When Joyce’s baby twin daughters died within 2 weeks of each early in 2023, Joyce felt as though her world had caved in. She still had her sons, who were then age 4 and 6, but the trauma of losing the girls was, not surprisingly, huge.
After a time, she wanted to find a way to make a new start, and become more self-sufficient such that she would never again have the awful experience of not being able to pay for the doctor. So, with CRED’s help, she undertook 3 months vocational training in the kitchens of a local hotel. Joyce loved the experience, but sadly there was no job available at the end. However, she came away with valuable skills, and started making samosas to sell.
Slowly Joyce started building up her customer base, although it was still a very fragile source of income. And then, out of the blue, her ex-boss at the hotel found her and asked her to come back to work on a one-year full time contract. What a wonderful moment that was!
Joyce now works 6 days a week at the hotel – it’s long hours, and she admits that she couldn’t do it if it wasn’t for the strong community of Acholi who are there for the boys when they get home before her. But she is building up some savings, and is able to afford the school fees for her younger son (the older one is supported through a CRED donor), so now both the boys go to school.
Joyce would still much rather have her girls here with her, but as she talks about what she has achieved since their passing, she admits that maybe in some small way there was a little silver lining to that very dark cloud.