Among the 100+ teens and young women who have joined the WE Restore program, Jennifer Namaganda is unique in at least two respects.
First, she is likely the oldest woman to join the program. Historically, about 60% of those in the program were 18 years old or younger when they joined. Jennifer joined when she was 25 or 26; we can’t be sure since she does not know her birth date. Jennifer graduated 2023 at the age of 27 or 28.
Jennifer is also unique in her ability to quickly adapt to life at the WE Restore Home. Many of the teens who join the home initially chafe under the discipline and routine of life at the Home. Not Jennifer. Life in the WE Restore program was such a relief to Jennifer compared to her prior life. When I spoke with Jennifer in August, she told me that the two and a half years she spent at the WE Restore Home were the happiest of her life.
Without getting into all of the sordid details, Jennifer’s life before coming to the WE Restore Home was, in her words, torture. Jennifer’s mother died when she was very young. From the time of her mother’s death, Jennifer’s father physically abused her.
Life did not improve when Jennifer was about 8 years old and her father married a woman with three children from a prior marriage. Jennifer’s father and her stepmother favored Jennifer’s step-siblings, paying for their education, but refused to pay for Jennifer, and her older brother Moses, to attend school.
Jennifer and Moses were forced to scrounge garbage dumps for food and clothes. Both children continued to be subject to physical abuse. When Moses ran away from home, Jennifer’s father eventually caught him and beat him severely. This incident spurred Jennifer to leave home at the age of 13 and live on the streets, earning money by sleeping with men.
By the time she came to the WE Restore Home in 2021, Jennifer had spent half of her life on the streets, giving birth to three children and moving from her native Iganga to Jinja because she feared physical abuse by her father if he found her.
Eventually, Jennifer ran into Pastor Sam Blessing, who frequents bars, telling women like Jennifer that a better life awaits them at the WE Restore Home. It took only a few weeks for Pastor Sam to convince Jennifer to come to the Home. At the Home, Jennifer excelled in sewing and tailoring.
Today, Jennifer runs a vegetable stand in Mafubira and earns enough money to send her two school-aged children to school. When her youngest, a girl named Gift, is ready for school, she will also receive an education.
WE International shows the love of Christ to the most vulnerable women, children, and families in Eastern Uganda, like Jennifer Namaganda, which rely solely on your contributions. When you donate by clicking the button below, your entire contribution will go towards supporting our efforts there.
Thanks for all you do.
