This project will build two nursery classrooms for 120 students in Agwata, a poor Northern Uganda community. Most community members lived in IDP (internally displaced persons) camps until mid-2009 when they re-settled their ancestral lands after an internal war ended. All previous community structures were destroyed during the war. Besides providing a strong education foundation, the Nursery School will provide a noon meal to the children while their mothers hand hoe land to raise cash crops.
The Uganda government wants villages to have nursery schools so students will be prepared when they enter primary school. The Agwata village parents and Outreach Uganda jointly started such a Nursery School in June 2012. Over 60 Nursery students meet in a dilapidated mud and thatch classroom which the district education officer fears will collapse. Another 70 children were turned away due to a shortage of space. Such children will be at home alone and unfed while the mothers work in the fields.
Building a two room classroom building will accommodate 2 classes of 60 nursery students each. The building will be sturdy, clean and well lit. The dark, leaky mud and thatch building will be torn down and the area turned into a playground area with a pavilion. Besides receiving instruction by trained nursery teachers, the children will receive a noontime meal and begin to learn English which is the official business language in Uganda and also the language used in all good secondary schools.
This project will serve as a pipeline for 120 nursery students (50% girls) to have a solid start in school, receiving instruction from trained teachers, building their social skills and good character, and being nurtured by a mid-day meal, and selected health interventions. This will enable them to become successful motivated students and citizens who will ultimately help their families and community overcome poverty.
