Achan Grace was born on 31st January 1985 in Kitgum Lagoro and she has been living in the Acholi Quarter for 8 years. During the LRA all of her family homes were destroyed and her parents were killed, and for this reason she moved to Kitgum town where she was employed as a maid, until she went to live with her husband at the age of 14.
She is now a single mother as she is separated from her husband that took their three kids and brought them to the village, because he did not want to send them to school with the 22STARS program. Grace is also HIV positive and suffered a lot of discrimination because of that.
Grace is in the 22STARS jewelry program making beads, and besides that she sells local brew and charcoal, and she has enrolled the business program.
She is now trying to save money from the beads she sells to go to a lawyer and be able to bring her kids back home, enrol them in school and be together with them. She also wants to continue developing her other business so she will be able to provide them with a better life.
Grace’s inspirational quote: “I want to continue working very hard because thanks to 22 Stars now I can see an opportunity to go to a lawyer and try to have my kids back home. I really want to be together with them and to have them in school. Their education is very important for their future.”