Empower Child Domestic Workers Through Education

The beneficiary grew up being taken care of by her parents who were also taking care of her school fees. Her father later died and the grandmother and aunt started taking care of her and her school dues. She dropped out of school after her grandmother died. The grand mother and her auntie used to pool money  together with her aunt her school fees; her aunt could no longer afford her fees without any other persons support. As a result she started working in her aunt’s home at the same time helping at the hotel as a waiter in bid to raise school fees and go back to school. She also used to earn one thousand shillings (1000) per day which she used to save in the saving box for her school fees but it was not accumulating at all. She therefore could not afford to go to school.

Before Shakira was rescued from child labour as a domestic worker, she was staying with her aunt and working in her home as a domestic worker at the same time doubling work in a restaurant at the park yard. This simple restaurant is the overall source of livelihood for her aunt that she stays with. She had dropped out of school after the death of her grandmother who used to pool with her aunt some money and pay her school fees. Her aunt stays in Nkere zone in Makindye division. She started staying with her aunt who informed her that she needed her support to do domestic work and also to work with her in her restaurant as a waitress  and in between  as in order to pay her school fees. She started work in September 2013 and would work from 7:00am to 12:00am.

‘I badly wanted to go to school but as each day went by, I realised it was becoming hard because however much I tried to save the little money I earned, it could not become enough...I am happy I got an opportunity to get vocational skills training in cosmetology from PLA. It answered my prayer for wanting to go back to school’Says Shakira

Shakira works in a Saloon in Kamwokya near PLA offices. It has been easy for PLA to visit her, interact with her and the employer to find out how she is progressing.