See the strength in Justine
Justine (25) from Uganda
“With the support of the Liliane Foundation, I have changed from a sad, hopeless orphan with a disability, to a confident independent woman, a dentist!”
Justine (25) from Uganda achieved this remarkable change through hard work and the support of our donors and partner organisation.
Pain and exclusion
Justine was born with a leg deformity. This is probably due to a vitamin D deficiency when she was very young.
It took a long time for her parents to seek help as her family lived in a remote area and was very poor. But when they finally took Justine to the hospital for examination, she was still not helped because her parents could not afford the cost. For Justine, years of pain followed, in her legs and especially pain in her soul.
“I crawled on my knees because I couldn’t walk because of the pain. On the street, people called after me, and I was excluded and laughed at. Children were scared of me, didn’t want to play with me. They called me a frog. Even teachers acted mean and ignored me. Everywhere I was rejected. It was torture.”
To make matters worse, her parents died when Justine was just 12 years old; a sad event that strangely also opened doors.
Doors open
Justine moved to her uncle William in the capital. There, Justine came into contact with Kenneth, from our local partner organisation Katalemwa Cheshire Home. Thanks to Kenneth and the support of our donors, Justine received the tailored care she needed. After five operations and a lot of physiotherapy, Justine learned to walk. Finally, she could move freely.
Intensive care and rehabilitation prevented Justine from attending school for two years. Justine, however, often had her nose in textbooks while in hospital. And when she was finally able to go back to school, it turned out that this self-study allowed her to skip several classes.
Justine takes giant steps
After high school, Justine took her next giant step, to university. There, she is making her dream come true: she has almost finished her studies to become a dentist.
She got to this point thanks to her perseverance and dream for the future . Justine not only dreams of a life as a dentist, she is making that dream come true – step by step.
“I am looking at the future very positively. I dream of having my own dental practise because I want to help people, especially children with disabilities. Because it’s so important to have friends and people who support you. We all need eachother to grow. Look at me: this is how a hopeless situation turns into a hopeful future.”
