Back in the Examination Room at 23

Fancy became pregnant during the COVID-19 lockdown. Her education stopped. Later she married and became a mother of two. It would have been easy for school to become something belonging to her old life. But Fancy wanted another chance. She joined a programme offering life-skills support to young mothers. The idea of education returned. At twenty-three, Fancy went back. She sat for examinations again. She began rebuilding a future she had once thought might be finished. And as she returned to education, she started encouraging other adolescent mothers to do the same. Fancy now hopes to become a social worker. The young woman who needed help finding her way back has started becoming the person who helps others find theirs. Starting again rarely means returning to exactly where you stopped. You return older. Changed. Carrying responsibilities you did not have before. But you return. What have you gone back to after believing you had missed your chance? This is an editorial retelling of a documented account. Original storyteller: Fancy Munguci. Country: Uganda. Source: UNICEF Uganda.