Education for Poor Children!

 Dear friends and family of SHARE Project and the Hammerslag School,

As usual, we thank our donors for their continued support and recurring donations to keep our school running. However, along with the rest of the world, schools have been shut as of March due to COVID-19, sending all of our learners back home. Before this, donations had been used to gradually improve the school (e.g. plaster the classroom walls, purchase additional school desks and chairs, and construct a female and staff toilet). Most significantly, we were also able to pay off our final loan to the bank and pay full February salaries and house rent to our teachers, which was a huge relief.

Despite this progress, we have been under incredibly difficult times due to the virus. The sudden shut down of our country has trapped some of our staff who are not from Pallisa and were unable to return to their families. Therefore, we had to continue to house and feed them, along with the students who relied on meals at the school, which has been incredibly difficult due to a lack of funds and no work in the village.

Our partners, Good Neighbours have helped some, sponsoring pandemic food rations for 43 children to eat while at home. This was helpful for the first two months, but this support is now finished, and our children, as well as their families are in dire need.

As for learning, the government has switched to a new approach of teaching through radios and televisions, but this has been difficult, if not impossible for most of our rural and vulnerable children who do not have access to either. This has been a concern in preparing our students for their final PLE exams.

Currently, the virus is continuing to spread throughout Uganda, with our Prime Minister in quarantine after his aide tested positive. This is a huge worry because our children come from rural settings where there is no testing equipment and a lack of health care, and people are already dying. Although we are told to wear masks and wash our hands regularly, this is not possible for many who lack clean water, sanitation supplies, or are not able to afford to wear masks on a daily basis. Perhaps most upsetting is that there is a huge misconception about the illness in the community, with many calling it cholera. Due to limited access to outside information and with the majority not educated, disease awareness and prevention is of utmost importance to reducing COVID’s spread.

Beyond the virus, the biggest concern for people has been feeding their families. As you can imagine, most are struggling economically, and children and adults are both going without food. In addition, many live in crowded households with the entire family, including the elderly. Because the cities are shut down and the youth are out of work, they have returned as well to their rural homes, contributing to over-crowding. Other cultural practices such as eating together, shaking hands and embracing have made social distancing even more difficult.

Due to these challenges, we kindly ask for your additional support during these unprecedented times. Donations will go to feeding our children and larger community, raising awareness about the disease, as well supplying them with masks and sanitation materials to stay protected. We are also hoping to raise funds to print and deliver learning materials given by the government to help students learn at home and prepare for their coming exams. Now more than ever we need your support to overcome this terrible crisis. Any donation, big or small, will go a long way in keeping our community safe.

Much love and many thanks,

-Charles