A Mother’s Love And Her Son’s Determination

Allan Mugabe is a determined young man – driven by the love and sacrifice of his mother, Stella (both are pictured above).

You see, Allan and his 3 siblings grew up with an abusive father.  Stella did her best to protect the children from violence by relocating whenever it became too volatile in the home.  Nevertheless, on several occasions, the father found where they were hiding and Stella would ensure the children got out to escape the abuse. 

Allan’s mother persisted and stayed strong for them all.  Eventually, his parents divorced and his father was later killed in a motorcycle accident. Stella brought the children to St. Kizito Sabina Primary Boarding School where she found employment as a matron/housemother of the little ones there.  She has been working at our partner school for over a decade and is beloved by staff and students alike.

Stella struggled on a housemother’s income to keep all of her children in school and pay for requirements. In the beginning, when the children were attending day school, she would scrape together enough money to buy composition books. 

However, she could not afford to purchase one book for each child so she would cut them in half so each one would have something to write on in class.

Allan and his siblings were constantly afraid of being chased away from school due to unpaid school fees or missing requirements, which is why in 2009 Children of Uganda stepped in to find a sponsor for Allan.

Allan grew up fearing if he would have a place to stay from day-to-day and often went without food.  In our sponsorship program, he felt safe and secure. 

His sponsor provided his school tuition, requirements, meals and a comfortable place to sleep at night.  Allan credits Children of Uganda with saving his life and giving him a very good education.

Recently, however, Allan shared with us that he is concerned for his beloved mother.  Stella is getting older and the work she does taking care of children is very strenuous. He understands that she won’t be able to work this job forever and he wants to be in a position to care for her when the time comes for her to stop.  Allan recognizes all the sacrifices that his mother has made and he wants to get as much education and experience as possible so that he can to give back to her. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

He is determined to earn a good job that will allow him to take care of his mother, so that she no longer feels the pressure to protect and provide for him again.

Allan enjoys doing hands-on activities.  Even as a young child, he loved fixing things and he especially loved working with electrical appliances.  Earlier this year, Allan completed a certificate in electrical installation from St. Kizito Vocational Technical Institute and next year (thanks to a private donor) he will begin his diploma course in the same field.  Allan has worked hard this year as an apprentice with an electrical company to gain more skills.  His dream is to operate his own electrical appliance business, which will allow him to care for his mother and younger siblings.

We are so inspired by Allan’s commitment to his education and career goals.  We are delighted that he has the opportunity to continue his training and that he will ultimately be in a position to take care of his mother – whom he loves more than anyone in the world!

His life has truly been transformed by the generous support of his sponsors and COU.  Stella is so proud of Allan and we share her pride in the work he has accomplished.  We are more than confident that he will reach his goals and his wish will be fulfilled!

• 

•