From the Safe House to Shaping Lives: Barbara’s Story

In 2008, a little girl named Barbara arrived at the Village of Hope safe house in Gulu with her sister Patricia. She was one of the very first 19 children welcomed by Mama Rose and the caring team who built this refuge for the most vulnerable.

“I really can’t imagine what my life would have been like if Mama Rose hadn’t brought me to the safe house,” Barbara reflects. “Maybe by now I would have gotten married off as a young girl… maybe I could have even been killed. But God picked me and gave me hope through Village of Hope.”

At VOH, Barbara found what every child deserves but so few in Northern Uganda had at that time — safety, love, food, clothes, a bed to sleep in, and an education. “You can’t do hard work unless you’ve eaten something,” she smiles. “We were cared for and had energy to study and dream.”

Counselors walked with her when school was hard and quitting seemed easier. Mama Rose greeted her with love every day. And Barbara — always determined, always one grade ahead — pushed forward. Eventually, she was sent to a boarding school to continue her studies, and it was there she decided what she wanted to become.

“I wanted to stay connected to the children coming behind me,” Barbara explains. “I wanted them to see themselves in my story — to know they could work hard and become someone someday.”

Barbara returned to VOH as a teacher, pouring back into the next generation of children who were once where she had been. She gave daily encouragement and hope to students who looked up to her and thought, *If Barbara can do it, maybe I can too.*

Today, Barbara’s life is full of new chapters. She’s married, raising her own family, and still teaching — now in another school in her community. She’s also a strong leader in her church, especially among the women, where she mentors, encourages, and points others to Christ.

To those who made her journey possible, Barbara’s heart is overflowing with gratitude:
“Thank you, thank you very much to Mama Amy and Papa Drew for their generosity, their love, and their sacrifices. And to all our sponsors out there — thank you very much. May God bless you for supporting each and every one of us.”

And to the children now walking the road she once walked, Barbara says:
“Don’t give up. Life is full of struggles, but stay focused, be disciplined, and keep Jesus at the center of everything. There is hope in everything if you keep going.”

Barbara’s story is proof of what God can do through a safe home, a loving community, and faithful sponsors — a girl once vulnerable and hopeless is now a teacher, mother, and ministry leader, passing hope on to others.

Because of donors and sponsors, Barbara’s life was rewritten — and now she’s helping write new stories of hope.