Judith

My name is Judith and I am a part of the Karamojong community and live in a polygamous family in a village in northern Uganda. My father has four wives and twenty-seven children; my mum is the youngest of the wives. My father’s source of income came from raising cattle. He tried to pay for school but due to the consistent cattle raids, his only source of income was cut short. When he grew ill, we were forced to sell the remaining cattle to tend to his medical bills and move into town. Life became challenging and the children had to start working in casual labor to pay for our school fees and support my father's recurring medical bills.
My village has experienced cattle raids, killings and insecurity. I knew from a young age that what we needed was people who would preach peace and bring people together towards social cohesion. As a young girl, I would attend communal meetings and listen to elders speaking. One day while defying tradition and trying to listen to an elders-only meeting, a leader reached out to defend me and invited me to Young Life club. My desire to serve grew when I started to journey with teens in my community as a Young Life leader, knowing they are the ones to bring change, the change that we really need in our community.
Now a DGL student, I am pursuing a social sciences degree at Kyambogo University and hope to be a social worker with the Karamojong communities in northern Uganda. I will be the first person in my family to acquire a university degree.