Usually children in touch with street-life once re-integrated tend to look ahead with optimism. Unfortunately, for Asha Kiyonga (19), it has been quite twisted as she has had to go through a hard treat –obstacles, hardships and limitations to life earlier in her childhood.

Born in Nabilato, a remote village in Moroto district –one of the drought stricken areas in North-Eastern Uganda (Karamoja), Asha and her family moved to Namatala –a slum in Mbale town, Eastern Uganda still as a result of famine in their home area.

With a family of seven (7) children (4 girls +3 boys), living conditions in their new town area soon became so challenging especially with feeding and this forced the children to move to the streets to beg as well as look for food and left overs in garbage heaps along the market street as a way of survival.

Asha says, “Sometimes we would get nothing like food even on the streets since there are other children meaning we would sleep empty stomachs that day. Life on the street is a struggle for the toughest”.

During a day survey, CRO social workers met Asha with other girls picking foodstuff along the market street, interviewed her and invited her at CRO for further counseling.

At CRO, Asha went through rehabilitation class and a year later joined Primary Two. Being a bright girl, she progressed well up to Primary Five when she encountered another stumbling block - Aisha’s mother became so ill and thus dropped out of school in order to take care of her.

“I tried all ways, doing small odds of work so that our mother could get well”, Aisha narrates. To add to her broken hope, her mother passed on.
With such a life event, Aisha was back into her hurdle cycle. She had to take care of herself as well as her siblings. “Our living conditions became harder”. During such a time is when she was approached by a man who promised to take care of her and her siblings.

However, this didn’t last long before he impregnated her and that was the end of the assured support. Again, this was yet another trying moment for Aisha since she had to fend for the baby at such a young age through odd jobs as she had no skill at all.

In line with CRO’s vision of holistically transforming children formally living on the streets into productive and responsible persons in society, young people who cannot join formal education are enrolled into informal vocational education to attain skills and empowered to live a productive independent life.

Asha was granted this opportunity and was enrolled into a short practical hairdressing training course where she learned the said skill. She says, “I was so overjoyed when I was given an ear. I knew this was time for me to work hard and I promised to be regular at the training place”.

She successfully completed the hairdressing course after a period of six months and was given a startup kit to enable her become self-reliant and self-employed.

“I am so grateful for CRO for giving me another chance. Now am able to support my siblings and my sickly father”, Asha speaks. “I can now earn a daily income of Ushs 20,000 if I plait two pencil heads”, she adds.

Asha is one of several young girls and boys who have overcome the obstacles and limitations after a former street life to forge a better life into a hopeful and bright future.

She plans to have a big salon so that she will be able to support herself and train other vulnerable girls around her and within the community.