Back to school!

Today was back to school day for our three children who are fully sponsored.

They are boarders at their school. This may sound strange to us from the U.K. as the majority of children here attend government funded schools as day pupils. However, in Uganda, boarding is the favoured option as it gives the children consistent care and education as well as giving the parents more opportunities to work to support the family. The government schools are drastically underfunded and the parents of the children we support could not even afford the low fees that they have to pay to send their children to the local government run school.  One of our children’s parent’s sells roast maize at the roadside and another used to sell charcoal but curently has no capital to continue; another digs fields by hand and another is a seamstress. They earn just enough to meet their families' basic needs most of the time.

Our children are enrolled in a private school which, whilst not the best or most expensive in the area, it is good value for money. The children are cared for well and have the consistency in care they they need to thrive.

All the children have identified careers they would like to study for and we will encourage them as much as we can. Speaking English is a prerequisite for doing well in a career and at our children’s school they are only allowed to speak English. They are learning very quickly and are continually surprising me their knowledge and use of English.

They were very excited to go to back to school today and when we dropped them off this morning they were amongst the first to arrive and were greeted by name and with much affection by the staff.

The school grounds are beautiful as you can see in the pictures. There are only three year groups on this campus which gives it a lovely family feeling. The children who are part sponsored attend as day pupils, but are always asking when they can attend as boarders. We would love for them to be able to board but we need more sponsors to help with this. If you would like to sponsor a child please get in touch with me directly or via the contact page on the website. I would love for you to join us in this work!