Help Ugandan Youth Earn Nursing Certifications

Students submitted applications and my, all stories raise your sympathetic side enormously, they leave you tear filled with an aching to help all if it were possible.  For Instance there is one male nurse student Dovico B, he comes from a hard to reach area in the Rwenzori mountain ranges, when he was 3 years old he lost his father to HIV/AIDS and the mother followed a few years later.

Relatives joined hands to assist him grow up, in turns would pay tuition for his school through primary level and to them he had acquired enough education to warrant dropping out of school at primary seven. He dropped out, started to do casual jobs around the village while saving the little earnings, jobs like brick making, digging in other peoples’ gardens for a fee  and some times working as a porter at construction sites. Dovico saved little by little at the end of one year he sought out a secondary school which he joined for secondary education. The money saved was enough to pay fully for only one academic year, in his second year the headmaster gave him an after class job to slash the compound so as to raise some money to cater for school dues. Dovico would go back to manual jobs to top up during holidays; this affected his performance greatly though he managed a credit.

He was out of school for two years working and saving, there after joined Mayanja Memorial Medical Training Institute. His savings paid for one semester, the cycle repeated itself. This is a real Orphan Vulnerable nursing student who needs all the support he can get and he applied, been vetted for the sponsorship.

Thanks to Global Giving partners for joining us to support such nursing students realize their dreams and raise human resource for health. Dovico is just one example many more painful stories that were received.

Thank you Global Giving for give us this platform.

We are happy to report that it is once again that time to select new students to enroll on the scheme, very exciting to see that together with GlobalGiving partners, student-nurses can be assisted to achieve their dream of graduating as nurses.

This is the time so many painful stories stream in and one wonders what type of world we live in, children heading families at such young ages, others have never known who their parents were apart from small talk around in the villages.

Example is Barbra’s Story born in June 2000 lost her Father to War in the northern part of Uganda after an attack by the rebel Kony forces, her elder brother who was ten years then was also kidnapped and has never been seen again. Barbra’s Mother started to fend for her three children single handedly since then, Uganda people’s Defense Forces (UPDF) gave a helping hand to her through out secondary by allowing Barbra to study in the army school where all children are paid for by the government. Barbra’s mother is not educated, is subsistence farmer and gets little money by selling some of the food crops grown from the gardens. This helps raise money for the young ones (siblings to Barbra) who are still in lower levels senior 3 and P.6 respectively. Barbra is helped by a well wisher (Cousin) who contributes a half of the required fees whenever he can; she has never completed payments within the semester because of raising it in bits and pieces.

At this time again as we read through student’s applications one empathizes and making decisions who to give the scholarship becomes a painful exercise. If only funds raised were sufficient all 35 nurses who applied would be sponsored.

I appreciate generous contributions GlobalGiving partners and appeal to you friends across the world to raise more contributions so that together we make the world a better place to live in by enabling a nursing student to graduate as a nurse. GlobalGiving partners we salute you.