With the outbreak of COVID19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2019, many things have changed and some are still changing and to many, life has not been the same again. For many people living in developing communities and suburbs­, COVID19 has negatively pushed them into a journey of no return.

From the many challenges people faced and continue facing as a result of this outbreak (COVID19), it didn’t spare the teenage girls who for close to three years stayed out of school. Harassment, forced labour, rape and early pregnancies are among the most reported issues young girls faced during the period of COVID19 lock-downs in Uganda.

In our story today, we feature an 18year old mother who says she now trains at RuFI Uganda as a result of COVID19 pandemic.

Kabugho Christine aged 18 is a mother of a two years baby boy who now trains tailoring at RuFI Uganda. Christine joined the tailoring class in February this and will be completing her six months course in July this very year 2023.

Before the outbreak of COVID19, I was in Primary Five, Christine says. In that period of COVID19 Lockdown I got pregnant and I couldn’t be able to continue with school after the lock-down was uplifted because it was very hard for me to go back to school and take care of my child as well. His father doesn’t give any support, I toil by myself to provide him with the basics, she says.

Christine further narrates that her 2sisters and 2brothers all stay with their mother who is a peasant and doesn’t provide enough for their family the reason she choose to join RuFI Uganda and acquire a skill. And also the opportunity for the sponsorship made it easy for me to join because I could not afford the self-provided basics to start the course, she says.

Asked if she has any health complications, Christine says a year after giving birth to her boy, she has been have a lot of pain in her right breast. Asked if she went for checkup, Christine says she has no funds for any checkup and has only relied on pain killers and local herbals as the only medication.

Christine looks forward to start up her own tailoring workshop and also grab any tailoring opportunity available after completing her tailoring course and she is thankful for the training opportunity offered to her by RuFi Uganda.

 Lastly, asked about her favorite color, Black is my best choice, she says.