Josiane Tumukunde

Josiane was born in 2005 and she is a bright girl yet challenged as a youth. She lives with her mother and brother and has 4 other siblings but they live with other relatives because the mother cannot take care of all of them. Josiane has a multitude of health issues. She was born with bad bone formation in her legs, which makes her limp slightly and the legs look deformed somewhat. Because of that, she was teased a lot at school by other children and she didn’t have any friends.

Since joining Hope Shines in 2016, Josiane’s confidence has improved dramatically. She has made new supportive friends at the Hope Shines Learning Center in this inclusive space and it has made her a much happier child. Even though Josiane has been able to overcome some of her challenges since joining Hope Shines, there are other family related challenges that still dog her. These challenges have caused her to backslide in her performance at school, which is being closely monitored by Hope Shines. Her mother is so financially unstable that sometimes she is forced to engage in conduct that puts the children at risk, such as leaving them at home unattended or doing work at night. However, with Hope Shines staff and the parent committee interventions, we have seen an improvement in the family set up. There is still a long way to go but there is some registered progress.

Josiane has a bright future and her situation is not too uncommon for many in this social class. She hopes to finish school once day and get a quality education that will allow her to dream bigger and ultimately help others like her!