February 2023

Healing in the Heartache.

Wow. That was my first reaction to Lovinsa’s story. She’s a 15-year-old girl in Uganda, and the things that have happened in her life are heavy. Lovinsa’s story is one of extreme heartache, but even more so, it’s one of beautiful redemption happening through healing.

You see, Lovinsa was living with her mother, but when she was seven, her father came and took her to live with him and his family, which included her stepmom and step siblings. Even after this switch of households, though, Lovinsa’s mom was still the one financially supporting her through the means of her market vendor job. So Lovinsa was under her dad’s roof, but she wasn’t necessarily under his care.

This became even more evident when her stepmom left the house to go to a funeral one day, and her dad took her into another room in the house, away from all her step siblings, and had sex with her. He threatened her and told her not to tell anybody about what happened. He claimed that he had spoken with a sorcerer who had instructed him to rape her if he wanted his business to flourish. This happened several more times and Lovinsa became pregnant.

After the news came out that Lovinsa had conceived, her father denied having any part in the pregnancy. Her father, who was supposed to protect her, instead exploited her and left her helpless. After his repeated denial, her sister finally reported him to the police, and they took him to prison. So her father was gone, but she still had to deal with the effects of his actions against her. She eventually gave birth to a baby boy, but he was rejected because the form of his conception was culturally unethical. Not even her family she lived with wanted to associate with him.

Lovinsa’s mom wants to be able to care for her daughter, but she faces struggles financially and she just doesn’t have the means to take care of her, so Lovinsa went to stay with her grandmother.

What was she supposed to do? She wasn’t educated, she didn’t have the finances to cover her cost of living, which meant she couldn’t pay for school, and she had to take care of her baby boy as a 15-year-old without the help of the father—her father. She faced deep emotions of betrayal, confusion, and hurt. But Lovinsa’s story doesn’t end here in the heartache…

She became the recipient of a scholarship from The Hope Venture through our partnership with Wakisa, a pregnancy center in Uganda for teenage mothers. She had been able to attend Wakisa and receive help from them throughout her pregnancy, and once she gave birth, we partnered with Wakisa to help her even beyond the raising of her child.

She now goes to school at Buloba Primary School, and it’s more than just a formal education for her. She takes classes and grows her knowledge, but she’s also healing. It’s a safe space. It’s therapeutic for her to go to school… to learn about things she enjoys, to build healthy relationships with her teachers and classmates, and to work toward a diploma that can help her in her pursuit of a stable career.

She has also gotten involved with the Girl Guides group at school, which is similar to Girl Scouts in the US, but has an emphasis on sharing the word of God and taking care of one another emotionally, spiritually, and physically. They also take care of the school premises and make sure it’s clean. They play games and have fun with one another, fostering a fun, safe, and healthy community.

There seems to be a sprout of hope pushing through the ash in the midst of all the betrayal and hurt Lovinsa has walked through. Redemption is happening. Healing is happening. She laughs. She’s made friends. She’s found community. Her teachers love having her in class. The scholarship that was provided for Lovinsa is reaching far beyond the classroom—it’s providing an opportunity for deep parts of her heart to be mended and restored.

The Provision of a Home.

Brokenness permeated Yves’s family. He has four siblings, but each of them have a different father. He doesn’t even know his own father… he has never even seen him. His grandmother was his primary caretaker from the time he was one year old until he was fourteen and entering seventh grade. Then his mom came through the village and brought their family of six back together into a single room home. Soon after Yves began living with his mom again, she married another man. He joined them in the single room home, but it wasn’t long before the new husband chased away the five kids. He couldn’t stand living with children who were not his own. So, Yves and all his siblings were left on their own, with no home except the streets. However, there were a number of neighbors and people in the community that quickly welcomed them into their own homes. In Yves’s case, a young man invited him to stay with him in his small room.

In the midst of all this, Yves continued to attend high school thanks to the means of the Acts4Rwanda scholarship program, which seeks to help Rwandan children get an education. He became a recipient of this scholarship program when he was in ninth grade.

Then when it came time to attend college, he was able to receive a scholarship for tuition through a loan from the Rwandan government. This meant he was able to get his class costs covered, but he still wasn’t able to pay for housing, had no money for food, and couldn’t afford other costs like books and supplies. He was on his own… he no longer had any family supporting him financially. There was a lot of weight to carry. So, he had planned to take a gap year, work as many hours as he could, save money, and then go back to school using the savings he accumulated from working, hoping it would be enough to cover everything beyond the tuition costs that were holding him back from his education.

Well, Yves had a scholarship in high school through Acts4Rwanda, and The Hope Venture has a partnership with them. So, through his connection with Acts4Rwanda, they were able to connect him to be a recipient of The Hope Venture’s college scholarship project, which helps students by paying for their room and board costs while they complete their undergraduate studies. Yves had a home provided for him yet again! So, since his tuition is covered by the government loan, and his room and board costs are covered by The Hope Venture, he can go to college without extra worries about finances, and he doesn’t have to take a year off to try to save up money. He can concentrate fully on his academics, which he takes seriously. He wants to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in real estate management and evaluation.

Post-graduation with this degree, he would be able to find work which could help support his family financially, and also support the community through his services in helping people find homes. Yves especially has a heart for helping children in situations not much different than his own while growing up—underprivileged children in need of a home. But he isn’t just leaving his passion for helping others for when he graduates college… he is serving and leading in his school, church, and community now even while he completes his coursework.