Two orphaned children who became stuck in a cycle of forced child labour and domestic work have been able to return to school.
The transformation in their lives has come through their 70-year-old grandmother, their sole caregiver, who has started up her own business to fund their education, with support from one of Hope for Justice’s community initiatives in Uganda aimed at preventing trafficking and child exploitation.
Until recently, Mirembe* and her nine-year-old granddaughter were doing domestic work, such as fetching water and selling firewood, for the equivalent of less than $10 (£7.30) a month. Meanwhile, her 12-year-old grandson was herding livestock in exchange for food for the family. They were living in a rundown shelter – barely habitable.
Mirembe joined one of our Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in the Napak district of North East Uganda. These groups are made up of members of the community who save collectively. Members take turns to receive loans, enabling them to become more self-sufficient, and reduce the future risk of trafficking for the whole family.
As a member of the SHG, Mirembe has been empowered in multiple ways; she now has financial support, a community, a sense of belonging, and emotional strength.
She told us: “For once, I feel seen. The members care about how I’m coping, and thanks to genuine friendships, I now feel confident to face life’s hardships.”
The SHG Mirembe is a member of is called Lolet, which means milk, a symbol of life, wealth, identity and spirituality in Karamojong culture, the community she is part of.
Group members learned Mirembe’s home was falling apart and they decided to help. During a weekly meeting, they made a plan: the women sourced local materials, and the men oversaw the construction, re-thatching and repairing the roof. Together, they transformed the shelter into a safe and comfortable home, which had an incredibly positive impact on Mirembe’s life and household.
Madinah Kakyama, Community Prevention Manager, said: “As Mirembe attended the Self-Help Group meetings and engaged in discussions, she learned about child rights and exploitative child labour. Her eyes were opened to the cruelty of the practices she and her grandchildren were facing, and which she had long normalised out of desperation. Over time, she began to understand and appreciate the importance of education and the long-term harm caused when children are forced into labour.”
With this new awareness, Mirembe enrolled her grandchildren at their nearby primary school, where they are now receiving an education.
Mirembe has also joined a community ‘block farm’ (an agricultural model where a large area of land is divided into smaller plots for individual smallholder farmers to cultivate), where she receives support and practical skills to improve her work. She has begun cultivating crops such as green gram – a source of protein, vitamins and minerals and a ‘drought-tolerant’ crop – and sorghum – a cereal crop which can be grown as grain, forage or sweet crop – that her family previously only received in exchange for exploitative child labour. Today, Mirembe sells these crops and uses the income to provide food for the household. She has also begun saving and borrowing through the SHG, which has boosted her firewood business. Mirembe now sells firewood at a weekly market, as well as within the manyatta (the semi-nomadic community she is part of in the Karamoja sub-region of northeastern Uganda).
Hope for Justice is working in Karamoja as part of a three-year programme, known as the Protection and Restoration of Exploited Children in Karamoja (PREC) Project, funded by the European Union.
Madinah Kakyama, Community Prevention Manager, said: “Mirembe told us she is now full of peace and gratitude because her grandchildren are back in school, her home is safe, and she is part of a supportive community that values her. Through knowledge, unity, and shared strength, she has reclaimed stability, dignity, and hope for the future.”
Mirembe added: “I truly appreciate the teamwork of our group. The Self-Help Group model is something we should continue to promote in our communities.”
*Name changed to protect identity of the survivors
