My name is Inbal Alon and I am a junior program officer with World Education working primarily with children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS.  

Before coming to work in Boston, I worked with youth in Northern Uganda. I want to share with you a little bit about my experience there because it has really taught me a lot about working with vulnerable children. Youth in Northern Uganda have had very difficult lives. For the past 20 years, a conflict between a rebel group and the government has displaced most of the population. Families live in over-crowded camps and depend on food aid for their livelihood. Youth have very limited access to secondary school, and almost no employment opportunities. Furthermore, the rebel group, called the Lords Resistance Army, abducts children and forces them to fight as child soldiers. The youth who return from the war are often traumatized. Some of the girls are given as ’wives’ to rebel leaders and often return with children of their own.

These are experiences that most of us cannot even imagine, and when I try to imagine how I would feel, I wonder if I could ever survive those experiences, and overcome them to give life a second chance? Working in Northern Uganda, I was amazed everyday at the emotional strength of people around me. I remember one girl who had been through very difficult experiences. I was talking to her one-on-one and she was telling me about her life, with tears in her eyes. Then she looked up and said: "anyways, suffering is not the end of me." This is just one story, but youth in Uganda, and around the world, have tremendous resiliency, and with a bit of support, they can bounce back, even from the worst of experiences.

 The Voices for Vulnerable Children campaign is helping to support vulnerable youth in Uganda who have been made vulnerable by conflict, HIV and AIDS, and poverty. Your support can make a critical difference in their future!