P

P joined Uganda Hands for Hope when she was just four years old. Before then, life was defined by loss and extreme poverty. Her father died when she was two, and the stepfather her mother married for protection later died as well. The family lived in a single, leaking room in the GoDown slum, with no beds and mud floors that flooded whenever it rained. Food was scarce. When her mother spent over a year in hospital with one of P’s sisters, she and her two infant siblings were left alone, surviving by searching for food at rubbish tips.  

“The biggest worry to us as children was extreme hunger and our high-level poverty. We weren’t afraid of the rats in our home, we just accepted them as our visitors.” 

It was at the rubbish tip that a UHfH social worker first noticed P’s mentally disabled older sister one day, picking through the rotting food. That chance encounter changed everything. UHfH traced the children back to their home, reunited them with their mother, paid for urgent private medical care, and provided safe housing, food, clothing and consistent support for the family.  

As Uganda Hands for Hope grew, so did P. What began as a safe place to eat and play became access to education, stability and hope. She later volunteered with UHfH herself and is now studying Social Work at university. One generous sponsor has supported the siblings’ journey since the beginning and continues to do so.  

Today, P dreams of giving back — working with vulnerable children in the slums that shaped her early life. She says plainly that without Hands for Hope, her future would likely have been early marriage and deepening poverty. Instead, she has choices, purpose, and a path forward. 

For £25 a month, your sponsorship can lift a child – and consequently their family – out of extreme poverty.