Tabitha’s Story

The importance of tailored support for women and girls

Tabitha*’s Father passed away when she was just two years old, and struggling to cope alone, her mother abandoned her and her brother with their Auntie in a slum area close to Jinja and disappeared from their lives forever. At first, their auntie took great care of them and was able to support them to attend school. But as costs kept rising and she struggled to find work, she was no longer able to afford school fees for both Tabitha and her brother.

At this point, Tabitha’s aunt chose to continue educating her brother. She believed that as a teenage girl, Tabitha would soon marry and leave home, so she was not worth investing in. The meant that Tabitha now had nothing to do during the days, other than hang around with other children who were out of school She soon began coming to the streets of Jinja to earn money. Tabitha felt her dream of a brighter future had been shattered and she now had no hope. Life on the streets was harsh, especially for a young girl.

One day, she met some other girls on the streets who told her about the S.A.L.V.E. Drop in Centre. Intrigued, she followed them and was warmly welcomed by the S.A.L.V.E. social workers. After several weeks of attending the centre, we carried out a home visit to meet her Auntie and find out more about the home situation. Seeing how determined Tabitha was to change her story, we decided to enrol her auntie into our Business Empowerment programme and offered Tabitha the chance to join our Education Support programme. Given her age, Tabitha chose to join a hairdressing course as this had been her ambition since she was a young girl. Tabitha’s focus, determination and discipline whilst undergoing training enabled her to learn the skill fast, understand the importance of customer service and helped improve her confidence and self esteem.

Two years after graduating, Tabitha is still working at the Salon where she trained. She has a strong customer base, the owner of the salon entrusts her to run the salon when she is not around and she has even supported other young people in S.A.L.V.E.’s Education programme to train there. She is now able to fully support herself and no longer reliant on her aunt or S.A.L.V.E. for financial support.