Client Story: William Ssengoba
At the young age of ten, William Ssengoba was more aware of his family’s limited resources than any child should be.
Following the death of his mother, William was forced to drop out of school at age ten to help provide for his siblings. His father had been married many times before, and it wasn’t rare that his wives would leave their shared children when they left the marriage. William’s father didn’t concern himself with supporting the family, and his stepmother struggled to provide for a family as large as theirs.
At age 16, William left his family home for the city of Kampala, Uganda to find work. Upon his move, he picked up many an odd job to scrounge together substantial earnings to send home to his family. Somehow, while working during the day and sleeping on the streets at night, he met a woman and had a son. However, the demands of life kept piling up as William’s responsibilities grew, and he soon turned to unseemly methods of providing for his family. He was selling alcohol and drugs, and even turning to robbery to meet his needs. After five years of this tumultuous lifestyle, William and his wife separated, and she left with their child.
His lifestyle and the company he kept did not do William well. Eventually, he became an addict, and his health was rapidly declining. One day, his concern over a persistent cough grew enough for him to visit the local hospital. Upon his visit, William was diagnosed with HIV. He accepted this news and promptly began to take his antiretroviral medications, but because he was often taking them on an empty stomach, William began to experience severe side effects from the ARVs. “After a while, I started thinking about the fact that my wife has infected me with HIV. It was not long after that I was depressed and suicidal, and I stopped taking my medication.”
With nowhere to turn, William continued to stealing at night, until he was finally caught. In the fight to get away, he was severely beaten and burnt, declared dead by the doctors and even sent to the mortuary at the hospital. It was there that the attendants discovered he was indeed still breathing, and William was admitted to the hospital for four months to recover from the injuries he had sustained. When the day came for him to be discharged from the hospital, he had nowhere to turn. William had made up his mind; he would end his own life.
On the day of his discharge, William set out on his way to a friend’s home nearby. As he walked, he passed a church and could hear the preaching from outside of the building. The sermon was on Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." William was drawn to enter the church, where he met the Untold staff of the Kitara Center.
Since William joined the program in September of 2022, his center counselors and fellow clients have become his family. They welcomed with open arms, offering guidance and counseling to draw him away from the life he had been living. As William gave his life to Christ, they gifted him a Bible and provided continued support against his addiction. William found new life in the community he found. The food rations provided through the program helped supplement his diet, giving him the physical strength he needed to sustain his recovery from addiction and adjustment to his ARVs. He chose to pursue soap-making, a skill that has now provided an honest living for him and pays his rent in a new home.
“I am so grateful that I have people who love and care for me. I am assured of care here at the center.”