By Meghan McLaughlin | Senior Manager, Digital Marketing
Turning determination into life-saving care
When Faridah was a nursing student in Uganda during the COVID-19 pandemic, she witnessed two women give birth by the roadside because no hospital was nearby. She helped one of the mothers deliver her baby, an experience that would shape the course of her life.
Faridah knew she wanted to help women access safe, reliable healthcare, no matter where they lived. Rather than wait for the right opportunity, she created one herself.
In 2021, she used approximately $550 she had saved from her education allowance to establish INEAC Medical Clinic in Harugongo, Uganda, on the very spot where she had helped a mother give birth.
What began as a single rented room has grown into a clinic providing 14 health services and employing three full-time staff members. Faridah's journey demonstrates what women can accomplish when determination is matched with access to education, resources, and support.
Investing in women creates lasting change
Faridah's journey began with an opportunity to pursue her education. Growing up in a large family in Uganda's Kyenjojo district, she faced significant challenges staying in school. She worked small jobs at a local clinic to support herself while studying and walked nearly 15 kilometres each day to and from school.
In 2015, she applied for a scholarship through BRAC Uganda and was selected for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program. The scholarship supported her A-level studies, and the money she saved from her allowance eventually became the seed funding for her clinic.
Faridah went on to earn a bachelor's degree in nursing science and a postgraduate diploma in health service management. She is now pursuing a master's degree in public health, specializing in maternal and child health.
Her story illustrates how investing in girls' education can have an impact that extends far beyond the individual. With the right opportunities, women can build livelihoods, create jobs, strengthen their communities, and develop solutions to the challenges they see around them.
Helping a small clinic grow
In 2024, Faridah received approximately $2,000 through the Scholars' Transition Entrepreneurship Fund, an initiative supporting alumni of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program as they turn their ideas into sustainable businesses and social enterprises.
She invested the funding in renovating her clinic, replenishing medical supplies, and purchasing essential equipment, including an oxygen concentrator and a nebulizer.
The improvements expanded the clinic's capacity to manage more complex cases, improved emergency care, and helped reduce referrals. With better-equipped premises and more supplies, the clinic has continued to grow.
Today, INEAC Medical Clinic generates approximately UGX 1.6 million in profit and provides employment for three full-time staff members.
Faridah has also established COSMOS Health Initiative, a nonprofit supporting mothers to develop sustainable livelihoods through farming by providing seeds and resources to help them get started
Building a healthier future for women and children
Faridah's ambitions extend beyond her clinic. She has acquired a 100-by-100-foot plot of land and plans to build a general hospital with five wards and a specialized maternal and child healthcare unit. The planned facility is designed to accommodate 100 admitted patients, with construction expected to begin soon and completion targeted for 2030.
Her vision is rooted in the experience that first inspired her: no woman should suffer simply because there is no hospital nearby.
As she continues her studies, grows her clinic, and develops new community initiatives, Faridah is showing how women's leadership can help address urgent local needs while creating opportunities for others.
The power of investing in women and girls
Faridah's story is a reminder that investing in women and girls is about more than opening doors. It is about equipping them to lead, build, innovate, and create lasting change for their communities.
Through education, entrepreneurship support, and access to resources, women can turn their ideas into solutions that improve lives for generations to come.
Your support of Power the Potential of Women and Girls helps advance a future where more women and girls have the opportunities and resources to shape their own futures and strengthen their communities.
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