Support and Educate Vulnerable children in Uganda

Greetings from Uganda!

We are happy to report that after the longest school closure in the world - almost 2 full years - the Ugandan government finally allowed schools to re-open on January 10th!  We were so excited to be able to open our doors again to our children!  We've worked extremely hard to make the classrooms compliant with new social distancing policies and are confident we'll be able to keep everyone safe.  We've also re-staffed all the classes with teachers as some of our staff were forced to move during the lockdown.  Although our secondary school had been open for a few weeks right before the pandemic, it feels like a grand opening all over again - especially with the new computer lab!  We currently have about 50 secondary students in 3 classes, with the hope of finding a dozen more sponsors soon so we can support another 12 children.  Please reach out to us if you may be interested in sponsoring a secondary school child in need!  

Unfortunately, COVID and the very strict restrictions imposed by the government over the last 2 years have had a huge toll on the families of our beneficiaries so many are now struggling to simply purchase the necessary requirements (things like pencils, exercise books and toilet paper) to come back to school.  We are of course encouraging the children to come to school regardless of whether they have everything or not - especially those children where we know there are potentially dangerous situations at home - and our social workers are working hard to follow up with everyone who hasn't returned yet.

And finally, some more incredible news!  Thanks to a UK charity, (Hatua) three of our P7 graduates have been awarded scholarships to some of the top schools in Uganda after achieving top marks on their final exams!  This expands on the one student who was awarded such a scholarship last year.  We are so proud of them, especially considering all they have endured over the last two years!

As always, thank you for your ongoing support during these difficult times.  We would not have survived the prolonged closure without you!

All the best from Uganda Hands for Hope! 

Links:

• Learn more about us...
• Follow us on Facebook...

Hello everyone!

THANK YOU to everyone who donated on Giving Tuesday!  Thanks to your generosity, we were able to raise $6,675 in just 24 hours and received $2,130 from GlobalGiving in bonus funds!  

With schools hopefully opening soon, we plan to use the money raised to purchase tents and special desks to allow our children to stay socially distant when they are finally allowed to return. 

We've also been working on some other upgrades to our school sites so we are ready for re-opening day:

The cargo containers at the secondary school now have the glass windows in, have all been painted and are having electrical installed as we speak. 

We purchased 17 complete new computer sets (and our first ever photocopier!) last week, awaiting installation.

We are awaiting delivery of our essential stock of new secondary school text books.

And of course we are still maintaining our home visits and food distribution program for all our families with a little extra for everyone for the holidays.  

We will certainly keep everyone posted as things develop in Uganda over the next couple months!

Thanks again, and Happy Holidays!  

The Uganda Hands for Hope team

Links:

• Follow us on Facebook...
• Learn more about us...