How Sunday Found Hope

When Sunday Aol, a sponsored student of Hope Alive!, saw us entering the compound to her home, she burst out in laughter and dashed to welcome us. The bubbly teenage student quickly sat down to share her story with us.

Sunday joined Hope Alive! In 2006, but before that she had gone through a series of painful experiences that left her family in despair.

“My father died in 2004 when I was only two years old, leaving six children with my mother. It was a hard time for us. Due to the civil war in northern Uganda, we transferred to a refugee camp,” recalls Sunday, with a pensive look on her face.

Life in the refugee camp was very hard for Sunday and her family. They experienced food shortages, exposure to diseases like Cholera, and the constant fear of death in case rebels overran the camp.

“There were times when my mother would run with me on her back as bullets were being fired by the rebels,” says Sunday.

Even when the guns went silent and families returned to their homes, Sunday’s mother still faced the colossal challenge of feeding her children and paying for their school fees. Indeed, they faced the risk of joining the growing number of school dropouts.

But her life took a positive turn when Hope Alive! came into the picture. She was enrolled for sponsorship and received all the benefits that came with it.

“When Hope Alive! came, my life really changed because they taught me so many things in the Bible. I got born again. Hope Alive! is paying my school fees, and I am so glad for what Hope Alive! is doing. May God bless our sponsors,” says Sunday.

Sunday notes that Hope Alive! has given her a vision for her life and caused her to rely on God. “God is the one who makes a way where there seems to be no way,” says Sunday. Her faith in God has been strengthened, and she can now study the Bible on her own.

Sunday's relationship with her sponsors has made her feel loved. She says, “I now know that there are people out there who care for me.”