By Karen Sparacio | Project Leader
“My mom would always tell me, ‘If you’re not the best in your class, then why are you going to school?’” recalls Winnie seriously, but with a smile, as she thinks of how her mother, Mama Oyet, has demanded the best of her. That encouragement has helped Winnie, just 23 years old, attain her current success as a mechanical engineer for Pepsi. Her three older siblings also have all earned university degrees. Mama Oyet, whose own education was cut short by the war in Northern Uganda, is determined that her children have a better life. Thanks to her hard work, they do. Poverty and war are no match for Mama Oyet.
When Mama Oyet first came to the Acholi Quarter after fleeing the war, she worked tirelessly. She’d make pancakes to sell in the morning and alcohol to sell in the evenings. “I did what I needed to do,” Mama Oyet says in a hushed tone that defies her audacious and resilient spirit. Mama Oyet is a force and she has instilled that same spirit in her youngest daughter.
“The best I can do is to make my mom happy,” Winnie declares with equal parts love, strength and admiration. “My success will be that she is well cared for and happy.”
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