Help Keep 15 Aspiring Ugandan Girls in School

Outreach Uganda continues to remain very dedicated to helping girls stay in school.  When I was in Uganda in June/July, we visited another primary school called Ogwancan and distributed 100 sanitary pad kits to fifth and sixth grade girls at the school, as well as presented a program for them stressing the importance of attending school regularly so they can achieve their dreams. The headmaster at this school is a woman and she was very enthusiastic about our program and is looking forward to us returning later this year to help train several woman teachers there to continue with the program.

All of this work in the primary schools through our Girls' Education Initiative (GEI) program is aimed at keeping girls in school and doing well through sixth grade so we can offer sponsorships and scholarships to them in secondary and even through vocational and university programs.  Right now, over 20 girls who were in our GEI program are now in secondary as a result of sponsorships and scholarships that we have provided.  But we have more candidates than we do scholarship money.  That's why we are continuing to promote this project on GlobalGiving.  It is the opportunity to make a major difference in a girl's life which can help make her dreams for a better future come true.

September is the start of the university year in Uganda and we have several girls with one sponsor who can provide partial but not all funding for their education.  We hope that this project will be able to assist the girls with the additional funding they need.  One such student is Diana who hopes to start a chemical engineering program.  Another girl, Nabatanzi hopes to start a Community Based Rehabilitation program.

Christine, the girl we mentioned in our last update, continues her secondary schooling program and is doing well.  We visited her school also when we were there in July.

Thanks again for your support of this very important program!

The Ugandan School year started this past week.  Unfortunately, we were unable to find a sponsor for the top performing girl in our graduating class of 32 sixth graders.  This could have meant she would stop her schooling, remain at home and probably marry in the not too distant future like many of her peers who attend other schools.

But thanks to you and your generous donations, we were able to offer Christine a one -year sponsorship until a more permanent sponsor can be found.  This means she is busy collecting her belongings and getting ready to join a boarding school about one hour from her hometown. She will be buying the needed items for boarding such as a mattress, a footlocker, and bedding as she will stay at school all term so she is able to study diligently.

Christine is 17 years old and has struggled greatly to make it this far. She is the youngest of six children and lives with her mother.  Her father was abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) when her mother was pregnant with her, and his whereabouts have never been known since then.

Christine hopes to become a nurse one day so that she can help uplift the status of her family financially.  With your help, she is on the path to making this dream a reality. Christine helps her mother with cooking, fetching firewood and washing clothes.  She is also gifted in singing.

Thank you so much for helping keep Christine motivated and in school this year.  We're wishing her a very happy seventh grade experience!

Links:

• Outreach Uganda's web site
• Keep up with our current news on facebook