Education Uganda Project #42553

Help vulnerable children go to SAMaritan Schools!

by Stichting Kinderhulp Afrika

Project Report | Dec 2, 2019
Enjoying Kindergarten!

By JC van Leeuwen | Project leader

In class

Black Friday or Giving Tuesday …. Which do you prefer?

Thanksgiving Day is behind us and all the media attention has switched to Black Friday and Giving Tuesday.

Which day attracts your attention most? Do you feel a tension between the advertisers wanting you to spend more and the charities asking you for donations?

As regular visitors to Uganda we feel this tension. When we go to the supermarket to buy our provisions, we pass many local markets and ramshackled shops. We drive a car whilst we see people walking along the road carrying their loads on their heads. We are torn between our needs and theirs. But it’s also the reason why we help. We do what we can knowing that we can’t help everyone. Sometimes it feels like a “drop in the ocean”, but we also agree with the words of Mother Teresa, “If you can't feed a hundred people, feed just one.”

It's a hard life for some.

Samaritan Day Care and Kindergarten (SAM) wants to keep helping disadvantaged and vulnerable young parents and their children. The kindergarten opened in September and we are planning to open the Day Care centre as soon as possible. As the school year in Uganda starts in February and ends in December, it wasn’t really logical to open the Kindergarten and to wait until the new school year begins, but we wanted to make good use of the buildings straightaway, so that the children could benefit and start their education immediately.

Here is just one example of how SAM is already helping a family:

Zam is 26 years old. She came from a deprived family who were unable to continue paying her school fees, as a result she had to leave secondary school after the second year. She attended a Government aided school, but still needed money for uniform and books. She looked for work but has never had more than menial and temporary jobs. Whenever extra help is needed at our project she is asked to help out and of course earns the going wage.

She is married and has 2 lovely daughters, four-year-old Veranah and two-year-old Victoria. Her husband is a builder. They live in Nsasa, near SAM and attend the church on the campus.

With Mum by the main gate.

Verenah is one of the first children to receive help from SAM. She joined the “baby class” of the kindergarten, along with 7 other children. Her mother, Zam, has seen a great change in Veranah since she started going to SAM. She is much more talkative and is learning to speak English. (English is the main language spoken in the schools in Uganda.) She is happier and gradually becoming more responsible. She likes doing homework and reading the wall charts her mother has hanging on the walls. Her parents are very grateful of this opportunity to send their daughter to kindergarten and they hope that, in future, Victoria will also be able to attend. In order to be able to help Victoria and other vulnerable children attend the Day Care and Kindergarten we need your help. Will you please consider supporting SAM on Giving Tuesday?

With her new friend.

What happens on Globalgiving #Giving Tuesday?

This #GivingTuesday, GlobalGiving is giving away $500,000 in matching funds to its nonprofit projects. This bonus fund will be shared by all the participants proportionally based on the final sums raised on Giving Tuesday. This means that your donation earns us an extra bonus! The more funds we raise the larger our share of the bonusfund!

This year we are asking for support for SAM or for our wall project. You may already know that Sam has very secure compound. It is located at the back entrance of the 18 hectare campus. However, a 400 meter section of the connecting boundary fencing needs replacing by a high security wall. This brick and concrete wall will be 2.5 meters high, topped with razor wire. It costs £65 (€75 or $85) per meter to build the wall.

We’d be very grateful if you could help us on Giving Tuesday and join millions of other global givers on December 3. Please choose one of our projects by donating at www.globalgiving.org/42553 to support SAM or www.globalgiving.org/43969 to help build the Wall.

Please note Giving Tuesday Dec 3, starts in the US at 00:00 hrs till 23:59 hrs ET.

UK at 5am till 4:59 am GMT Dec 4 and in Europe at 6:00 hrs till 5:59 hrs CET Dec 4.

You can also share our cause on social media using the hashtag #GivingTuesday and sharing our website, Facebook page and Globalgiving projects. www.kinderhulp-afrika.nl/en/preschool, www.facebook.com/Kinderhulp.Afrika.

Thank you so much for supporting our work in Uganda. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me jill@kinderhulp-afrika.nl or our office info@kinderhulp-afrika.nl

I will be writing a new report before Christmas.

With her new friend.

With Mum by the main gate.

It's a hard life for some.

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Oct 3, 2019
A big Hello from SAM!

By Jill van Leeuwen | Project leader/Fundraiser

New friends

A big Hello from SAM!

We are delighted and excited to confirm that SAM -the ‘Samaritan Day Care & Kindergarten’ is up and running! We are now providing nursery day care and pre-school kindergarten for vulnerable little ones aged 6 months to 6 years.

We have moved into the modern buildings of our former centre, which were completed just 3 years ago, are purpose built to cater for the under 5’s, and have been adapted to better facilitate the new day care activities taking place. The walled compound offers a safe environment with a garden ideal for outdoor activities, and there is a sheltered area where children can play protected from the strong rays of the African sun.

The nursery day care area has been set up to provide care for a group of the most vulnerable children. We are already providing individual care, healthy meals and a range of developmental activities, including games and reading to the younger children. The kindergarten is offering the same individual care, and putting additional focus on preparing each pre-school child for the transition to primary school. Many of the children that we will be looking after at SAM will go on to attend KHA’s Samaritan Primary School on the campus.

Our aim is two-fold – to give the little ones a healthy and stimulating environment in which to develop early educational and social skills, whilst offering their parents the opportunity to work or to undergo training whilst we care for their children. Our hope is that our support can give vulnerable young mothers and disadvantaged parents or carers the opportunity to build a life for themselves, and a basis to bring up their own healthy and stable family independently.

The support of our sponsors and donors will help make it possible for us to provide life changing care, and developmental and educational support to the most disadvantaged under 5’s and their families.

Your support means more than mere words can convey and none of our work is possible without it.

We are looking forward to all the new challenges that running and developing our day care and kindergarten centre will bring, and we hope that all our GlobalGiving donors are as excited as we are to be embarking on this project. Together we can make a real difference in the lives of vulnerable young children in Uganda.

KHA, our charity Kinderhulp Afrika, has “from helpless to hopeful” as its slogan and SAM is going to play an important part in giving that an even broader meaning!

One of our project leaders will be visiting SAM in October, so we will post an update report with all the latest photos shortly to keep you in touch with all the developments.

If you have any questions, please do contact us. jill@kinderhulp-afrika.nl

www.kinderhulp-afrika.nl/en/

Playing in the Garden

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