Franka, 17, sits with her baby, Sharon, in front of the Pader Girls Academy. Photo | Simon Peter Esaku/World VisionShe was born at the Kalongo Hospital in northern Uganda in 1992. Fifteen years later, Franka Aneno was back in the same ward, this time to deliver her own child — a baby girl named Sharon.
What Franka had thought was only a little adventure with a boyfriend became a life-changing situation. “When my mother found out I was pregnant, she whipped me,” Franka recalls. Then, adding insult to injury, Franka’s head teacher expelled her from school.
After her baby was born, Franka lived at home with her mother and 10-year-old sister, helping grow food and caring for baby Sharon. A Ugandan rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army, killed Franka’s father in 2003.
Franka's ray of hope
When her baby was about a year old, Franka found out about a program that might help her continue her education. It gave her a reason to hope. “In April [2008], I applied for World Vision to give me a scholarship to learn vocational skills in Pader Girls Academy,” says Franka. “My application was successful, and I reported to the academy in August.”
With Sharon securely wrapped to Franka’s back, the young mother explains, “I am learning tailoring and knitting, and I will complete my course in May this year.”
