Sarah's Story
Sarah Pendo (her African name, Pendo, means “Love”) was MCM’s 4th child to be sponsored in June of 2013 by Julie Hess. Her mum had died of malaria, she lived with her widowed father and was in primary school at the age of 14. Sarah was a good student, bright, serious and hard working. She did well in High School and in Advanced Level and was accepted at Bishop Stuart University in 2020. Her sponsor Julie, visited Uganda and met Sarah in 2016. Julie bought her a laptop for University and gave Sarah much confidence, encouraging her belief Sarah could do anything she wanted. Sarah, like the rest of our Ugandan children, was sidelined by COVID in 2020 when her University closed 6 weeks after she began. After taking virtual classes on and off in 2021, finally in 2022 Sarah was able to return to campus.
The following are quotes from letters Julie has received from Sarah so you too can marvel at the growth of this precious young lady.
November 2020
“I thank God for all He has continued to do in my life. I see miracles happening everyday and I have started wondering who I am! I want to pursue Social Work so as to change the lives of my fellow girls to become influential women in the future. I hope I will make it because
I CAN and I have already started the struggle…I continue to emphasize the greatest commandment which is Love. Love holds everything together and one gains nothing from hating. If all people on earth had true love the world would have been a beautiful place to live.”
August 2021
“I am still looking forward to restoring hope into people’s lives, especially those who have disappointments and failures. I pray that God can give the capacity and the right words and encouragement to always give them. Failure is not an ending, rather a road to success.”
May 2022
“I am currently working (part time) as a waitress…not only am I earning (money) but am also getting some life experiences on different characters which is important in my career as a Social Worker. People are very different you know! There are certain people with behaviors that are unbearable but when you get used to their way of life it becomes Normal and strengthens the relationship. I am enjoying studying Social Work because it encourages social change, though social change is difficult in our country, Uganda, but what I know – one day we will achieve it.”
August 2022
“My main objective will be identifying the most common offenses and how they are handled by the people in charge. Our people here in Uganda are facing a problem of being ignored by police and the law enforcers most especially because of bribery. The issues of the poor are left unattended to because the rich bribe the police to close their files. I became so much concerned about this issue mostly seeing it on social media platforms which arose my curiosity and anxiety to go into the field to find out if it is true. After my internship (at a local Police Department) I will find out the real truth and I will make some real change at least in advocating for the poor in one way or another.”
During her internship in September 2022 Sarah herself became a crime victim. Although MCM and her sponsors moved quickly to ensure justice was served, ironically, all of Sarah’s file was inexplicably lost, evidence was ruined and the man identified as her perpetrator was set free… an obvious case of police bribery. Yet, our Sarah stands strong today and continues on to her final year of University. Her goal remains to right the wrongs she identified even before she experienced this pain personally. We are so grateful to have had the privilege of sharing in Sarah’s life these ten years. We have watched her grow into her name, Sarah Pendo = Love. Love never fails.
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