Meet Sanyu. Sanyu was born in Katanga Slum and has lived there her whole life. She has the unique perspective of having seen the slum change and develop over the last 15 years. Sanyu reflects on the time where Katanga was a swamp with houses only made of mud, sticks, and grass. Now, she continues to be a proud Katanga resident as the slum has grown to a population of over 50,000 people. Since the age of 3, Sanyu grew up with only her mother after her father was poisoned by a fellow veteran soldier. Since then, her mother has maintained the same job of sweeping the streets of Kampala, which has not provided a very favorable income to support her and Sanyu.

Sanyu was born with HIV, which set a depressing tone for her youth. Without resources to go to school, Sanyu could spend entire days walking the slum, which typically resulted in getting into trouble. Having little hope or ambition for her life, she didn’t care for anything different. As Sanyu was collecting bottle scrap one day, she came across Hope for Katanga Kids Project. She saw a group of kids singing, dancing and having fun, something she had never gotten to be a part of. Sanyu decided to stick around and become a member of Hope for Katanga Kids.

Since then, Sanyu has received counseling for living with HIV. She has come to realize that life still has meaning and that there is infinite potential for her future. Having constant support from her mother, Hope for Katanga Kids project leaders, and other kids involved, Sanyu’s life has been redirected from depression to joy. In fact, Sanyu now uses her confidence being HIV positive to inspire and give hope to other HIV positive children.

In English, the name Sanyu means “joy” and that is exactly what she personifies. Sanyu often takes the lead roles in drama productions that Hope for Katanga Kids uses to educate the community about HIV awareness. In the future, Sanyu has dreams of going back to school, becoming a bank manager, and being able to support the same organization that has supported her.