Friday, February 25, 2011

Staff Spotlight: Pauline



We want to introduce you to our beautiful staff - The people who are dedicated to making instrumental change happen here in Uganda. The patience, love, and passion they exhibit are constantly transforming the lives of our girls.

This week we present Pauline Amony, our Project Director in Gulu.

Pauline is confident, independent, and compassionate woman. When it comes to her work, she is a force to be reckoned with. Pauline has a fiery passion for our girls and other girls in the community with similar backgrounds. Though she appears to be small and fragile, she’s tough. She walks into the slums and ghettos with authority and has the ability to soften even the most hardened teens.

This loving woman is the perfect mother figure for our girls in Gulu. She shows love in ways that only a natural mother could and knows more patience than most could dream of. She truly believes in the goals of our project and was even reaching out to this demographic before Purse of Hope came into existence.

Our girls see her as their adoptive mother. Though many were abandoned or orphaned, they’ve found the consistent love they’ve longed for in Pauline.

When asked about her role as a mother to the girls Pauline responded, “I feel blessed to be a mother of so many lovely girls. It’s something I had only ever dreamt of.”

In addition to her long list of skills (which include, administration, managing staff, loving our girls, organizing programs, counseling, etc.), Pauline is a gifted conflict mediator. She has a heart for reconciling the girls back to their families. Though many of the families are the cause of the hardships in the lives of our girls, Pauline is dedicated to helping them change.

This task is not an easy one, but when accomplished, can change their entire course of a girl’s life. The shame, neglect, and abandonment they feel can disappear when a family member asks for forgiveness and admits fault. Though this takes time, Pauline has the patience and perseverance to continue the work and we’ve seen many instances of reconciliation in the past few months.

Pauline hopes to see the girls become educated, responsible women of their nation. And we’ve already seen this dream coming true. Purse of Hope is beyond blessed to work with this incredible woman whose love knows no end.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

A Brighter Future


This week Juliet and Beatrice started Secondary School (High School).

Beatrice spent the last year repeating Primary 7. She was faced with adversity each day as a 17-year-old in Jr. High. But thanks to the encouragement of our amazing Project Director, Pauline, and her Purse of Hope sisters, Beatrice found the courage to study hard to have another chance at passing her exams. The weeks leading up to the release of the exam scores was filled with nerves. Both Juliet and Beatrice were totally freaking out. This news could make or break the future of their education.

Upon receiving the news that they passed, they both broke down in tears. Before coming to Purse of Hope, they never thought they would set foot in a Secondary School. Their hopes had been shattered by war, abuse, and abandonment. But on this day the hopelessness of the past was broken. Juliet and Beatrice have a second chance at life with Purse of Hope. They have the chance to be kids, to be students, and to be loved.

Thank you for supporting these girls and cheering them on as they walk bravely into a brighter future.