(THIS IS RACHEL'S ORIGINAL sponsorship application for Secondary school; it has been edited when needed for better understanding.)
One day we went to work in the banana farm with my mother, father and brother. In the garden my mother and brother went to fetch water. After this, five armed bandits came from the bush and shot my father. After shooting my father they came to kill me also. One of them defended me saying that I am innocent. They resisted and said that they wanted to kill the whole family. By God’s help they only cut me using a machete, wounded me and left me almost dead.
Before this time I had been able to go to school and was in Primary two. After this I lived in inhuman conditions. Seeing such misery my grandmother decided to take care of me in the village and started paying my education. Later she became old and could no longer support me and I dropped again out of school. I was then advised by my mother to leave and go to Goma to work as a house girl because she thought that after a year I could raise some money and resume school. In Goma life was still hard and I had to come back to my mother.
Through leaders in our village I met Benson and explained my situation to him, he gave me money to pay for my 2015 academic year (Benson Wereje is PW's partner).
Rachel completed secondary school and passed the national exam.
(DOB ~1998)