Saturday, November 1, 2014

Week 14: Youth Booth

Featured in this week’s youth booth is Miss Natabi Sarah.

Sarah and I first met at In Movement, where she comes and dances on the weekend.  Sarah is both an active member at In Movement and at Breakdance Project Uganda, where she helps teach breakdancing and various leadership sessions on communication and self-esteem.  Through her love of dance and helping others, I was able to see her confidence shine and thus I decided to send her to GirlTech 3.14159 to continue gaining new skills and strengthen her inherent ones.

Sarah is 17 years old and studies in S3 at Nsambya Secondary School.  She is preparing for her UCE: Uganda Certificate of Education exams that will take place in one year.

Her favorite subject is biology and after University she wants to pursue a career in medicine and be a doctor. 

She is a Muganda by tribe.

She stays in Kampala with her mom.  There are five children in total and Sarah is the last-born and only one staying with her mom.  Her parents separated and the father no longer resides or supports the family.  Sometimes Sarah will see him in town but does not make an exchange with him knowing the pain her caused the family.

If Sarah could pick a name for herself it would be Cruz.  Her best friend calls her by this name after a friend she had lost.

When I asked Sarah about who her role model is her first response was, “Eh Tara!  There are so many!”  Pause.  “My mom.  The way she took care of us children and handles everything at home all alone makes me look up to her.”

Her favorite spot in Uganda is a place she has actually never been inside… The Imperial Royal Hotel in Kampala.  One day she was walking past the place on the way to a show and she was mesmerized but its beauty and sophistication.  Although she says it is only for the rich, she knows that someday she too will make it there.

Her favorite color is yellow because it is shiny, the color of the sun, and whenever she looks at it she feels happy.

A kind thing that she did once was at school when a friend of hers started her MP, menstrual period.  Some of the girls other friends had pads but did not want to give one up so Sarah looked and gave one to her friend so that her skirt would not soil and she could stay in school.

Of all the possessions that Sarah has, her favorite are her shoes because a fellow Breakdance Project Uganda member, Eric, gave some to her.

In your free time she loves to dance.

One thing she wishes she could change about Uganda would be its corruption.  “You know… The poor suffer a lot and sometimes they have to go to the police seeking help and support.  Well in order for the police to help they want money and these people cannot manage so they continue to receive no help.”

She says that the best part about living in Uganda is the climate.  “Sometimes it rains and sometimes it doesn’t and it always allows for our crops to grow.”  Her mother digs in the garden and sells their harvest so this is incredibly important.

Sarah wants the youth of the world to remember the following…

 “Study hard because you can achieve success when you study and no one can take that away.  Stay in school and do not think of boyfriends or girlfriends.”


You can watch Sarah perform here.  She is the one in the back left with the maroon shirt.  She also competed at Batalo East and is pictured in the orange shirt.

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