Aisha Nabukeera is one of the 21 girls who will be contesting for the 2015
Miss Uganda crown on 10th July 2015. The girls were unveiled at the Kampala
Serena Hotel. The winner will replace current Miss Uganda Leah Kalanguka and
also represent Uganda in the Miss World pageant.
Nothing can replace her natural body. Although
her body is burnt, her face surprisingly defied the infamy. With culled hair
and braids, Nabukeera looks beautiful. Her beautiful face is sometimes
contorted in pain.
When Aisha Nabukeera's body went up in
flames in 2006 burnt by an evil step-mother, little did she know she would
become a ray of hope for abused children. Nabukeera, then, was just any other
14-year-old village girl in school at Masaka struggling to have a bright
future.
Nabukeera underwent four operations, largely to
loosen the flesh around her left and right arm pits. The operations were
carried out at Mengo Hospital, Uganda by Dr Andrew Hodges.
Nabukeera's infamy was very painful. This is evident in what she says of her
parents. My parents hatred should not have been a price for me to pay, she
says. The case should not have been in the limelight had it not been for
the intervention of businessman Frank Gashumba. Gashumba met Nabukeera at the
Masaka Magistrates Court, where her father had an ongoing land wrangle case.
"When I heard her story, I was touched and I decided to help her get both
treatment and justice" Gashumba said. But before deciding to help,
he sought the authority of magistrate who was handling the case and he gave him
the go-ahead as long as Nabukeera's parents also accepted. He then met
Ahmed Matovu, Nabukeera's father and asked him about the girl. Her father
told Gashumba the day they met that Nabukeera was burnt by a charcoal stove.
She spent days crying in pain says her mother
Sophia Nakandi. “Now there is hope. Not
only for Nabukeera, but also for other abused children” her mother said. “Just
a smile today restores my hope for the future, smiles are coming in fast and in
different categories” Nabukeera wrote in her section on her website. Smiles that offer hope not only to Nabukeera,
but also to other children in her situation.
Gashumba who decided to take the mantle of a
guardian and made sure Aisha Nabukeera would live a life full of love and
splendor. Frank Gashumba took on Aisha Nabukeera as a guardian in 2006. Like
any supportive parent, he has backed her dream to become Miss Uganda.
Rather than be caged into her
unfortunate past, Nabukeera has embraced the scars from the fire. She says they
remind her of her past, but they will not dictate where she is going. She came
short of being another statistic, another of those children who suffer
child-abuse at the hands of their step-mothers, today she’s soared greater than
her former self. This is the transition of Aisha Nabukeera, from a girl who was
allegedly burnt by her step-mother when she poured paraffin on her body and lit
her on fire.
AISHA YOU ARE ALREADY A WINNER....WHICH EVER OUTCOME WE WISH YOU THE BEST!