Our project will provide a daily cup of porridge for 750 (increased from 670) nursery school children, in the 5 schools we support, who without us would not eat during the day. Northern Uganda was devastated by a long war, where thousands of children were abducted and forced to be child soldiers. These children are now parents and, having lost everything, many are unable to feed their own children, leaving them to forage for insects and plants to survive. Our porridge will change that.
Imagine, you are 12 years old and your life changes forever. One night the rebels come and take you to the bush. You give birth to 2 babies. Finally you escape, only to be rejected by your family for having a "bush baby". You have to raise your children, when you are still a child yourself. You haven't been to school, have no home, no life skills and no money. How can you and your children survive? There are thousands of girls like this in northern Uganda.
We don't just hand out food to hungry children. Our project generates income for the children's parents who are all farmers. Seeds for Development lends them the seeds to grow the maize which they sell to the school to make the porridge for the children. This gives them a market to sell their produce, money to pay school fees and enables them to feed their children outside of school. Our project also gives employment to the cook and brings money into the local economy.
Today's infants are the leaders of tomorrow. Providing them with porridge acts as the carrot to get them into school, where they are educated. Leaving our nursery school, they will have a head start in primary school and will grow into healthy young people who, through education, will strive for a peaceful and prosperous future for northern Uganda. As they leave our care, they are replaced with more children, so we are constantly building the foundations for future generations.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
