Behind the Faces of Masaka (as told by San Juanita)
San Juanita shares her stories on two of the villagers of Masaka from her story in Pulse (starting on page 22). Here are the stories of Lily and Tonnie.
Lilian
In 2016, I traveled to Uganda for the third time. It was an exciting time as we continued
to build relationships with the families of children with special needs in Masaka.
Our global partner, Jerome, introduced me to Lilian (I call her Lily) that summer.
I remember she was shy and hesitant to open up to me. However, Jerome wanted us to
connect because he wanted Lilian to see how women can be successful. Jerome wanted
me to mentor and provide guidance to Lilian as a woman. We ran an errand together
and we instantly connected. One of the things I love about meeting new people is the
opportunity to listen to their story. So, I asked Lily to tell me her story, her dreams
and her aspirations in life.
Lily began by telling me that once she reached high school, her mother told her she couldn’t afford to pay for her school fees, uniforms, books and supplies. You would have thought that at her young age, Lily would have just given up, but she was determined to be educated. She decided to go to the headmaster of the high school she wanted to attend to make a special request. She told him how eagerly she wanted to be educated and that she was willing to clean the entire school by herself every day after school if he allowed her to attend school in return. To her surprise he accepted! Lily was able to graduate from high school as she worked her way through the six years she attended.
She is such a determined young woman and for years dreamed of attending university. By the time high school graduation came around, she knew she wanted to attend Kampala International University (KIU). At that time, a member of parliament promised about 30 students a scholarship to attend university. This parliament member was so sure she would be elected but ended up losing the race. Instead of calling and telling these students she wouldn’t be able to pay for their tuition like she had promised, she simply disappeared. The students wanted answers, but they received silence instead. Lily was devastated. She dreamed of going to university more than anything in this world. As Lily told me this, she told me her only option was to return to the village where her mother lived with her siblings. She didn’t know what she was going to do to provide for herself but felt this was her only option. She was even considering marrying and having children so she could be provided for by a man.