Sponsorship Spotlight
Adong Scovia, like most children from war-torn Northern Uganda, lost both of her parents. Her father was killed and her mother died after a long illness. She became a total orphan with no hope.
Her relatives took her to live with her grandmother. This was no place for a young girl who had just lost her mother and father. Instead of enjoying a childhood, caring for her ill grandmother became a full-time job. She never stopped thinking of her future, but the thought of wasting all her life taking care of a grandmother sacred her. She craved an education, if only she could go up to senior four level, so that she could grow into a useful citizen whose community would be proud of!
She would sit at the back of the hut and cry, with no hope of ever going back to school. One day a thought crossed her mind, “Why don’t I try to find someone to pay for my fees?” But where to start? She had never known that a dream could come true, but hers did when someone tipped her off about a sponsorship program through CHAIN that was funded by GOAF.
She got the sponsorship!
“I cannot explain how I felt about the news when I got to know that CHAIN was going to find a sponsor for me,” Adong says.
After finishing Senior Four, she reflected on her childhood experiences caring for her sick grandmother and thought of being a nurse. She was overjoyed to learn that GOAF was willing to continue her funding so that she could complete a nursing program.
Scovia is now 21 years old and graduated from her nursing program in 2012.
“I will never forget what happened to me when I was still a young girl, but I learned how to deal with my past. I am proud of what I am today and I have learned that everybody has to face challenges in his or her life. Sometimes it is easy to overcome them, sometimes it is hard, but if you are strong enough and find people who can support you during hard times, you can overcome every challenge” says Adong.
Adong is determined to be the best nurse she can be, providing special care and love to patients. She credits her positive attitudes to those who provided and cared for her as she grew into adulthood, and pledges to support an orphan one day.
