St Elizabeth's Girls Home
St Elizabeth's Girls Home is in Mengo, a suburb of the Ugandan capital Kampala, and is run by Sister Catherine Akiiki for girls without homes or relatives to care for them. St Elizabeth's takes girls from the age of 13 upwards and it has a strong vocational side, teaching them cookery, tailoring and secretarial skills. They also do outside catering which is in great demand and helps to pay the costs of caring for the girls.

In January 2005, Workaid sent the project 21 sewing machines, two knitting machines and 12 typewriters, which has helped them to expand their programme.

Sister Catherine has the fire and the vision to expand the work of the home but her main aim is to turn around the lives of girls like Grace Namsekka and Queenta Aweilo.

Grace is 16 years old. When her mother died, her drunken father refused to pay her school fees and she had to drop out of secondary school. He treated her so badly that she ran away to live and beg on the streets of Kampala. Eventually she was found by a supporter of St Elizabeth's who won her trust and took her to the home. Grace is in her first year at St Elizabeth's and is learning dressmaking. She dreams of finishing her training, getting a sewing machine and starting her own business.

When Queenta's mother died, her father remarried and she was beaten and tortured by her stepmother. At the age of 11 she decided to run away to Kampala, where she too lived and begged on the streets. She says she was often hungry and had pains in her stomach but fortunately one of the teachers at St Elizabeth's found her and took her to the home.

Now 13 years old, Queenta is learning catering which she really enjoys but her ambition is to finish secondary school if she can find a sponsor willing to pay for her education.

The fate of these girls could have been very different if they had not found shelter at St Elizabeth's Girls Home.

Thanks to equipment supplied by Workaid, they are now learning skills to support themselves and can see a brighter future ahead of them.

Mengo Pic

Workaid Chairman Sylvia Parrott talking to Queenta Aweilo