Juliette's Story
My name is Juliette Awino and I'm 20 years old. I am a luhya girl from the western part of Kenya in Busire district, and the fourth child in a family of six.
After losing both of my parents in 1999, I had to stay with my grandmother. At that time I was in class four and my grandmother could not afford to pay school fees. She was struggling to make ends meet and would try to sell the little farm produce she had to pay my school fees, but it was very tight and sometimes we would go without food.
When I was in primary school there were some sponsors who helped needy children and I was really praying that they would pick me. But it didn't happen. When I completed primary school and could not go to secondary school, that was when luck fell on my side. In 2004, Seed of Hope were taking girls who were orphans who could not continue with their education.
I joined Seed of Hope in that year and trained for two years. In those two years we learned many valuable lessons such as business , vocational and life skills. The training has helped me to learn more about life and plan for the future. It has given me hope and I have really changed because of this.
Today, I am now working for Johari, making clothes from start to finish - pattern cutting, pinning and stitching - ready for selling in the Johari shop. My dream is to eventually become a designer and see my own designs being sold at Johari.
My thanks go to Vision Africa, Kate McAskill and Sumerian, who continue to support the project and give more girls like me the opportunity to succeed in life.