings.

Her grandmother was able to support Rashida through her primary education which she completed in 2015; but since then has been unable to support her further in education. To meet her basic needs Rashida and her grandmother have been doing peasantry agriculture, rearing pigs and growing coffee while they looked for funds to support Rashida, which led them to Uganda Creates and a VTS scholarship in tailoring

“There is ready market after I finish school in my local area, with only a few local tailors who make Gomesi (tradition Kiganda wear). My grandmother and her friends take their fabric to a neighbouring town to be fixed so I feel I need to address that gap and bring the service closer to my community.

My dream is to teach the skills I learn to my friends, who have not got the opportunity that I have to go to a vocational school.”

Ivan MUHANGI

Ivan lost his mother when he was 10 years old and after three later his father died too. Ivan being the oldest child, was taken by his uncle and he is very grateful because his uncle sacrificed a lot to support him through education. He paid his school fees in both primary and secondary education up to Senior Four level. Unfortunately, at this point his uncle openly told him that he didn’t have enough funds to continue supporting him in school.

Ivan tried to join a local garage in Bombo to train, but with no money, he only lasted for only week until when the garage owner asked for the fee,

He then worked in delivery bread van working in the taxi as a conductor, but never gave up on his dream career of being a motor vehicle mechanic.

“I choose motor vehicle mechanics because it has been my passion since I was a little boy. There are also good employment opportunities for me as a mechanic, as there are many new garages starting-up too meet the market demand.”

Ivan Katende

van is another 2017 CREATES beneficiary of the Vocational Training Scheme from Gobero community. He is 19 years of age and his highest level of education is Senior Four, which he completed in 2015. Ivan was orphaned at an early age and was taken under the care of his grandmother who has been extremely supportive of Ivan. Unfortunately however, his grandmother is 100% dependent on subsistence farming, and therefore struggled to support Ivan through his studies beyond Senior Four.

Ivan has been doing casual labour for the last two years to try and see if he can raise enoughmoney to join a vocational school but had not managed to raise the required funds He was therefore delighted to be offered the scholarship with CREATES and enrolled at St Padre Pio Integrated Training Centre tackling a one year course in building and concrete practice.

Maggie Nabagereka

Maggie is from Bajjo Community. She is 27 years and a mother of four children. Maggie got married as soon as she completed Senior Four at Secondary School and has been married for ten years now.  As one of the 2017 CREATESvocational scheme beneficiaries, Maggie says she has gone through a lot to manage thehome especially buy food, medication and school fees and all this is constrained by the low income in the family and the rising prices of food and other goods.

Maggie’s determination to succeed is truly amazing. She made the difficult decision to move away from her family for a year to re-train under the support of her grandmother, and although she is missing her family she is starting to see the rewards. Maggie enrolled at St Padre Pio Integrated Training School for welding and metal fabrication, with a desire to be able to provide for her family and create a better future.

Kato Godfrey

Kato started out as one of the first Resource Centre members in Bajjo back in 2008. He was studying in Primary School at the time, but was only able to complete up to Secondary 2 due to a lack of funds. Kato comes from a single-parent family, where his mother works as a local farmer in Bajjo supporting Kato and his brothers and sisters. 

Thanks to the sponsorship he received from UGANDA CREATES, Kato has gone on to become a trainee at the Green Label Garage in Kampala following his successful scholarship in Motor Vehicle Mechanics at Bbowa Community Polytechnic. We are very proud of Kato for what he has achieved in his training. It would have been very easy for him to stay in Bajjo and continue digging with his family. But he has shown great ambition to get where he has today and we hope to continue to support him in his dreams of becoming an engineer.

Solomon Nakigozi

Solomon is one of latest Vocational Training Scheme recipients in 2015. Originally from Bajjo, Solomon was studying well in a local secondary school - reaching Secondary 2 before falling pregnant early with her first child while just 17 years old. Solomon was unable to continue her secondary education and pulled out of school, instead stayed at home to look after her daughter Melissa.

With Melissa now two years old, Solomon showed great ambition to apply for one of Vocational Scholarship places, successfully applying for a tailoring course at St Padre Pio Integrated Training Centre. Solomon is coming to the end of the one-year course and is currently on work experience as part of the training in a local tailoring business, where she is excelling.

Shamim Mukamubanda

Shamim Mukamubanda is a 2017 CREATES beneficiary of the Vocational Training Scheme from Gobero community. She has been under the care of her maternal uncle since she was three years old. Her uncle has been able to take care of her for the last 14 years with a target of enabling her complete secondary education. However, the constraints on the family mean that the other children also need to be funded through school and so Shamim was unable to complete her education. Shamim apply for the scholarship

Shamim‘s dream has always been to become a fashion designer and she applied for the Vocational Training Scheme with CREATES to enable her to achieve her goal in life. Shamim was successful in her application and she enrolled for a one-year tailoring course at St Padre Pio Integrated Training Centre in Masanafu. 

Kiriti Richard

Richard is 19 years and stays in a large extended family of around 15 people being taken care of by his grandmother. His parents are still alive but his dad is an alcoholic and unable to provide for his son.

His mother and grandmother were able to support him into secondary school but only up to Senior Four, which he completed three years ago. Leaving school, Richard tried to look for work to fund his education further, but was unsuccessful.

Richard has been one of our Resource Centre members since we started in Kayunga and was part of the football team, where he proved he was disciplined and committed.

He was successful in his application and enrolled at St Padre Pio Integrated Training Centre in Masanafu for a one-year course in motor vehicle mechanics.

Shafiq Kamulegeya

Shafiq is 21 years old from Kayunga community. He is from a family of three children and their mother is a single mother.  His mother has been trying her best to take care of the family with limited resources, but has restricted income to fund the children through school. His mother was only able to take him through primary education and then into Senior Two in 2013, before Shafic was unable to continue his studies. He tried doing casual labour, making chapatti and also digging sand over the last three years to see if he could raise enough money to enable him continue at school, but was unsuccessful. 

He made the decision to apply for the VTS with Uganda Creates and we are delighted he was successful in his application. Shafic started training at St Padre Pio Integrated Training Centre earlier in the year, on a one-year course in electrical installation.

Safina Sikyomu

Safina comes from Bajjo, where she has been an active member of UGANDA CREATES since her childhood, regularly participating in the netball programmes, music and drama. She is 17 years old and a mother of a beautiful six-month year old boy. Safina dropped out of school and when she had her son while in her first term of Senior Two. She is fortunate for her mother who is supporting her to take care of her child, but with no chance of getting back in to school she was unable to generate a source of income.

When Safina applied for the scholarship, her mother agreed to support her and take care of the baby while at school; and we are delighted that she was successful in her application. Safina enrolled at St Padre Pio Integrated Training Centre on a tailoring course, with the dream of becoming a fashion designer; but in the knowledge that it will enable her to get a job and support her son.

Leon Namaganda

Leon is from Nampunge village (a neighbouring village to Gobero). She is 20 years old and has been able to complete Senior Four. She is the second child of five children and she stays with her mother who struggles to  provide for the family.

Leon’s family had previously stayed in Gobero community. However, her family was affected by the ongoing land disputes. They lost their land and thus they left and settled with in the neighbouring community. Leon was lucky that in Nampunge there is a government school that helps pay school fees for children from S1-S4, and so started school again. 

Leon has a long history of participating in the CREATES activities in her previous community, and so we were delighted she applied for one of our scholarships places. She was successful in her application and completed a one year course  in tailoring. Although she has had financial challenges, she is hardworking and intelligent and achieved string results through her programme.

Ibrahim Imbanda

Ibrahim is 18 years from Gobero.  He is the first child of 6 children from a large extended family. His father does not own land and works at as a herdsman/pastoralist.  Ibra being the first child has always worked with the father to graze the cattle from place to place. This is a very challenging and time-consuming task for him but he always found some time to participate in the different activities offered at the Resource Centre.

The family is in a state of absolute poverty, however in spite of this, have been able to educate him up to Senior Four. His father admits that he does not have the funds to continue supporting his son through education, so the family took the opportunity to put Ibra forward to the Vocational Training Scheme as the only chance to help Ibra have his life chances improved; and Ibrahim completed a course in tailoring at ST Padre Pio Integrated Skill and Training Centre.

Tamale Fred

Fred is 18 years old and someone we know very well, as one of the very first members of UGANDA CREATES, back in Bajjo in 2008. Following completion of Primary School, Fred  applied and enrolled for a diploma level course in Building and Concrete Practice at Don Bosco Vocational  Training school. 

While his parents were able to pay for the course for the first year; his parents  got into financial difficulties and were unable to pay for the fees. Fred therefore didn’t complete the programme and started doing casual labour to enable him earn enough money for continue his training. Fred was successful in collecting half of the funds he required and we stepped in to enable him to complete his training.

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”.

Fred Musisi

Fred is one of our first Vocational Training Scheme recipients from Gobero, having been a member of the Resource Centre in Gobero. Fred had managed to complete Secondary 4 at school, however had not been able to continue further as his father had passed away and he was being cared for by his uncle. Fred had spent the previous two years doing manual labour in the village to support himself.

Fred applied for a scholarship in Building and Concrete Practice at St Padre Pio Integrated Training Centre, for which he is currently coming to the end of the year’s training. Fred is currently on an internship with Baleke Technical - along with fellow VTS recipient Joseph - a company that is building an 11-storey office block in Kampala. 

Rhoda

Rhoda started out as one of our Resource Centre members in Bajjo. She originally comes from Matuga, a town about 15 miles south, but was studying in Bombo locally. Rhoda was able to complete to Secondary 4, but was unable to finish secondary school due to a lack of funds. Rhoda comes from a relatively disadvantaged background – her parents are both farmers and it was looking likely she would return home to assist her parents farming their land in Matuga.

Thanks to the sponsorship from Uganda Creates, Rhoda was able to attend Don Bosco College in Bombo to complete her vocational training as a hairdresser. Following the successful completion of a one-year course, Rhoda is now employed as a hairdresser in Success Beauty Salon in Bombo.

Joseph Kizito

Joseph kizito is 23 years old hecompleted   the UCE (Uganda certificate of education) senior four exams, in 2011 and stays with his elderly grandmother., he did not pass well his exams thus her mother  never paid her school fees again.  Joseph has been doing almost everything on the village for the last two years including, digging, building, fetching water making bricks among others, however he had a dream of becoming a professional builder because in his assessment when he could work on building sites, he realised that builders were earning some good money.  Thus Joseph is very happy of being given the opportunity with further education that is going to make him achieve his goal as a professional builder. 

Lillian Naebarab 

Lillian was our first ever Vocational Training Scheme recipient. Lillian comes from Gobero and applied for a training course in Hairdressing. She was one of our first Resource Centre members in Gobero and was a keen participant in all the activities we delivered.

Following successfully graduating from her course, Lillian set up her own hairdressing business in her town, with further support from Uganda Creates to facilitate her progression into employment.

Joseph Buwembo 

Buwembo Joseph comes from Bajjo community , he is  22 years , he is the first child  of the 9 children of her mother, he stays with his grandmother because her mother’s house is too small to accommodate all of them thus,  Joseph chose to stay with his grandmother. Her mother only afforded to take him through primary education, and told him he could not t pay for him any further because he needs to pay school fees for his other siblings at least also up to primary seven thus after 2011 he never went to school again, he has been doing casual labour in Bajjo, but his dream was to became a welder. Thus he is the male successful candidate in Bajjo for a course in welding and metal fabrication.