Moonlight Stars
A project by RHU

I was born in a district north of Kampala where I lived with my mother, my uncle, two brothers and three sisters.  We were poor back then. My mother was a farmer but even still getting food was very hard. I went to school until I was about 11 and I had to stop. When I was 13 I met a man, he was 28 and I became pregnant by him. I began living with him but he was abusive. I decided to take charge of my life and when an opportunity came for me to work in Kampala, I left.

 

After some time in Kampala I began living with a group of women who were Moonlight Stars; they took me in but they expected me to begin working alongside them. I was still young, not even 20 yet and I was scared of starting this work. The other girls wouldn’t let up, and finally I understood then that I didn’t have a choice. Two years later I found employment as a maid, but the woman of the house would travel for work and while she was gone her husband would rape me. Once again I was afraid for my life and I had to make the difficult choice of leaving before it was too late. I ended up back on the street. Shortly after, a burst condom gave me my second child, who is now six years old. I do not know where his father is.

 

I have so many expenses right now since I’m alone with two kids, but RHU taught me about saving and managing money, so that has been very helpful. They also taught me how to stay safe. We come to the clinic and get condoms for free, they taught us how to use them, and thank God I am still HIV negative. Meeting RHU changed me in many ways, among them is the fact that I used to drink a lot and take drugs, but counseling at RHU convinced me to stop.

 

The big hope I have for my life is that I get a big piece of land that I can build a house on. I want to become a farmer and to stop being a Moonlight Star. I also dream of seeing my two boys educated and with a bright future ahead of them.