An adolescent-headed family gets a breakthrough; oldest child completes her Uganda Advanced Certificate Exams (UACE)

“I can now envision being the woman Member of Parliament for Fort Portal City.” says 19-year-old Racheal after completing the minimum education level required to be part of the legislature of Uganda.

Racheal Kebirungi lost both her parents at a tender age of 10. Being the eldest of the 3 children, family responsibility fell on her. Fortunately, she had a half bursary after scoring 8 aggregates in PLE and her kind uncle, a businessman from Sembabule District pitched in with the other half of the school fees. He also supported the two siblings as there was no one else that would. During her S5, at the height of the COVID Pandemic and all its consequent restrictions, the uncle’s business collapsed. Support to Racheal and her siblings was now cut off.

When schools re-opened, Racheal requested the head teacher of Mpanga SSS to allow her study and she would pay after doing some casual work during the holidays. The head teacher declined the request. All this did not stop Racheal from attending school, she persisted and kept coming to school. She would get sent away, spend three days doing casual work and then return to school with about 15,000 – 20,000 shillings. She would study for a few days, get sent away again and the cycle would go on.

“Being the head of a family at an early age is very difficult and challenging. I had to do all sorts of work in order to earn money to take care of my siblings” said Racheal.

In order to catch up on time lost while working, Racheal had to study over the weekend. Concentration on school work was an uphill task as Racheal had to keep sorting out home related issues.

“Sometimes l would get money to clear school fees but on getting home would find that there is no salt, soap and sometimes even food. The money would then get diverted to first cater for the essential needs.” she recalls.

The light at the end of Racheal’s tunnel came in April 2022 when FAWE Uganda in partnership with the Kingdom of Tooro and UN Women availed an opportunity to support young girls who were struggling to pay school fees due to the COVID pandemic related challenges. The head teacher of Mpanga SSS registered Racheal for the program. Fortunately, Racheal was present on the day that the Tooro Kingdom officials visited so they were able to have a conversation with her. Racheal was taken on and her life took a positive turn from then on.

“I advise my fellow young girls not look at marriage as a solution to the life challenges that we go through.  If I had resorted to early marriage, l would not have made it to this point” says Rachel.

I am grateful for the opportunity of being part of this program. On top of being relieved of the stress l had, l was given counsel and guidance and educated on my rights as a young woman.

Racheal got 14 points (BCM/ICT) in her UACE exams. Her dream is to become a medical doctor so that she can support her 2 siblings to also complete their education.