Martin was an orphaned child and a very gifted secondary school pupil. His wider family had sold all they had and could no longer afford for him to continue his education as in Uganda, secondary education is not free.

He came to the attention of Edith's Hope, and he started on the orphan sponsorship scheme so he could continue at school. He progressed so well that he got good grades and won a Government scholarship to study to be a Doctor at a university. 

Martin received a scholarship for university, and Ediths hope supported Martin with ongoing costs for transport, food and accommodation. 

Two of Martin’s sponsors were David and Susan. David had recently retired as a GP and was keen to support a medical student from a third world country. He and Susan (who had been a Nurse) were able to provide extra equipment so that he was not disadvantaged compared to his contemporaries.

After he qualified, rather than staying in Kampala, Martin returned to Ngora, his home village to work in the local hospital, where he was often the only Doctor on duty. After a time there he worked for a charity on the border with Southern Sudan offering medical support to refugees.

Martin is a very humble man and very grateful for the help he received. He wanted to work within his community. 

Martin also had aspirations to embark on future training particularly in relation to preventative medicine. These aspirations have secured Martin a place at Trinity College Dublin to do a one-year Masters degree. It is a fully funded scholarship which he won in competition with thousands of other African candidates mainly because of his track record in serving his community and refugees.

Martin was not to know but his sponsor David also trained at Trinity College Dublin, which was where he met Susan. They have family in Dublin who are willing to offer help to Martin when he gets there in Sept 2020.