My name is Silvia Lakisa, I’m 25 years old and a mother of two. My journey has been filled with pain, resilience, and transformation.

I was married at just 17 years old, hoping to escape the hardship of casual labour and find happiness. My father had passed away, leaving my mother to care for six children. When I chose marriage over staying home, my mother disowned me, warning me never to return should the marriage fail.

Years later, my husband abandoned me while I was pregnant with our third child. The stress of rejection, betrayal, and helplessness led to the heartbreaking loss of my five-month pregnancy. He not only left me but also took everything from me including my clothes and married another woman. He forced me and our children out of the home we once shared. With nowhere to go, I begged him to let me, and the children stay in the kitchen while he stayed in the main house with his new wife. He refused and told me he wanted nothing to do with us.

With no support system, I began working at a restaurant in town for just 3,000 UGX per day barely enough to survive. I used what little I had to rent a small hut for me and my children. Friends and neighbours showed me kindness by giving us basic items like cooking utensils, a blanket, and a mat.

Soon after, a friend introduced me to stone quarrying, where payment is based on the amount of stone broken. The work was gruelling, but it gave me slightly better income. Still, life was incredibly hard until I met a team from Haven for Humanity Uganda (HHU).

They formed a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) group in our area and began offering us training in psychosocial support, spiritual guidance, business, and financial literacy. Through their counselling and support, I began healing emotionally and mentally from the trauma I had endured.

After two months, HHU provided us with seed funding. I immediately began saving and borrowed 400,000 UGX from the group. With that, I started my own commercial quarrying business. I hired three other women, paying them 200,000 UGX each per month. Today, we work together as a team, and all of us are happy and proud of what we’ve built.

I’ve since repaid the loan, and my business continues to grow. I’m now able to feed my children properly, send them to school, cover their medical bills, and most importantly my heart is healing. I’m saving to buy a piece of land where I can one day build a stable home for my family.

I’m deeply grateful to Haven for Humanity Uganda for believing in me when I had nothing left. My life has truly changed.