Gloria Mukambonera
Age 23 – Uganda
My name is Gloria Mukambonera. I am a Ugandan computer scientist by profession. I am part of Youth for a United World. When I started participating in this group, I felt that I had discovered a purpose for life. I learnt that I could reach out to the hearts of others by the smallest actions done out of love.
Naturally, I got drawn to work for peace because I feel that I should be a gift always to the others. Growing up in a neighbourhood with so many refuges made me wonder what I could give them as a gift. I then discovered that after the experiences of the, relocating to a war-free country did not mean peace for them – they needed love, hope, purpose in their life, and more. I started by creating relationships with them, listening to them whenever there was need to, and sharing anything I had with them.
Last year, with Youth for United World, we invited all the refugees that we were in contact with to spend an afternoon with us. We prepared lunch and put together foodstuffs to give them as take-home packages. The purpose of the afternoon for us was to create relationships with them – it was beautiful – they shared their challenges with us, and among them, the one we could solve immediately was of the language, since some were francophone. We decided to offer them free English and “luganda” (local language) lessons in the evenings to help them settle in.
In my field of work, I contributed to post-war reconstruction in the northern part of Uganda in a project aimed at improving health systems after the 20-year period of war suffered in that part of my country. To me, this job was an important experience because I found a way of using my professional skills to deliver accurate information generated from the information systems that I was managing to policy makers to make them understand need for health services in this area.
I believe that peace should be IN EVERY HUMAN BEING’s heart and only then we will bring it to the whole world.