By Alison Hall | Founder of Seeds for Development
The first term of the school year in Uganda is over and we have noticed that there are more children in our five nursery schools than ever. This is fantastic news, especially as there are lots of girls. Porridge Power has a lot to do with this and we are so happy to see that it is enticing children into the school! The power of porridge also means that the children are much stronger and have a greater resilience to falling sick with preventable diseases, such as Malaria. They can concentrate more and enjoy singing and dancing without wanting to go to sleep.
Because the parents are also farmers, they are growing the maize to make the porridge and selling it to the school. It is this porridge that your donations are funding, thank you so much. Your money is working doubly hard because Seeds for Development pays for this porridge. The money the farmers receive means they can contribute to their children's education and also have money to pay for medicine and other day to day requirements. The money stays in the local economy and we can see small positive changes taking place.
Getting girls to stay in school through primary school and into secondary school is a major challenge and one that we are addressing already, when the children are in nursery school. We have a team of women farmers who move from home to home and school to school educating parents and children (boys and girls) about the importance of going to school. They also talk to the girls about sex, menstruation and family planning. Most girls have no idea that they are going to have periods and so you can imagine the shock when it all starts. There are no sanitary products available and the girls end up missing a week of school every month. We don't have the answer to that - but if you do, please get in touch!
Our goal is to help the people of northern Uganda build resilient and sustainable communities where the people prosper, children go to school and they dare to hope for a happy future - just like us really! And it all starts with a cup of porridge at nursery school.
Thank you so much for supporting us achieve our goal and the goals of the people in northern Uganda.
With best wishes
Alison
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