Educate 200 War & HIV/AIDS-Orphaned Ugandan Girl

Platform for Labour Action with support from Global Giving is implementing a project entitled “Educate 100 War and HIV/AIDS Orphaned Ugandan Girls”. PLA is implementing a global giving program entitled Educate 100 War and HIV/AIDS Orphaned Ugandan Girls whose overall goal is to empower female children through education in Lango Sub region. This project was started as a response to the 21-year-old LRA war that left so many children orphaned and destitute. There is a pressing need for rehabilitation and empowerment of female children through education. Lira district is no longer affected by war and the communities are in rehabilitation where there is need to better the future of female children through providing girl child education. Platform for Labour Action (PLA) through the Global Giving Donors is providing support for a better future to 54 girls currently leaving in Lira district 3 in primary four, 8 in primary five, 17 in primary five, 26 in primary seven. The project provides support to war and HIV/AIDS orphaned girls and those girls living with HIV/AIDS positive status with school fees, Lunch fees, counseling, scholastic materials such as books, pens, pencils, rulers, rubbers and school uniform, Toilet paper and mathematic sets and sanitary pads. Through the home monitoring visit and school monitoring visit, PLA Lira field office staff monitor the schools and homes where all these beneficiaries are studying and are living. This is done through checking their conditions with their teachers during school, their living condition when at school and providing psychological support at school and during holidays. In this quarter a number of activities were carried out that included payment of fees for term two, counseling, school and home visits to the beneficiaries. Below are therefore the activities carried out in the three months of April, May and June, 2018. SCHOOL VISITS The school monitoring visits are meant to check on the beneficiaries’ performance class and to see their conditions including behavior at school. The school monitoring visits gives the organization the chance to meet the beneficiary’s teachers since in most cases they are the ones that see the girls while they are at school and can share about their wellbeing and their performances. The school teachers also play big roles in shaping the beneficiaries future especially when they get to know how vulnerable the children are through PLA staff who are dealing with these children. Five schools monitoring visits were carried out, the visits were made in Eliaoulet Primary School, Lira Army Primary School, Ireda Primary School, Sir Samuel Joe Primary School and Otim Tom Primary School There is a great improvement generally in the living conditions of the children being supported. The children now have great hope for living. Some of the guardians living with HIV/AIDS have greatly improved health wise and stress has greatly reduced and their children are living normal lives like other children with both parents. The Lira community has also continued to recognize the support given to the orphans and they are appreciating the help from the donors and Platform for Labour Action as an organization representing the donors in the district. The PLA staff interact with the Head teachers of the schools where the children are getting their education from to ensure that the teachers understand the children`s needs and also support them while in school to complete their education and to overcome their vulnerability. Speech from Head Teacher Eliaoulet Primary School My name is Omonya, Head Teacher Eliaoulet Primary School, `I am very happy with what PLA is doing to transform our communities through Educating Vulnerable and marginalized young girls. ` He reported `I would want to recommend your organization to keep on rescuing these young girls from serious abuse from their guardians. I am surprised to see an organization Like PLA supporting children for all these time. It has not been easy with other organizations. They comes and disappear and leave a lot of debts not paid in the school but on behalf of Management committees and staffs of this school, I want to appreciate PLA so much because in the record I got in this school when I was not here, they do not have any debts with school as well.` I would like also to thank plat form for Labour Action for rescuring Monica who is HIV Positive and her guardian put poison in her food so that she dies because she my infect their children. With the support of school fees, counseling and food staffs PLA is providing with this child, has changed Monica’s life and Monica is now having promising words of being a doctor yet she had no hope in her life. When PLA came up, helping this girl by the school became so easy and they sat down with the school management committees and they agreed for this girl to start sleeping in school though PLA does not pay boarding fees and during holidays, this girl is remaining with deputy headmistress at school since her life was at a risk from her guardians. On discipline, I would want to appreciate PLA beneficiaries so much, they really have unique character they are very disciplined and I am giving my respect to PLA for mentoring these children to be a very good children. Speech from Deputy Head-teacher Mr. Omara from Otim Tom Primary School I want to thanks PLA and all their staffs in Lira for the concern they are putting to the girl child education, it’s not easy to get this king of organization, in my school here, its now my twelve years in this school, I started presenting 56 girls in primary seven in 2015 when Platform for labour action started sponshering children in this school. By the time PLA staffs started counseling their children any general children in classes, all the girls started having more morals in education and from 05 girls in primary seven to 56 and above in primary seven, before, we use to register those who got pregnant after completion of their primary six but now we are registering those reporting because they are stopping them from going to school, wanting to defile them which is a very right intelligent PLA has taught with our children and the rate of school drop out by our girls are reducing rapidly. I really thank, platform so much for this initiative. I also wants to thank platform for supporting vulnerable children in this school, though you are supporting few numbers, but they are very many here, I really thanks you so much for the great work done, the children you are supporting are total vulnerable but their life style has changed, I best thing you people did is by paying their Lunch in school, it has been very difficult for these children to get what to eat since their guardians at times deny them with the access to eat I also want to tell you that, for the Last three years, the children platform for Labour Action are helping have been performing very well both in class and games and sport. Though none of them I was having hope in the before PLA started paying them, they were the worst performer but now days they are leading According to my survey, I found out that, the reason why they were not performing well is that b fore PLA picked them, they were not attending class all the time due to Lack of fees, they were not having any one to counsel them on their difficult situation at their respective homes, they were not having acces to proper feeding and all these contributed a lot towards their failure before PLA started supporting them and their good performance now is that P LA is providing all these necessities to them.

During school monitoring visits at Lira Model Primary school, on the 18^th March 2018, we found that Atino a 15 years old in primary five was not at school, she only report on the first week of the term and she never reported back to school. The class teacher reported that she had problem at home because the all of that week she has been crying but when she took her to senior woman teacher, she never revealed anything but she end up disappearing from school

Atino has four younger siblings Omara, Oyena , Okomo and Titi and she is the one heading the family

She lost her father the late Ogwang in 2014 and her mother the late Amongi in 2016.

When we followed up Atino, we found that she was taking care of her sister Titi at the hospital where her mother had died from. The young girl was born with HIV/AIDS and was admitted at Malnutrition Department. When Atino`s Father Died, A man called Ogwal inherited Amongi (mother to Atino who fathered Titi, but the father to Titi had not taken responsibility and had not provided any assistant to them father or even just Titi his child.

Atino requested the organization (PLA) to help her take care of her sister since she has no one who is helping her at the hospital and since she came in the hospital, even the father to Titi has not visited them and she is getting help from the well-wisher from the hospital especially when there is needs for drugs and that drugs are not at the hospital, she is not buying it since she has no money. She was also worrying how her siblings are at home since she is the one taking care of them.

With the help of PLA Lawyer, he reported to the police and the police recorded the statement REF NO 09/22/03/2018 and he went with two police officer. Officer in charge child and family protection unit at Lira central Police, One police man and two hospital Nurses who was working on Titi Elizabeth. We found father resting and he welcomed us very well and when we told him the situation of his child he said that he does not have any child of that name we have first go and as Atino well. By then the police officers were still hiding in the car. When the police officer came out of the car he started running away from us but fortunately with the help of PLA and Police officer, he was arrested and brought to Police.

At the police, he accepted the child and he promised provide all the necessities needed for the child and that he will   get someone to take care of the child at both home and the Hospital so that Atino goes back to school.