Grace John Oreyo is from Agojo refugee settlement in Adjumani district. She is a proud hair dresser who was initially a quarry worker.
Quarry workers extract stone, sand or other minerals from the earth’s surface. As a quarry worker, Grace John used to work long hours for meagre. When she heard about a training in hairdressing, it was like a dream come truw for her because she had on several occasions tried to learn plaiting hair on her own but had failed. So when the opportunity of training came her way, she embraced it and trained for 7 months.

After the training, she worked as an intern at a salon in Adjumani town, where she was able to enhance her skills. Now, Grace John is very good at plaiting hair and she is making a living out of it.

“I have learnt skills like locking hair, which is a hairstyle that is on demand and pays well. I am now able to support myself financially”

Grace John is grateful for the opportunity to train but is aware that many more youths have not been as lucky as her. They are still wallowing in poverty, the way she was. She therefore urges aid organizations to come up with similar initiatives so that more youth can be empowered. Her message to the youth is that they should not give up on their lives but should be vigilant and apply for trainings when they are advertised so that they can acquire skills that can get them out of poverty.

She named her business ‘Blessing beauty salon’ because she believes it is a blessing from God. “Of all the people who applied for the training, it was a blessing that I was selected to train.  I am very grateful to God for the opportunity”.