The youngest in her family, Estarina was born in northern Uganda and left school in primary two when her father died and the family could no longer afford her education.  She spent her youth in the fields, alongside her brother and his wife.  She was responsible for leading the ox plows in the garden and guiding the cows to water. Their farming yields provided both their meals and the family’s income.  Their elderly mother stayed home, preparing the day’s meal.

Estarina met her husband at a local dance hall.  He worked inconstruction and came to the Acholi Quarter first to help them start a new life as the war threatened their home.  She followed him to the Quarter along with their three children.  She first started working in the stone quarry. Facing such grueling conditions daily for very little money, she decided to start a small business making and selling the local alcohol.  In 2000, they welcomed their fourth and last child, Jacob.

When Jacob was still young, 6 or 7, her husband started showing signs of mental illness.  Her brother brought him back to the north to help carry the burden.  As the years passed, his condition grew worse, requiring her to return to the north to care for him.  In 2023, he passed away.

She returned to the Acholi Quarter where she owns a small home and started a business of making simsim and ground nut paste, staples of the Acholi diet, to sell.