15-year-old Brendah Najja’s dream is to become a doctor. With her Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) successfully completed, she can dare to hope that this will indeed happen. For a long time, Brendah had lost hope.
“I counted myself among the uneducated people of Uganda because I had dropped out of school even before I had completed primary education,” she says.
It was during the COVID-19 pandemic that she dropped out of school. Brendah’s aunt who runs a business in Fort Portal had taken on the responsibility of paying for Brendah’s education as her mother was unable to afford it. With the difficulties of the pandemic and lockdown restrictions, however, her aunt’s business collapsed and Brendah had to drop out of school. With nothing to do in Fort Portal city, she returned home to her mother in Kasunganyaja, Bunyangabu district. She would remain out of school for three years.
In April 2022, FAWE Uganda in partnership with the Kingdom of Tooro and UN Women made announcements over the radio as well as at public gatherings of an opportunity for girls who had dropped out of school during their final year to return and complete their examinations. A teacher at Brendah’s former school, Karambi Primary School heard the announcement during a church service and encouraged Brendah’s mother to register her daughter for this program.
“At this time, I had been working as a waitress in Kasunganya trading center, in order to earn some income for my family’s well-being,” Brendah recalls.
Working alongside adults was difficult. She was required to do the same chores that everyone else did. This was overwhelming, especially on market days when the quantity of food prepared at the restaurant was large.
“Sometimes my boss paid me less saying that as a young girl, I did not need a lot of money. My workmates also left me a lot of work to do saying that I had a lot of energy unlike them who were grown up.”
Male customers also took advantage of her young age, teasing her and referring to her as their second wife. With no one to shield her, Brendah got into trouble with her boss when she responded to this harassment with rudeness.
“I had no one to talk to about these challenges because all my workmates were older people,” she says.
When the opportunity opened up to return to school with the sponsorship from FAWE Uganda, Brendah traveled to Fort Portal with her mother and met up with the teacher who assisted them in registering for the program. Brendah was accepted and started school in May 2022.
Having been out of school for three years, and re-joining only a few months away from her final exams, Brendah had to work very hard to catch up with the rest of the class.
“My handwriting skills had slowed down and yet I had to copy notes from both Primary Six and Seven in order to be on the same level as the rest of the class.”
She was not deterred however and stayed up at night to copy the notes.
FAWE Uganda’s PRO-SEVU project also gave girls like Brendah the opportunity to gain skills in liquid soap making and making reusable sanitary pads. Brendah was able to pass these on to her cousins and neighbors. The money earned from these activities enabled Brendah to afford some of her school requirements.
All her hard work would finally pay off as Brendah scored 10 points in her PLE (English: 4, SST: 3, Science: 2 and Mathematics: 1)
“I was very surprised, especially in getting a distinction 1 in math,” she says. “I feel so excited and grateful to God for this milestone in my life. I thank FAWE Uganda and all its partners for giving me a chance to complete my primary education and for believing in a vulnerable girl like me.”
Brendah’s plan is to become a medical doctor and save people’s lives.
