Learning a skill can be the difference between poverty and hope. Sometimes, even between life and death. Please help some young single mothers to learn the skill of hairdressing, and lift themselves and their children out of poverty.

In Makudui, a rural village near Mbale in eastern Uganda, if you are pregnant you are expected to find the man and get him to pay. Even if your pregnancy is the result of rape, or you are very young, your family may send you away from home and refuse to support you and your child.

Care For Girls supports 25 such young single mothers in Makudui. Some are as young as 12 or 13 years old. Some have twins; some are caring for a child with a disability.

None of these mothers is among the 20% of their peers who complete primary education, and none has any vocational skills that would enable them to earn a living. If they can find work at all, they work on private farms in exchange for small portions of food.

Shines UK has been working with Care For Girls since 2023. First, we helped these young mothers to access family planning healthcare, and to obtain HIV testing for themselves and their children. Then we helped to secure anti-retroviral medication for those who tested positive.

Now, we would like to support these young women to acquire skills that will enable them to earn a living.

With a skilled teacher, it takes 4 to 5 months to learn the skill of hairdressing and braiding. We will engage a local teacher to help four girls to acquire this skill. Afterwards, they will join the four girls we have already trained in tailoring, running their small businesses out of the Care For Girls Cooperative shop in Makudui's trading centre.

In addition, a micro-saving scheme will be established enabling them to put money aside for the next quarter's rent, and for their own medical and other needs.

Please support these young mothers to lift themselves and their babies out of poverty permanently.