Jane's Story

Grace Ernst, a U.S. university student interning for Hope Alive! during the spring semester of 2022, shares her experiences meeting Hope Alive! alumni. 

Jane (not her real name) is the first girl of Hope Alive! to graduate from university level courses. She grew up traveling between her town and an IDP (Internally Displaced Person) camp during the fighting elicited by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda. Her family would stay in the camp during the day to receive food rations but they would return to town in the evening to avoid being abducted by the LRA. Eventually, her mother was able to save enough money to rent a small apartment for Jane and her siblings to stay in while she worked. Jane became sponsored by Hope Alive! in 2007. She expressed her struggles of growing up during such a dangerous time. She would often miss her morning classes because she had to care for her siblings. But even so, she worked hard to ensure achievement in school. Her mother remarked that she was very smart and talented from a young age.

She completed her main schooling and went on to university to receive a Bachelor of Business Administration in 2015. She hopes to become an accountant someday. She currently works with a company that handles artificial intelligence and data collection where she is quite successful. Jane also helps Tessa and me translate for our small group that we lead on Mondays. She has become a close friend of ours and is very wise though still young. 

She remains dedicated to advancing her career and ensuring a profitable future for herself and her family. We have met her mother, and it is easy to see where she inherited her tenacity. Because of her hard work, she has been able to support her siblings who are still in school. She also continues to have an impact with the Hope Alive! girls and gives them guidance on how they may also attain a stable life for themselves.