Nicknames: Florence, Flo

Date of Birth: November 28, 2000

Place of birth: Masese, Uganda

Q&A

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

What is your favorite color? Yellow

What is your favorite food? Chicken and chips (french-fries)

What is your favorite subject in school? Math

What is your favorite sport? Netball (basketball)

What are your hobbies? Playing dolls, washing plates, swimming

Florence’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. On the streets my sister Agnes and I collected used charcoal and sold it in Masese. Then one day, Heidi met my mother and soon after I became a member of the Peace for Paul family.

Updated January 1, 2013