Graduate Gives Back

Being born a twin to a poor family was a difficult situation. My parents didn’t have a stable job or stable home so they fought a lot. They ended up separating and abandoning my twin brother, Elvis and me. We stayed with our uncle who later took us to Children of Uganda (COU) because he couldn’t care for us.

Before joining COU, we struggled with finding basic needs. Most times we couldn’t even afford to have 2 meals a day! And, schools kept sending us back home because our school fees weren’t being paid.

Joining COU’s sponsorship program was a huge thing for us! We joined a great group of students and teachers. They provided us with all the basic needs, resources, school requirements and mentorship that we needed at that time. Elvis and I were in the COU program for 15 years, from primary school to finishing university. There’s a lot I can say about the program and it’s all good things.

I found a home, I found a family in COU – the staff, classmates and my sponsors – and even today I still have a huge connection with all of these people. 

I graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Petroleum Geoscience and Production from Makerere University in Kampala and I hope to go back to school and do an MBA program.

I’m currently living in the United Arab Emirates and working with American lifestyle retailer Abercrombie & Fitch as a store supervisor in The Dubai Mall – the world’s largest shopping mall.

Being in a managerial role in such a diverse and inclusive company has helped me become a better leader, a better man, father and husband. I want to thank COU for providing me with the opportunity to go to school and become the person that I am today! 

I loved being part of the COU family and am always going to be grateful for the opportunities they gave me. I wanted to give another child in Uganda the same opportunity that was given to me to go to school and that’s the reason why I became a sponsor.

I pray that I will be able to sponsor even more children in the future because it brings me joy giving back to the community that I grew up in.  Being able to give back to COU is the greatest achievement of my adulthood.