Meet Vocational Training Student ~ Nuru Nabbumba Kisitu

I am called Nuru Nabbumba Kisitu, 23 years old and I come from a humble background. I am the first born in the family of six children and I am openly living with HIV. My life hasn’t been a smooth journey life one can imagine.

Nuru Nabbumba Kisitu

Throughout my childhood I experienced infidelity and domestic violence at home and grew up from one of Kampala’s suburbs’ called Katanga. I  learnt the hard way and life taught me to be tough. I guess I matured before my time after dad and mom separated I took on the role of my mother to look after my siblings at only 10 years old.

Dad fell sick suddenly and died when I was 14 years old in my S.2 first term. Life become tough for me and my family because he didn’t leave anything like inheritance so we had to begin from scratch.

Mom managed to put us in school for a while and I managed to finish my s.4 in 2002 and I got a job in a restaurant where I was earning 1500 per day. Our exams came back and I had passed but not so well because I was sick. I requested my bosses to allow me work in the night shifts so that I could raise school fees for s.5 they allowed me and I managed to get money for the first term and well wishers who were daily customers offered to buy me a uniform, scholastic materials and school fees for second and third term.

I completed A level by the grace of God amidst my deteriorating health and issues with school fees. I got another job in my s.6 vacation at Makerere University main library and I was earning 7000/= per day, worked for 7 months and the contract ended. It could not be renewed because I was attending work irregularly.

I saved some small money and started a small business of selling cooked food in 2006, managed to save 400,000/= and went to register in Kyambogo University. I was given the vacancy but I could not enroll because I was very sick and had spent all the money on my sickness. This is when I learnt that I had AIDS at that time. I was encouraged to first work on my health and school would follow.

At the end of 2007, friends I attend with PIDC Mulago referred me to BeadforLife, I asked for directions and there I was. I was told to come back in January 2008 and I did. BeadforLife helped to pay for my tuition at MISD for 2 years for a diploma in counseling and guidance and I will be graduating in August 2010. At the end of the first year in school, Straight Talk foundation asked me to join them in September 2008 as a volunteer after they had published my story in March. I was being paid 10,000 daily and it was really helpful. I managed to look after myself and the people at home. At the end of 2009 I was offered a job as officer for young people and HIV in Straight Talk and I was being paid 350,000/=

At the beginning of this year something incredible happened. I applied for UNAIDS Special Youth Program and I was taken on. We were 700 applicants from the whole world and I managed to be chosen with other two colleagues from Nepal and China.

Currently I am in Geneva Switzerland working in the UN family and I am thankful to God for what he has made me become. He raised me from the dust (Katanga slum) to sit with kings.
Currently I deal with high profile people and they are really supportive. The sky is the limit for me.  The lesson I have learnt is that, it really doesn’t matter where we come from and what happened in the past, the best we can do is embrace which ever opportunity which comes before us. In the shortest time (less than 10 years), I have graduated from earning 1500 to 2.550.700 UGX.

Tags: Africa, celebrate, Child Poverty, Education, Empowering Women, Kampala, Poverty Eradication, sustainability, Women Making A Difference