Improving access to education in Uganda

Pedaling toward possibility: How bikes are breaking education barriers for girls in rural areas of  Kadungulu Sub County in Serere District.

“A school student can cover four times the distance, and for every 15 kilo meters, three hours of time is saved on a Buffalo Bicycle. Students who have access to a bike have increased school attendance by 28%, and their academic performance has improved by 60%’. REVU is helping girls living in poverty to access education. Crucially - education is the way for these girls to avoid  child marriage, even at ages as young as 13 or 14.

Sharon’s Story

For Sharon, a senior two student at Kadungulu Secondary School in Serere District, getting to school used to be a difficult task. She  was often late because her home was 8km away and her only mode of transportation was her legs. Other daily tasks were also difficult and the journey to school took atleast three hours each way from Ajuba village to Kadungulu Secondary School.  

“Some days, I wouldn’t go to school because I was very scared of meeting certain boys on the path. They may shout, throw stones, or stop me and make propositions”, said the 15-year-old Sharon. “I could not avoid these boys.”

Sharon could only embark on her trek to school if she wasn’t too tired from the previous day’s journey.

“My friends used to discourage me about school. Some even mocked me - told me to drop out of school so that I should be like them. They would say, ‘Why are you bothering yourself like that, walking long distances to school? Why can’t you leave and be like us?”

But Sharon didn’t let that discourage her.

“I appreciate the bicycle,” Sharon said. “It gives me a lot of things - coming to school, going home, fetching water, going to the grinding mill, and getting to the clinic.” I signed a time-bound term agreement (Service to own) with the community’s education supervisory committee pledging to service the bicycle and complete my studies up to form four and pursue my course of becoming a laboratory technician. If this agreement is breached, the community’s education supervisory committee has a right of removing the bicycle from me and re-allocate it to another girl identified by the committee who is serious with studies but facing the problem of trekking long distance to access a nearby school.   

“After receiving the Buffalo Bicycle from REVU with support from GlobalGiving Foundation, my school life has changed so much. My performance has greatly improved. Now my journey to school is easier and faster”, says Sharon. “The same friends are admiring me now. Most of them have gone back to school, hoping to get a bicycle one day, just like me.”

Sharon’s trip to school remains difficult, taking almost 2 hours each way. But she no longer fears the boys along the road. And the saved time and effort leave her less exhausted in the mornings. Now, she can focus on dreams for the future: becoming a medical worker (Laboratory technician). And now she’s on the right path to do these things, in no small part due to her bicycle.

• Story_of_change_Global_Giving.pdf (PDF)