Bridget is 20 years old. She was enrolled in Tushinde in 2019 and placed under the Youth Programme. She was the first born in a family of three children. Bridget’s father fell sick with liver disease secondary to a tropical infection and she had to drop out of school when she was 15. Her mother was unable to continue paying for their father’s medical bills, school fees and look after the family. Bridget tried looking for employment but with no success.
Luckily, a friend referred the family to Tushinde after seeing the challenges they faced. They were in a bad state when first reviewed by our social work team. As part of Tushinde’s initial crisis intervention the family was given emergency food
donations and Bridget’s two little sisters were enrolled in school. They were also started on weekly cash transfers. This helped the family sustain their basic needs. Tushinde enrolled the family on the government’s health insurance scheme (NHIF).
“Through this we got some hope for our father’s health” says Bridget. “He could just take his [NHIF] card and they would give him the medicine. Mum could use her cash transfers and wages from casual work to feed me and my sisters and we stopped going hungry.”
Bridget refers to it as their “turning point in life.” Tushinde paid for Bridget’s sisters to attend school. Once stable, the Tushinde social workers started working with the mother to become independent of support.
Bridget’s passion was fashion and design, so we supported her study dressmaking at a local college. She passed the exam with flying colours.
“Tushinde came in at the time when I had completely lost hope in life. It was a golden opportunity to take a certificate course. It has opened doors for me.”
At the date of this interview, she had just come from a job interview and was to report for work the next day. She will start earning a life from the skills she has always longed to possess. From the Tushinde team, we wish Bridget all the best as she strives to better and remodel her life and that of her family.
She is grateful to the Tushinde team for the support she got and wishes that more youths will benefit from the programme. She also thanked the donors who facilitated the youth programme and prayed for blessings upon their lives.