My name is Gloria Akello, and I am 15-years-old. I love to read, sing, and play basketball with my friends.

I am also an orphan in Uganda. When I was 3, my mother was killed by rebels from the Lord’s Resistance Army while she was trying to prepare dinner for my family. I lived with my father – a hunter and my hero – until he died when I was 8. Since then, my brothers and I have been on our own.

In my country, growing up as a girl orphan isn’t easy. Rape and forced marriage aren’t far off, and there’s nobody to share your feelings with. At least that’s how it felt until I started learning, and realized that with an education I could have a future and help make my country better. I want to become a midwife so that I can help other women in Uganda and use the strength my parents gave me to make the world a better place.

In 2014, I met an American volunteer named Jared Hill. Jared and his family miraculously helped me to secure a place at a school in Indiana and agreed to sponsor my F1 student visa so that I could come to the United States and get an education. Unfortunately the U.S. government has denied my visa because, as an orphan, they say I have no reason to return to Uganda and will break the law by remaining in the U.S. after I finish school.

I love my country, and simply want the chance to get an education so that I can come back and help make it a better place. Will you sign my petition asking the U.S. government to consider a new visa application, so that I can learn at an American high school?

I know that if I stay in Uganda I will not be able to get the education I need to make my dreams come true. Tuition fees here are high, and as an orphan my opportunities are limited. I felt so blessed when I met Jared and his family, and believe that it is a sign that I am meant to do something great.

I pray that no matter where I end up I will be able to continue my studies, but my greatest hope is that I am able to receive the same type of education I read about in stories and see on film. I know that knowledge is power, and it is power that no one can take away from me or any other orphan girl.

Will you please stand with me to help show the U.S. government that I only wish to do good with my education, and ask that they grant me an F1 student visa to study in your country?

I am so grateful for your support. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Gloria Akello