Education for Poor Children!

We have great news since our last report. Our pioneer candidates performed well in the 2019 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE). The Best Candidate received 15 aggregates, missing only 3 points to getting Division one. The second best got 19 aggregates, the next got 21, and four tied up in 22 aggregates and 25, 28 and 30 respectively. We sat 10 students and managed to beat the 3 government schools in the same sub-county. Nine of our Students sat PLE at Osonga Primary school and one of our students at Olok Primary school; as our school does not have an examination center.

We would like to thank all of the donors for their support and contribution to this great performance in our community who had lost hope for their children ever making it to a high school education. If such sacrifices were not made to this community and its children to build a school to go to, this goal could not have been realized. We thank the Hammerslag family and all their friends who believed in the idea of building classrooms where there was no school-- when children were studying under trees to be able to graduate to a high school education.

When we made our first ask for donations on GlobalGiving, a man called Quirois introduced us to the Hammerslag family, and from that time we got their support to begin construction of the school for the many vulnerable children in Pallisa. Our student population continues to grow each year because of your support.

A big thank you goes to Mother Loretta and her daughter Jenna for all the sacrifices made so far and they have continued despite their own family needs to stand with this rural community and help educate their children, including feeding and paying for the teacher’s salaries and purchasing scholastic materials that make learning possible.

Recently the government has extended electricity in the village where the school is located and we managed to pay for a low voltage power pole at the school compound. Further funds are needed to help install power in the classrooms to help our children read and revise their books at night in preparation for the 2020 PLE. A photo of the completed electrical pole has been included with this report. 

Considering this new opportunity, we invited an engineer to inspect the school, who advised us that we need to pay application survey fees and purchase the following supplies in order to install electricity throughout the compound: MK box, earth wire and rode, junction boxes, land cable, 50 kgs of salt, charcoal dirt, sockets, switches, clips, bulbs inside and outside the classroom for security. This will cost an estimated 1,000 USD, including labor.

We have also used the recent funds to pay our first installment of the school loan. Additionally, we have used part of the money to complete the plastering of the remaining classrooms and partitioning of the old school toilet to separate male and female use, as requested by the health authority at Pallisa District. Finally, we have secured a few scholastic materials to start the new school term 2020 and repaired teachers rented accommodation.

We request for more support to help feed the children, build a better kitchen, and also improve teachers pay, as we keep losing good teachers at the end of each year. At the moment we are only able to pay 100,000 UsH per month for a teacher, and 50,000 UsH for support staff, far below the proposed living wage for a teacher in the country.

We need funds to be able to complete the construction of the new school toilet, as the old one is shared by the entire school population, the students and staff, as well as some members of the community who do not have toilets in their homes. 

The school continues to struggle accommodating boarding children who sleep in the classrooms, and we worry a lot about their health. We ask any kind-hearted individual to consider switching to a recurring donation through GlobalGiving in order to sponsor these children, and help provide them with adequate, consistent care. Every amount counts. Most importantly, we must build a separate accommodation, starting with a girls dormitory this term. This can be completed with as little as 7,000 USD, including washrooms. We hope you will find it in your hearts to continue supporting our efforts. We thank you for reading our report.

Much Love,
Charles Olupot