“My name is Alina,* and I really like the word ‘hero’. I even feel like I am a hero! A hero uses their strength to fight for good things, and I want to do the same. I have courage and hope, and I’ve had to use them in the past, especially when I came to Uganda from Congo in 2014.

I was 5 years old then. In Congo, I remember the war was based on looting. The soldiers would come to the door. They would knock and ask you if you know them. If you said ‘yes’, they would kill you. If you say you don’t know them, they would steal everything and leave you with nothing, they go away with everything. 

We left Congo because of war. We walked up to Uganda; we walked for a long time because we left in January and reached here in April. It was too far. I remember it was a painful journey and was problematic because of war and the soldiers. The war was around us as we were travelling. 

When I came to Uganda, I felt that there was a slight change in life, but not so good because I was always remembering what had happened and I was missing everyone that we left behind. 

But, with everything that happened there, I don't miss Congo. I want to stay here in Uganda and stop remembering. Sometimes at night, I dream of things from Congo. I dream about how they killed my grandfather during the war. I saw how they killed him and when I dream about that at night, I just wake up. But this program has helped me. The lessons have helped me. When we had to draw ourselves, I drew myself in doing the hope stretch. I now have belief and hope, so that's why I drew it. What I hope for most is to be able to study again.

Before Coronavirus, I was not going to school. I like school but I was not able to go to attend. When I grow up I want to run a hospital, but my first goal is to finish school. 

I remember some of the heroes from the stories in the program; Tendo helped a farmer whose panga was blunt and could not cut her banana brunch. It was about showing kindness. I wanted to show some kindness like Tendo, so when I saw an old woman who was carrying luggage, I helped her carry that luggage up to her home. I was so excited, and the old woman told me “thank you!”. I want to tell the other children in my refugee settlement about the Heroes Journey program, and about Tendo. I will also share this with my siblings so they can learn it and it can help them be strong.

Coronavirus has affected me a lot. It killed my other grandfather and my grandmother in Congo. It is a deadly disease. If there was no Coronavirus, right now we would be getting food. But [because rations have been cut] we eat only rice, cassava and peas. School has been cancelled, and I always wear a mask to prevent Coronavirus. I like wearing it. To me, it is important to wear a mask because we don't want Coronavirus to reach you, or anyone else.”

Alina* (name changed to protect her identity) is one of 18 children who graduated from our first post-lockdown Heroes Journey program. She is also one of over half a million children who have been forcibly displaced, living in Uganda as refugees. For so many of these children, COVID-19 simply means uncertainty - uncertainty about schooling, about the future, and with rations cut drastically, uncertainty about food sources.

Coupled with the generalized fear that COVID has brought, and their experiences becoming refugees, this has been a very difficult time for so many children. Tutapona works to be a beacon of hope in these times. The Heroes Journey continues to equip children like Alina with the skills they need not only to survive but to thrive through adversity.

Would you consider partnering with Tutapona to keep this highly valuable program running amidst this pandemic? Click the donate button below to come along on this Heroes Journey.