Meet Scovia...
I go to Dara Christian High School in LIra, Northern Uganda, where I am in Senior Six. I am studying History, Economics, Geography and Entrepreneurship for A-level. Northern Uganda has many struggles; people are traumatised due to the effects of war; there are many child headed families as many adults lost their lives during the war; there are many broken marriages, poverty, lack of education and HIV/AIDS epidemic; there are also early marriages as this is seen as one of the ways of surviving the harsh conditions of poverty.
I had no hope after joining senior one. I had no school fees, beddings and other school requirements. In fact one day I ran away from school and tried to commit suicide. They found me with a rope around my neck and when asked why; I told my teachers that this was the only way I would avoid the suffering I was going through. I had to make bricks in the village to earn some money, to cater for some of the personal things I needed at school. My main struggle I face today is taking care of my siblings who all look up to me for help since our parents separated and have gone away. I feared many things in life. First of all, I feared being married off at an early age, my Dad would cane me when he found me making bricks. He told me it was men's work and would take the little money I earned from brick making. I needed a miracle...
