When he was young, Geoffrey Onekgiu attended a school near to one of northern Uganda’s main hospitals. It gave him the perfect vantage point to watch some of the activities of the hospital’s staff and the people they were helping.
“I used to admire how nurses and doctors work. My uncle is also a doctor and he inspired me so much to become one,” Geoffrey said. “I am going with my path, finishing my mission and above all will continue in this life.”
Ever since those days, Geoffrey has known that he wanted to be a doctor. He joined the Legacy Scholarship Program in 2007 when in his third year of secondary school and then attended Saint Joseph’s College Layibi, Invisible Children’s partner school, for his A Levels. He now plans to graduate from the Gulu School of Clinical Officers in early July.
Geoffrey has been a member of Invisible Children’s Legacy Scholarship Program since 2007. He is now graduating from university, well on his way to reaching his dream of being a doctor.
For much of his life, life was challenging and Geoffrey’s educational future was uncertain. But, even when his mother could not afford school fees, Geoffrey felt that he was meant to continue his schooling.
“When I started P7, I had the feeling that I would continue and complete my mission of becoming a doctor. I saw that my mom could not take me through, but something kept telling me that you will study, you will study,” Geoffrey said.
He joined a special program through his school that allowed him to receive free schooling if he worked during school leave. The next year, he added, is when Invisible Children’s donors “saved me.”
But well before he received the support of the Legacy Scholarship Program, Geoffrey was not quite sure he would even make it that far. Geoffrey was abducted by Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army as a young boy and spent one month in captivity.
Upon his graduation in July, Geoffrey will join over 100 graduates from the Legacy Scholarship Program’s university scheme.
“I didn’t even have that thought that I may go through school. I imagined that I might be among the people who are sacrificed. [The rebel soldiers] would pick three or four from the abductees and sacrificed them on behalf of the others,” he said. “I never knew if I might be part of that group.”
He uses the hardships he has faced to offer advice to younger students.
“If I am to compare myself to those who are studying with hardship in the school, I would tell them they should have hope that life is not only that moment where it is hard. You never know what tomorrow holds for you. You should have the hope that when you still have the chance to study that you perform well. You shouldn’t rule it out because your family cannot support you. Go do well,” he said.
He said he wishes that there is something he could do to thank the international donors that supported his membership in the Legacy Scholarship Program. For now, a simple “thank you,” along with his continued hard work academically and professionally, will have to suffice.
“I believe there is no bigger word than thank you,” Geoffrey said.
Geoffrey’s story was made possible because of the help of generous donors. Play your own role in ensuring a future for northern Uganda’s war-affected youth today.
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