At Edu Child Foundation Uganda, we are committed to promoting the idea that all children, including the most vulnerable, have equal right of access to quality education – from early learning to undergrad education.
Ugandan government through its Universal Primary and Secondary Education policy offers free education in all public schools; yet, the associated costs of education still remain high and are major barricades for many vulnerable and poor families in remote Ugandan communities.
Because of the high rate of illiteracy and poverty in the communities we serve, in Uganda, one of our core program areas in support for the orphaned, street and other vulnerable children, is the provision of opportunities for access to quality education, a right which every child is meant to enjoy.
Edu Child Foundation Uganda provides formal education opportunities to the orphaned, street and other vulnerable children with 80% priority on girls in rural North Western Ugandan District of Nebbi, through the Educate a Child Project (ECP). This project focuses on empowering them to stay in school and rise as positive agents of transformation in their communities. The organization currently provides education scholarships for 77 vulnerable children (which number is expected to rise up to 100 children in 2020) with 80% (61) being out of schoolgirls in the remote communities of Goli, Jupangira, Ayomo, and Pawong located in North Western Ugandan District of Nebbi.
Through the ECP, Edu Child Foundation meets all school-related costs for 76 children such as; scholastic/stationary materials; school uniforms, bags, and shoes; school examination fees; Parents Teachers Association (PTA) Fees, and sanitary products for the girls; all which act as barriers to their going and keeping in school. Although school is now free to attend in Uganda for all children, other direct costs of education have remained and prove unaffordable for many rural poor communities.
Most of the families in the communities we serve are living in extreme poverty and with the high cost of education, many families can’t well provide for the education of their children, including the orphaned, street and other vulnerable children. And with a high level of illiteracy even among the adults, their understanding of the importance of education and family planning is limited and as a result, it is the innocent children who suffer. The majority of the children stay home helping their families with farm and other domestic works and never finding opportunities to attend school. Due to absence of even an early childhood learning center, majority of the children stay home till they are about 7 or even 10 years; that’s when they are allowed to go and attend elementary school at level one and in many instances, many even don’t make it due to lack of financing from their families.
On top of providing educational opportunities to the vulnerable children/girls, Edu Child Foundation Uganda, through ECP, engages the children in character development and servant leadership skills training program aimed at empowering them to stand out as fearless positive catalysts of community transformation. The ECP also engages the children in regular debates and academic reviews to monitor their progress as well as involving the general local communities served through community dialogues to advocate for the need for empowerment of the girl child, challenging the rigid cultural and other bottlenecks that prohibit girls from going to school.
Through Educate a Child initiative, we provide educational opportunities for seventy-seven (77) orphans, street and other vulnerable children in the communities we serve in Uganda and 80% of them are girls (58 children). Through Edu Child Foundation Uganda, we are taking the responsibility to empower the children in this community by giving them an opportunity to also have equal access to quality education. Our hope is to ensure that within 10 years; 1,000 vulnerable children in Uganda are empowered through education to fully live to their highest potential.
We believe when we have an empowered young generation; a society’s transformation is inevitable.
We are also committed to the welfare of all orphans and vulnerable children under our care, and seek to ensure that their rights are respected, protected and realized at home, in schools, and in the communities, they live in. To this end, we consider it our mandate to ensure that:
# – All orphans and vulnerable children in the communities we serve are able to access quality education;
# – Girls and boys, including those with disabilities or other vulnerable groups, are safe from all forms of neglect and abuse
# – Primary school-aged children are protected from preventable disease and have access to affordable quality health-care services,
# – There are safe water and effective sanitation at home and at school, and that the orphaned and other vulnerable children enjoy opportunities for recreation and sports.
Our vision for the orphaned and vulnerable children in all our programs is to ensure that they are adequately supported to attain their primary, secondary and vocational education; through the provision of school fees, books, school materials (pens, pencils, mathematical sets, rulers, and school bags), and sanitary pads for the girls.