18 January 2011
A total of five Watoto young adults are set to graduate from Makerere University (Uganda’s leading tertiary education institute) this week. , Watoto villages are bustling with activity as both students and mothers put final touches on preparations for the big day, come Friday 21st January 2011.
Lydia Nakimuli, one of the graduands who lives at Watoto's Bbira Children's Village is visibly excited and can’t wait to be honoured with a degree certificate for her academic achievements. She studied business administration and majored in finance at the university. When we met her, she was going to the salon to get her hair plaited; she had already bought her graduation gown. She was also planning to look for a pair of shoes that would best match her dress after leaving the salon.
Lydia joined Watoto in 2000 with two of her sisters and one brother after they had lost their mother.
“It was a good change because I then become part of a family with a mother who loved me very much and treated me like her own biological child. Life at Watoto has been very pleasant mainly because I have never lacked anything - both in education and basic supplies,” she says.
After completing her final semester examination in May 2010, Lydia enrolled in the Watoto360° discipleship programme as she waited for graduation. She hopes to work with Watoto in the procurement department after graduation.
“I mainly want to thank God and Watoto for all they have done because if it wasn’t for them, I don’t know where I would be. Now, let me run quickly to the salon, I don’t want to be late,” she says while dashing into a taxi.
