See the strength in Justine
Justine (25) from Uganda
“With the support of Liliane Fonds, I have changed from a sad, hopeless orphan with a disability, to a confident independent woman, a dentist!”
Justine (25) from Uganda achieved this remarkable change through hard work and the support of our donors and partner organisation.
Pain and exclusion
Justine was born with a leg deformity. This is probably due to a vitamin D deficiency when she was very young.
It took a long time for her parents to seek help as her family lived in a remote area and was very poor. But when they finally took Justine to the hospital for examination, she was still not helped because her parents could not afford the cost. For Justine, years of pain followed, in her legs and especially pain in her soul.
“I crawled on my knees because I couldn’t walk because of the pain. On the street, people called after me, and I was excluded and laughed at. Children were scared of me, didn’t want to play with me. They called me a frog. Even teachers acted mean and ignored me. Everywhere I was rejected. It was torture.”
To make matters worse, her parents died when Justine was just 12 years old; a sad event that strangely also opened doors.
Doors open
Justine moved to her uncle William in the capital. There, Justine came into contact with Kenneth, from our local partner organisation Katalemwa Cheshire Home. Thanks to Kenneth and the support of our donors, Justine received the tailored care she needed. After five operations and a lot of physiotherapy, Justine learned to walk. Finally, she could move freely.
Intensive care and rehabilitation prevented Justine from attending school for two years. Justine, however, often had her nose in textbooks while in hospital. And when she was finally able to go back to school, it turned out that this self-study allowed her to skip several classes.
Justine takes giant steps
After finishing high school, Justine took her next major leap: university. There, she turned her dream into reality by graduating as a dentist in 2024! Just a few months later, she hit another milestone by marrying the love of her life.
Her perseverance and vision for the future brought her this far. Justine didn’t just dream of becoming a dentist; she turned that dream into reality, one step at a time.
“I look at the future with optimism. I dream of my own dental practice to help people, particularly children with disabilities. It’s so important to have friends and support systems around you. We all need each other to grow. Look at me: what seemed like a hopeless situation has blossomed into a hopeful future.”
