There is so much to learn
every day in Uganda. This week I am learning more and more about the education
system here. When students graduate from P7 they take an exam over four
subjects: reading, math, science and social studies. They then have an aggregate score, the lower
the better. I've been told that students who score with a number higher than 20
typically tend to struggle in Secondary. Faith who called me at midnight scored
a 27, so in theory she doesn't seem to be a "good" candidate for
secondary.
In the past 36 hours I have
had many thoughts and many discussions on this matter. I said if someone had
not paid my school fees in high school because of my grades, I wouldn’t have
gone to high school…I was not a great student, not because I’m not smart, but
because I don’t really learn the way I was taught. I’m more of a “hands on”,
have to see it to believe it kind of student.
What if Faith is the same
way?
Or what if Faith can’t focus
in school because she receives 1 or 2 meals a day? And those meals consist of
posho and beans, hardly enough food to quiet the growling stomach let alone
learn in school.
Or what if Faith missed
school last year each month for four days because she didn’t have adequate
supplies to manage her period?
Or she missed days of school
because she doesn’t have a net over her bed and continuously contracted
malaria?
Or had a bout or two of
typhoid from dirty drinking water?
Or because her access to
basic hygiene supplies is limited and she gets sick often?
Or she needs more hours to
study but there is no electricity to study by?
Faith and her mom were at
WSH by 9am yesterday, waiting over 90 minutes before I arrived to the school.
Her mom a beautiful woman with kind eyes and a big smile, sat there speaking to
me in Luganda, telling me she didn’t have an education and she wanted more for
her daughter. I asked Faith yesterday, “if no one pays your school fees, what
will you do?” She replied, “I’ll go home and sit”. Sit and do what I
thought? Later in the day I went home
and I googled something about secondary schools in Uganda and I came across
this blog
The following quote was enough for me to know that allowing Faith to go back
home to her village to sit and wait for someone, anyone to pay her school fees
was not the answer.
"The study found that in Kampala 21% of
female secondary school students between the ages of 14 and 17 have engaged in
'transactional sex' - providing sex in exchange for something, usually money.
One in twenty has had sex with a relative for this purpose."
I began to
brainstorm ideas for Faith and the others who according to their scores aren’t
strong students, what if the students who graduated from P7 who are over the
aggregate of 20, stay at WSH, help in the kitchen, in the dorms, in the garden,
on the grounds and at night they get some additional help and sit for the P7
test at the end of this year. If they hit the 20 or below mark we fight like
hell to find them a sponsor?
In Uganda it’s beat into everyone’s head you must go to Secondary
and you must go to University, the reality is that’s not going to be many
student’s options if they don’t have family, a sponsor or the ability to
continue with their studies. Today as I was having lunch with my friend Frank,
I said you know I feel like when students finish P6, someone needs to sit down
with them and say “if you continue to study hard and test well in P7, you
should have no problem in Secondary” but if the student isn’t showing signs of
being a strong student, someone needs to say “you know secondary may not be
your best choice lets find a vocation for you” And set the child’s expectation
of what their future is going to look like well before they graduate from P7,
not a week before classes in Secondary start.
Tonight I had dinner with the group from the UK who provides a
majority of the funding to the school. Out of the 30 P.7 students, they have
identified 11 who have tested well and need sponsors, they are able to commit
to 5 students, that leaves 6 children who have an aggregate of 20 or below who
are in need of school fees. It costs approximately $1,000 a year to send a
child to secondary this includes, fees and other requirements that add-on
quickly. When 35% of the country lives on less than a dollar a day, you can see
how sending one or any of your children to secondary is far out of the realm of
possibilities. The Bernie Project’s mission for this year is nutrition and
hygiene, but I feel it is imperative to find a way for these 6 kids to get to
school next week. The Bernie Project needs commitments and donations of
approximately $350.00 for each child by next week. The additional funds can
come throughout the year. We will be posting stories of each of these students
in the next few days. If you are interested in helping sponsoring one of these
children, please donate via our website or if you are mailing a check, please
reference “school fees”.
So what about Faith? When I was finishing up the conversation with
she and her mom yesterday, she asked “shall I stay here at school? My mom
doesn’t have transport money for me to go home with her.” I could have given
her 5,000 shillings ($2.00) and she could have been heading back to the village
to sit and wait. But instead I said, “no I think you should stay at school.” I
learned today that students who don't have someone to sponsor them can retake
P7. So, tomorrow I’ll go to school,
speak with Faith and encourage her to retake P7 and then maybe next year,
she’ll have a better aggregate and a better chance of succeeding in Secondary.
And the reason why her aggregate will improve:
Because at the end of 2014 The Bernie Project will have provided:
- A well-balanced nutritional program to help Faith focus and
learn better in school.
- AFRIPad menstrual supplies to keep Faith in class during her
period.
- Basic Hygiene supplies like bathing soap, clean drinking water and
mosquito nets to keep Faith from getting sick.
In the mean time The Bernie Project will start to design a pilot
program for the kids who are never going to make it to or thru secondary, some
type of program that allows them to still become a productive and contributing
member of their world, because while our focus this year is nutrition and
hygiene, I think it’s a damn shame to invest in kids through P7 and then let
them go back to their village to sit and wait for something better to come
along.
Help us give these kids a better, brighter future.
By donating today, tomorrow, or next week or next month at
Thebernieproject.org/donate
With Abundant Gratitude,
April
