At 17, Joanitah is learning to shape a new future—one stitch at a time. After becoming pregnant while living with her father in rural Uganda, she was rejected by her family and pressured to marry the boy responsible. When she refused, her father forced her out of their home. “He was on the side of the boy,” Joanitah recalls. “He didn’t care about what I wanted. I didn’t want to marry. I wanted to go back to school.”

With nowhere to turn, Joanitah sought refuge with her mother, who welcomed her but struggled to meet their basic needs. During this time, Joanitah faced hunger, physical abuse, and a deep sense of isolation. She has never returned to her father’s home.

It was her mother who helped her find a way forward—connecting her with Kiruhura Women Development Agency (K-WIDE), a locally led organization committed to supporting vulnerable girls. Thanks to their intervention, Joanitah was able to enroll at St. Francis Tailoring School, where she’s now completing a two-year program in tailoring and entrepreneurship. They also ensured her baby was cared for at a nearby children’s home so she could focus on school.

Over the past year and nine months, Joanitah has gained valuable skills—from cutting and sewing to budgeting and customer service. “The skills I’m learning are giving me the tools to take care of myself and my child in the future,” she says. Through the program’s entrepreneurship training, Joanitah has also learned how to manage a business, keep financial records, and market her creations. She now dreams of opening her own tailoring shop, supporting her mother, and training other girls who have faced similar hardships. “I want to give them the same hope I’ve found.”

Joanitah’s story highlights the critical link between education and opportunity—especially for girls facing early pregnancy or pressure to marry. In Uganda, 1 in 3 girls is married before age 18, cutting short their education and putting them at greater risk of poverty, abuse, and maternal health complications. But Joanitah is determined to defy those odds.

“Child marriage stops a girl’s future,” she says. “It brings violence into the home and creates conflict between families. But even when life gets hard, I want other girls to know they should never lose hope. The future still goes on.”

Today, Joanitah says she feels safe at school, has a place to sleep, food to eat, and—perhaps most importantly—a sense of belonging. “The girls here are like sisters to me. We encourage each other every day.”

With the support of K-WIDE—just one of more than 200 locally based organizations supported by VOW for Girls—Joanitah is not only building a future for herself and her child. She’s helping redefine what’s possible for girls everywhere.