Story about how poverty affected me and how we are fighting it

I, Ogwal Francis, was in a poor family of Abeja Village in Amolatar District, Northern Uganda. My parents were peasant farmers and depended mainly on subsistence farming which was carried out on a small piece of land. Our area had poor infrastructure such as school, hospital, road and shelters. Above all, our family had only one grass thatch house and lacked regular income. We sometimes slept without food or have meals once a day.

We were only four children in a family, two were girls and the rest boys. The elder child was a girl and I was the third born. The first and the second born did not attend formal Education at all. I too was seated at home until my elder sister got married and dowry of seven cows paid, thereafter my father then sold one to pay school fees for me.

Mind you, he had no any other income generating activities but unfortunately in 1986, cattle rustlers i.e. Karamojong tribe in N.E Uganda came and grabbed all the animals in our areas including ours before I completed my studies. In the same year the area also experienced serious insurgency by Lord Resistance Army rebels led by Joseph Kony.

The following year, my father developed a serious illness in which a portion of land was sold cater for his medical bill since there was nothing to sell. He passed away in 1989 before I completed my studies. I decided to go to a nearby primary school and requested for a teaching job but the total enrollment was very low due to wars in which most of the children were abducted by armed conflict and others killed. I taught for four years but my dream was still further studies and I wanted to do Development Studies course.

I used to pray to almighty God so that my dream could come true because my earning could not support our family and my Education. One day, God brought a Good Samaritan from U.S.A. I told her my dream and future plan about our community, she therefore supported me and my dream came true.

Today since our area has historically experienced high level of internal strife and politically turmoil including civil wars and arm conflicts for over 25 years and the majority of people affected by armed conflicts are children.

NUAFIDA Organization is delicate to providing support for Orphans of conflicts, HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable children in the Northern Region of Uganda. The organization has established community early childhood development center and pre-primary school for early learning, mental ,psychosocial, physical and cognitive development of the children aged 0-8 years. On the side of household income poverty reduction, we are sensitizing our community about the importance of self help groups which will make them save in one basket and credit among themselves to start income generating activities. Now six self help groups have been formed.

We hope this will also help to alleviate poverty in our community when supported by small grants from any donor community. Vocational training is also under way to equip them with knowledge, skills, and attitudes for sustainable development. However, our organization still depends on subscription fees and local contributions among its members. We don't even have computers to speed up our activities.

Therefore, the organization is calling upon any donor community or well wishers to give them support to implement its program activities. Your support is warmly welcome.

Yours truly,

Ogwal Francis