At the heart of our School Scholarship and Family Empowerment Scheme is giving a child the opportunity to have a good education, whilst empowering their family or guardian to create a more sustainable way of living, allowing them to support themselves.
Children come from very poor families where home life is difficult. Some families may not be able to provide their children with regular meals, adequate clothing, or a comfortable place to sleep. Without help, children would never have the opportunity to go to school.
Scholarship children attend St Paul’s Community Primary School in Rukungiri. They are equipped with books and resources, uniform and shoes, and regular school meals (a huge mug of porridge at break time, and a hot meal of beans and vegetables). For some these could be their only meals of the day.
Life skills, such as how to plant and harvest crops, supplement the curriculum along with many extra-curricular activities, to provide a good foundation for life in Uganda.
While the children are at school, the social workers work alongside the families encouraging them to save, set up small income generating projects and build up their resources, which makes life more sustainable. In most cases, by the time children graduate from primary school families are able to generate enough money to see their children through senior school. But of course, it takes time!
