Santa attended a business skills training day for caregivers on the child sponsorship programme. A year later, it was amazing to hear the difference it had made.

‘Before the training I used to think of myself as a failure, I was just a poor lady who lived hand to mouth,' explained Santa.

'During the training I realised I had the potential to lead a better life. I always thought I couldn’t achieve anything because I didn’t have any capital, but the training made me realise that my brain is my capital.’

Wheelbarrows are money-makers

‘We were asked to think about all our unused assets and I realised I had a wheelbarrow that was sitting idle,' continues Santa. 'I decided to load up my wheelbarrow with bananas from the market and take them into the centre of Lira town – choosing to ignore people’s whispers and gossip.'

'Can you believe I’d sold all the bananas by midday? I only invested 50,000 shillings into the business, and now it is worth 100,000 shillings. I have managed to pay off all my debts and escape from the money lenders.’

The Amigos Child Sponsorship programme trains caregivers so that within a few years they are able to pay the school fees of the children in their care. This means we can go on to support other families and help more children.

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