Anena Gloria

In 2003, Gloria lost her mother to AIDS, and then in 2006 her father passed away. This left Gloria and her siblings stranded with no specific adult to take care of them.  At the same time a rebel movement had destabilized northern Uganda, forcing the child-headed family into an internally displaced refugee camp.

Life in the refugee camp was hard for Gloria and her siblings. “We always catered for ourselves,” recalls Gloria. Gloria was one of the first students to be enrolled for sponsorship in Hope Alive! in northern Uganda. Hope Alive! provided all her special needs. These included food, school fees, and scholastic materials among others.

Gloria says she wasn’t a Christian before joining Hope Alive! but that changed when she was enrolled for sponsorship. “When I joined Hope Alive!, I was able to receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I had mentors who stood by my side. I had my special aunt, Catharine Coon! [Hope Alive!’s executive director], who was acting as a mother to me. She was giving me the kind of advice I needed as a growing child,” says Gloria.

According to Gloria, when before she joined Hope Alive!, she never had hope of becoming a teacher, but, with the encouragement of mentors and Catharine, she was able to make it through school. Today Gloria is a teacher and is full of hope. She is able to provide for herself. She says she felt worthless before but that changed when she joined Hope Alive!. “I was nothing but I am somebody.”