Educate 200 War & HIV/AIDS-Orphaned Ugandan Girl

QUARTERLY REPORT FOR THE MONTHS OF OCTOBER, NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2018

Platform for Labour Action with support from GlobalGiving Project is implementing a project entitled “Educate 100 War and HIV/AIDS Orphaned Ugandan Girls”. PLA is implementing a GlobalGiving 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 Lord Resistant Army (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 these children through providing girl child education.

Platform for labour action through the GlobalGiving Donors is providing support of education  to 54 girls currently leaving in Lira district 3 in primary four, 8 in primary five, 17 in primary five, 26 completed 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, Administrative Associate Lira field office monitors the schools where all these beneficiaries are studying. This is done through checking their conditions with their teachers during school, their living conditions when at school and providing psychological support at schools and during holidays at their homes.

In this quarter, a number of activities were carried out that included payment of fees for term one, counseling, school and home visits to the beneficiaries. Below are therefore the activities carried out in the three months of October, November and December, 2018.

SCHOOL VISITS

The school monitoring visits are meant to check on the beneficiaries’ performance in class and to see their behaviors at school and challenges they are getting from schools.

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 them while they are at school and have things to mention about their performances at schools.

 The school teachers also play big roles in shaping the beneficiaries better future especially when they get to know how vulnerable the children are through PLA staffs who are dealing with these children.

Four schools monitoring visits were carried out, the visits were made in Lira Primary School, Omito Primary School, Ireda Primary School and Otim Tom Primary School

There is however great improvement generally on the performance of these children in class and their living conditions of the children being supported.  The children now have great hope for living though some of them have worried that they are most likely not to complete their studies since the organization only stop with them in primary Level yet secondary Level are more expensive if you compare with primary Level.  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. These guardians are also being supported psychologically by PLA staffs so that they do not stop taking their drugs due to social problems like poverty at their respective homes.

The Lango community has also appreciated the support given to the vulnerable children in their region and they are appreciating the help from Platform for Labour Action.

Speech from Deputy Head Teacher Lira Modern Primary School and Administrative Associate Lira office

My name is Opio, Deputy Head Teacher Lira Modern Primary School, I would like to appreciate PLA so much for supporting vulnerable children in the north. I really wants to thanks you people so much for choosing Lango as your area of operation with this project. Lango has suffered so much with wars and they have been in the camp for over 20 years which need a lot of support. I am also requesting PLA to add more beneficiaries since they are having a lot of disadvantage children our schools which needs support. I amm requesting the organization to start paying school fees for their children early enough to avoid taking this children back to their homes due to fee payment delays.

I would also like to appreciate PLA so much for providing these children with food  including  Breakfast and Lunch and it has improved their life and for the children suffering from HIV/AIDS their immunity has greatly improved. If am not mistaken, some of these children do survive on foods they get  from school only especially children who are under child headed family.

CHALLENGES FACED BY CHILDREN

• Children are being over worked during holidays. They are requesting for equipment for Games and support to make this children busy with Games and sport during holidays.
• Most of the children who completed primary seven end up dropping out of school. Since this project does not support this children to higher Level of Education, we are starting to support a few with secondary education and will look for resources for others to go for vocational training.

• CHALLENGES FACED BY PLA

• The funds are not enough to support all the children with school fees, uniform and food