13-year-old Evelyn Namuli is among the many children across the country who were in jubilations when Uneb released the 2023 PLE results last week. Despite studying only Primary Six and Seven only, the youngstar was the best student at Favored Hearts Nursery and Primary School with 12 points. She got three points in English, four in Mathematics, two in SST and three in Science.
Who is Namuli?
Born in Makerere Kivulu to Mr Sam and Miss Nakate Odette, Namuli never got the chance to grow up with her parents. When she was five years old, her parents had a heated up disagreement that forced her father to abandon her family. She stayed with her mother who could not afford to take care of her basic needs. They stayed in a single room that turned into a bar during the night. As her mother was resting during the day, Namuli was always selling brooms around Makerere Kivulu but it was not an easy job as she would only sell a broom or two the entire day. One unfortunate day from hawking brooms, she returned home to an empty room. Her mother had disappeared.
“I found the door wide open and most of the house items missing including the mattress, bed sheets and saucepans among others,” she narrates.
After looking for her mother in vain, Namuli started hustling on her own. She would go to people’s homes to wash clothes, dispose off rubbish among other household jobs but they were not sustaining her life because those kind of jobs would come once in a while. One day she came across a group of street children dancing and she joined them. They used to move on different streets and earn a little money through dancing.
“We were seven children and would earn Shs 500 to Shs1,000 a day through dancing several cultural dances,” she shares.
She also says that after they were done for the day, they would sleep on different streets in Makerere and then re-group the next day. They did this for over a year.
Meeting her guardian angel Bashir Musaazi
The thirteen-year-old recounts meeting Bashir for the first time seven years ago.
“During one of our dance sessions, he was among the spectators. He watched us three times on different occasions and on the fourth, he took my picture before he tipped me Shs10,000. I had never held such an amount in my life. I ate that money for almost two weeks, eating Shs500 every day,” she shares.
She however took two months without seeing him and by the time he came back, she couldn’t recognize him. It was only after he showed her the picture he had taken that she remembered.
Musaazi had a liking for Namuli mainly because of her talent. Having seen her on a number of occasions, he thought he could get her to join his dance troupe but he had to go through the proper channels.
“I used to see these kids. They used to walk around dancing with a radio cassette. I had a troupe of children I was teaching and she captured my eye by her dance moves. I initially wanted her to be part of the troupe but I was worried that she could have parents who would not agree with the idea. I left her but I took her picture for remembrance and to ask my sponsors how we could help her,” Musaazi Bashir adds.
The next time the two met again, Musaazi asked her where her parents are and where she stays. “I don’t have parents and I don’t have a home,” was her reply. He then asked her if she was interested in going to school and her answer was yes. He asked her whether she had ever attended school but she hadn’t.
He then returned with three other gentlemen, one putting on a police uniform but this scared her. She thought she was in some kind of trouble but they assured her that all was well and that they wanted to help her.
Being rescued.
After the assurance, the four gentlemen took Namuli to Makerere Kivulu police post to start on the necessary documents of taking her on as his guardian.
“I had already gotten some documents from the Local Council where I stay to introduce myself. I involved the police at my village and they gave me someone I went with. We then connected with CDO Ms Nakalembe Sarah and GISO Mr Tugume Joseph who were in charge of children matters at Makerere Kivulu police. They were indeed helpful but advised us to keep looking for her parents,” Bashir said.
Their search for her parents did not yield any results even when they were referred to someone who was a known friend to her dad and mom but on inquiring his whereabouts, they were told he had died. On further inquiries about her dad, she was told he passed on when she was five years old.
With this news, Musaazi took on the responsibility of Namuli but was told to make an advert in the media just in case the mother is still alive but until today nothing has materialized.
“I was eight years when uncle Bashir took me in. I joined his Africa Children’s heart Uganda orphanage where I started staying with other children he had rescued,” she says.
He started taking care of her and other kids at the orphanage, taught them vocational skills and also brought tutors who started teaching them from home.
Starting school.
After two years at the Africa Children’s Heart Uganda foundation in Mpigi Buwama Sango, Namuli started school and was taken to Primary Six at Favored Hearts Nursery and primary School Buwama. The beginning was tough for her as she wasn’t used to the school environment. Her personality however helped her adapt easily. Teachers liked her because she was so inquisitive. “Teachers liked me because I kept asking them what I didn’t understand. I started improving in the second term and later, I became one of the best students.”
She was promoted to P7 last year and because the class is so demanding, she used to remain at school during the holidays as other students went home. She continued revising past papers and it paid off. She got aggregate 9 in mock and then 12 points in the just released PLE exams.
But it was not just his efforts alone. It was more from the sponsors of the orphanage.
“I would like to thank my sponsors including mummy Michelle for sponsoring me throughout my education. She has been paying my school fees on time and giving me the necessary scholastic materials. I would also like to thank Miss Ruth, our other sponsor who donated books of all subjects to our orphanage which enabled me pass exams. I would also like to thank Miss Sherry for being there for us,” she expressed her gratitude.
Future aspirations
The 13-year old wants to become an optician when she grows up and this decision is based on past experiences.
“I got eye infections when I was Nine years old. It was a terrible experience that I wouldn’t want anyone to go through. I was so lucky because uncle Bashir ensured that I got the right treatment but so many children are suffering from eye infections but don’t have anyone to help them out. It is because of this that I want to become an optician. I want to continue going to school and excel so that I build my hospital that will be offering free services to children,” she says.
Message to other children.
Namuli calls upon other homeless and orphaned kids to be patient, have trust in God because he works in mysterious ways and that whatever they are going through is just a taste to see how far their belief is in him. She had no hope in life but God brought someone who was her guardian angel.
