It's challenging
for a girl to pursue a career as an electrician in Uganda. But it's even harder
if she's also leaving behind seven years spent as a victim of child sex
trafficking.
That was the
situation Jacqueline, now 18, had found herself in. The youngest girl she
worked alongside was just nine, Jacqueline says. "They wanted girls who
were young as their bodies were free from diseases such as HIV."
Jacqueline found she
couldn't rely on her parents for support. In the village of Kyagwe, she was
living with a step mother who would chase her out of the house in the absence
of her father, she tells CNN. "My biological mother had got another man
who did not accept me at his place." The added struggle of putting herself
through school led her into years of sex slavery.
A friend of her
mother's took sympathy on her, so she left to live with her in the capital city
of Kampala, where she promised to pay for her school fees.
However, financial
trouble meant she couldn't continue fulfilling her promise. So Jacqueline went
to live with her paternal aunt in Namungoona -- a village on the outskirts of
Kampala.
But her aunt had an
accident and Jacqueline says she was left struggling for money yet again. So
she decided to confide in a neighbor.
"She told me
that she can support me in getting a job as a bar attendant near where she was
working. She was also working in the bar. I could not resist since I had to
cater for myself and I was 16 years (old) by then."
In a night I had to
sleep with four, five men in order to make like 30,000-40,000 Uganda shillings
($9 -- 12)
But it wasn't just
bar work. She fell into the sex trade again, supporting herself, her sick aunt
and her aunt's children.
"In a night I
had to sleep with four, five men in order to make like 30,000-40,000 Uganda
shillings ($9 -- 12)," she says.
"It was a very
hard moment sleeping with different men in the night and studying in the
morning but since I wanted so much to study I had to endure."
She was also
promised love by a man who said he would pay for her tuition fees.
"But to my
surprise, after having sex several times, he later abandoned me. And even when
I called he could only quarrel at me saying that he was not my parent to pay
for my school fees."
But then there was
genuine hope. A social worker came to the bar where she was working and tried
to tell her about charity Plan International's PEVUS (Partnership for Empowerment
of Vulnerable Girls and Women) project. The initiative works with young women
to educate them on their rights and sexual health and helps them learn new
skills. Jacqueline found it hard to trust her at first. But after several follow-up
visits, she accepted her support in April last year.
"First I did
not believe in them. Time came when I decided to give it a trial because I
could not imagine being trained for free.
"I felt so
good and excited because the social workers accepted me the way I was even
after explaining to them how I have been behaving and this gave me another hope
that I can have a better life."
Jacqueline showed
determination and discipline, and the social workers also trained her to become
a paid peer educator, speaking to other girls who went through similar
experiences to her.
"I always
advise them to leave that kind work because there is nothing good in it, apart
from being exploited since I was in it and I gained nothing.
"I also argue
(with) them to always use condoms to avoid unwanted pregnancy and sexually
transmitted infections."
Jacqueline:
"We used to live in the slum areas so we could sell our bodies to get
money, but now we can repair televisions and earn money."
Aside from becoming
a role model for others, she was also pursuing her own dream. She says she
takes pride in being the only female aspiring electrician where she lives in
Kampala, asked to mend all kinds of things from televisions to phones and
irons.
"I wish to
achieve a diploma and a degree in electronics such that I become a role model
to other young girls out there after being the best female electrician."
She has also been
reunited with her mother. "I went back home recently in December 2015 to
check on my mum, she was so excited when she learned that I trained in
electronics and she couldn't believe this."
In fact, she is a
single mother herself, to a one-year-old conceived while she was trafficked.
But now she has a more promising means of making ends meet for herself and her
child.
"I can earn
money without suffering. We used to live in the slum areas so we could sell our
bodies to get money, but now we can repair televisions and earn money."
And after such a
journey, how would Jacqueline describe her life?
"The best life
ever," she says.
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