Nickname: Mark

Date of Birth: November 7, 1999

Place of birth: Masese, Uganda

Q&A

What do you want to be when you grow up? A Pastor

Why? Because I like to pray for people and I want God to be with me

What is your favorite color? Yellow

What is your favorite food? Chips and chicken

What is your favorite subject in school? English

What are your hobbies? Swimming

Mark’s Story:

I was born in Masese (the slums outside of Jinja, Uganda). I lived with both of my parents and had five siblings, there were three girls and three boys. In 1995 my oldest sibling passed away as a child in Bugembe, Uganda, but we don’t know why. My father got sick in 2008 with liver cancer. He was in treatment for alcoholism, and while he was there he passed away. The last born child died immediately after my father passed, and not long after that the second to last, Terezza, passed away. My mother was tired of seeing her family die before her and she felt like she didn’t have any hope and became suicidal. My siblings and I were living on the streets and spent many nights there. Food and shelter were difficult to find and hard to afford, and when we did have shelter it was not in good shape. I would collect scrap metal to get some money for some food, but all I could afford was sugarcane so I lost three teeth.

Updated January 1, 2013