Peter Ngambenawe

Peter is 22 years old and lives in Kabale District where he volunteers as a peer counsellor at Kabale Regional Referral Hospital. His parents separated before he was born and after two months, his mother left him with his great grandmother. As an infant, Peter fell ill and after several tests, he was diagnosed with TB, which kept him admitted in a hospital for almost 10 months. He then faced multiple illnesses such as malaria, fever, rashes, and diarrhea, which attacked and weakened his immune system.
Finally, at age three, he was diagnosed with HIV. Growing up, his great-grandmother could not afford to pay for his education so she received funding from a Catholic charity organization. However, funding soon stopped.

At eight years old, he had a TB relapse and stopped going to school for about two years. He was constantly falling ill, and because of this, his great grandmother’s children kicked him out of the house.

When Peter first encountered EGPAF, he was living on the streets, unable to attend school. However, by connecting with EGPAF workers, the Ariel Clubs, and its counseling services, he was inspired to work to go back to school. Through his hard work and continued support from EGPAF, he was not only able to pass his exams to join secondary school; he even received a housing scholarship from the school, as well as extra assistance from the head teacher who was inspired by his journey.

FAST FORWARD

After senior four, during one of the Ariel Club counselling sessions, Peter received a sponsorship from a private guest of the hospital to attend a short educational course in counseling alcohol and drug abuse. After he graduated from the counseling program, Peter was recruited to work as a volunteer at Kabale Hospital, where he counsels adolescents on positive living, and has done this for three years.

Now, Peter is an Ariel Superstar; he works with children and adolescents, attending Ariel Clubs across all the health facilities supported by EGPAF through the USAID RHITES-SW project in Southwestern Uganda, using his experience to encourage other young people to live positively.