Grace is from a town called Lira, she was born October 7th 1968. She and her husband fled the war in Northern Uganda in 1987. The LRA butchered her father in law and burnt their houses and posessions.
Living in Jinja she is now a widow after her husband was killed in a car accident 11 years ago.
Grace's brother and sister both died from AIDS so apart from her only child, Dorothy Awilo, her 2 nieces are dependants. 17 year old Cinderella Wakubua and 16 year old Akello Fiona are her nieces. Unfortunately Grace herself is HIV+
Although she has no family in Kitgum anymore, she still misses it but is too scared to go back there. Grace said she would consider it if things became more stable.
Due to the hardships she has suffered she had a lot of bitterness in her life, but with the help of the Grassroots Uganda group over the last 3 years she now enjoys her life in Jinja, although there are still many things to worry about such as her housing situation.
Since 1992 she has been renting a small 2 bedroom home for 70,000 shillings a month, she has been given the option to buy the house, but she needs to come up with enough money by 2012, if not, then she may be displaced. She is worried that her current rent is already cheap and that she may not be able to afford a new place.