Two young Girls, Two different Worlds

These two teenagers met for the first time in February 2005, and got on like a house on fire. They have so much in common – they work hard at their studies, enjoy a chat with their friends and take part in sports. Naume cheerfully introduces Naomi to her room mates at NVI, amid much giggling.

However, there is a whole world of difference between their two lives………

They live 4000 miles apart, but in entirely different worlds.

Naume and Naomi at Nile Vocational Institute, Njeru

Naume
is one of nine children. She has never seen her mother, and her father is very old and poor. By 16 she had been educated to senior one level, about the same as a 12 year old in the UK, and been forced to finish due to lack of funds. Secondary education has to be paid for. Her father struggles to support the family. He had not sent for her at Christmas just before Naomi met her, because he had no money for the bus fare, so she stayed at NVI for the festive season. The family live a basic, subsistence existence in Bushenyi, south western Uganda. Aspirations are just not part of the equation – survival is.

Naomi
has been in ‘free’ full time education from the age of four, and will have the chance of tertiary education partly funded by the state. Food, clothes, health care and accommodation have never been a concern to her and her family. She has two healthy, living parents in employment who have been able to give her along with her brother, support, experience and opportunities from birth. The world is just opening up for Naomi as she blossoms into adulthood. In other words, she is a typical Western girl. Hopefully she never takes all this for granted.