Kakooza

John Kakooza was born on Dec. 12, 1993 in Lugazi, Uganda. He was raised by his father. He never met his mother. John’s father was an alcoholic and physically abused him so as a young boy of seven John ran away to the streets of Kampala. He lived on the streets for two years and survived by begging and collecting scraps of plastic and metal to sell.

John

John said, “The life was very hard by that time because I was young. I had nowhere to sleep and no food so life was very bad. Sometimes I used to look for scraps and bottles to sell and get money, but sometimes I failed and I had to look through rubbish for leftovers to get food.”

John said he would rather live on the streets than go back to living with his father. His father is a farmer and still lives in Lugazi. John said, “The life (on the streets) was hard but I had freedom.”

One day when John was living on the streets he was walking around with his friend looking for scraps and his friends showed him an organization that could help him. John decided to ask that organization for help and soon after he moved off the streets and into a house for children. John said he was tired of life on the streets and he desperately wanted to go to school. Unfortunately the organization John was living with was not well funded. They barely had enough money to feed the kids much less pay school fees. Despite the poor conditions at his new home John lived there for four years hoping that one day he would be able to go to school. Eventually the organization shut down and the boys were transferred to Cornerstone Development’s (HALO’s current partner) youth program.

John lived at Kibuli home for two years but during that time Cornerstone did not have enough funds to send all the kids to school so John still wasn’t in school. He continued to wait patiently for his turn to begin school. John said he wanted to study so much so he would look for other organizations that could pay his school fees, but he never had any success.

Finally in 2008 when John was 15 he moved into Bukesa home and was able to start school. He was very excited once he moved to Bukesa and could begin school because as John said, “that was my dream.” He entered school at the primary four level even though according to his age John should have been in high school. John completed primary school at the end of 2012 at the age of 19. Although HALO gave John the opportunity to continue his education at the secondary (high school) level he wanted to pursue a more practical course. After not attending school for most of his childhood John really struggled to do well in his classes. John loved school and was very grateful for the opportunity to graduate from primary school but school was not where his strengths lie and he realized that. John applied for the HALO scholarship at the end of 2012 and was given the scholarship to continue his education doing a training course in hair dressing. John will begin his training in October 2013.

He said, “I am so happy (about the scholarship) because I didn’t expect someone can spend all that money on me.”

Below is an interview with John about his upcoming training and his future.

What are you most excited about?

“The opportunity to learn a new skill.”

Why are you interested in business?

“For me, it is a simple job where you can get money without too much struggling. If you know it well you can start a small business.”

Why are you interested in hair dressing?

“The reason why I trained for hair dressing is because in this country there are always new hair styles.”

What is your plan for the future?

“I want to start my own salon and another business after that.”

“I want to be independent. That’s mostly what I need. I want to have a house for my babies and wife.”

“In my dreams I want to be a good dad and a good businessman.”