January is one of our favorite months here at Sseko! We get to kick off the year by introducing you to a new team of university bound women who will work with us for 9 months while they earn an income for university and head off to school in the fall. This year we’ve welcomed 15 bright new faces into the Sseko workshop. This is the largest group we’ve ever had! We are so excited to introduce you to the Class of 2017!
This year’s class is full of some serious world changers. Get to know the team!
Paging Dr. Edith! Yeah, we like the sound of that. Edith has hopes to study medicine to become a doctor for the people of Uganda. Good doctors and medical care is hard to find in her village and Edith hopes to lead the charge in changing that! Her friends describe her as organized, intelligent, brave and social. We can’t think of more perfect character traits for a doctor.
Sit back and relax, Omega is all ears. After watching a member of her community experience a mental breakdown, Omega decided she wanted to study psychiatry to help others in similar situations. Her favorite way to spend her time is “jazzing” around with her friends! In case you’re not up on your Ugandan slang (we weren’t), it means that you can catch her hanging out, talking and joking with her friends.
Known for her boldness and confidence, we’re sure Stella has what it takes to bring her dream of becoming an urban planner, to life. She reminds us that being brave means “Deciding what you want and doing it with confidence, even when you don’t have a lot of people following you or believing in you. If you believe in it, then you go for it.”
Dinner a la Moureen is served! Moureen loves to cook, and dreams of studying catering and hotel management so she can open her own restaurant one day. She enjoys learning about and experiencing other cultures, so it was no surprise to us that she’d love to visit Bollywood to see how movies are filmed.
After her time with Sseko, Winnie hopes to study law to be a voice for those who can’t stand up for themselves. She’s even thought about using what she learns in law school to start a project to help orphaned children. Winnie reminds us that being brave means, “doing things that maybe some people don’t expect you to do, or things that are beyond what others do.”
Saying she’s adventurous is an understatement! When she’s not exploring nature and taking travels of her own, you’ll catch Consy reading adventure novels. She dreams of traveling the whole world, as any true adventuress does! At the top of Consy’s list of places she’d like to visit is Indonesia… to see the rhinos of course! We’re wondering where she’ll take a position as an accountant after she finishes her studies in business administration.
The doctor is in! Ever since she was a little girl, Judy has dreamed of studying medicine and one day, becoming a doctor. She saw many of the poor people in the hospitals near her village suffer greatly because there aren’t enough doctors to care for them, and wants to help! Judy’s known for being quiet and hopes to develop her conversational skills through being part of Team Sseko.
Something about the way Shakira loves to wear bold prints tells us she’s quite the artiste! Shakira stays inspired by nature and hopes to study art one day, specifically design. When she’s not reading or spending time with her friends, you’ll probably find Shakira watching the newest horror film with a bowl of chili-flavored snacks. She loves to explore new places and plans to visit Switzerland in the near future!
Ever wanted to learn more about the history of Uganda? Just ask Liz! She loves what you can learn from studying the past and and plans to study the social sciences in university as a way to connect her future with a subject she loves. Liz is both loving and caring, and a hard-worker to boot! When she’s facing a tough situation she reminds herself, “There are no limitations apart from those we impose on ourselves”.
Hop on in and take the Jovian 3000 for a spin! Jovian can’t wait to start her study of mechanical engineering and dreams of one day becoming an inventor! First on the list of things she wants to invent is a vehicle! She’s always laughing and cracking jokes is known to be ‘ever-smiling’ while giving her friends advice when they seek it.
After losing her grandfather to an illness that was not attended to quickly enough, Prossy vowed to grow up to become a doctor! She’s looking forward to studying medicine in university so that other people don’t have to suffer like her grandfather did. Prossy knows her dream is going to take a lot of work and she reminds herself, “happy are those who dream and are ready to pay the prices required for their dreams to come true.”
Gift dreams of the day where corruption is no longer overlooked! She can’t wait to study law in university and become a lawyer for the people in her community. Mother Theresa played a big role in Gift’s choice of career path. Gift is inspired by her words, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other”.
She looks upon the world with wonder in her eyes and a joyous spirit. Meet Faith! Faith is one of seven children raised by a Reverend and a businesswoman. One thing she’s learned from her mother is to always be strong, no matter what! Faith plans to study the social sciences in university and use her degree in an organization that helps orphans.
Meet Joan! Joan’s one of nine children who loves to sing and watch Nigerian films– and you’ll usually catch her adorned in the color purple. We love Joan’s desire to end corruption and her passion for studying social administration. We can’t wait to see all the positive change she’ll bring as a public administrator one day!
Order! Order in the court! Ritah wants to be a facilitator of justice in her community, so she’s got her eyes set on studying law in university. Maybe even in New York City! In her free time, Ritah enjoys listening to music and inspirational stories.