Background

Adjumani is one of the poorest and least developed regions in Uganda due to its geographical location and conflict-filled past. The road to the next largest town has been upgraded recently. However, the electricity and water supply is still desolate and access to medical care is very limited. Employment opportunities are scarce. Most inhabitants live from subsistence farming, fishing and the sale of charcoal that they produce themselves. Despite the region’s political stability since 2006, the people of Adjumani are in many respects worse off than those in other parts of Uganda.

Wars and refugee movements, deficient infrastructure and poverty have all influenced the social system drastically. Alcoholism and household violence are symptoms of this. Educational opportunities are rare. Orphans and children from the poorest families find it particularly hard to gain access to schooling. While it is true that state schools do not charge direct fees, there are other expenses connected with school that exclude the poorest segment of the population from sending their children to a state school. Thus the project UgandaKids gives the underprivileged children of Adjumani a chance to escape their difficult social situation.

The project so far

The initiator of the school is a Ugandan woman named Hilda Ibba, who grew up in Adjumani but received an education and became a businesswoman. In 2006 she met a German lawyer in Kampala. This woman was fascinated by the idea of an education project and founded an association in Germany that still contributes to the costs of the school. Hilda Ibba has a large network of connections in her hometown and was able to persuade the authorities in Adjumani to support her plans. That same year she was granted a tract of land slightly outside the town centre where, as a first step, a building for pre-school children could be constructed. It opened its doors to 60 children in 2007.

At the beginning of the 2008 school year, a primary school opened for 45 first-graders. Since then the school has grown every year, expanding to three pre-school classes followed by the seven mandatory years of primary school. The last two years of the latter are offered with boarding school facilities. This of course required considerable expansion of the infrastructure and the hiring of more teachers. Since 2013, the school, which in the meantime has achieved official recognition, counts over 600 pupils. 2015 the German association facilitated the construction of eight flats for teachers.

The majority of pupils in UgandaKids come from families that, due to poverty, are not in a position to send their children to school. Others are orphans or half-orphans who have lost one or both of their parents through war or diseases like AIDS and malaria. In addition, handicapped or sick children have always been accepted in UgandaKids, an institution in which religion, family origin or gender play no role in admissions policies.

The expansion of the school has also gradually been accompanied by more services to its pupils. The children are given a meal in the breakfast and lunch breaks, and health care monitoring has been taken over by a nurse, who conducts regular check-ups. In addition to the Ugandan curriculum the children receive basic instruction in hygiene, social behaviour and non-violent solutions to conflict from a pre-school level. Sexual education and prevention are also taught in a way appropriate to each age group. A creative extracurricular programme with cultural presentations, dance groups, sports and handicraft lessons round off the activities on offer.

Success and challenges

The level of instruction at UgandaKids is very high. The teachers are well qualified and further training sessions are held frequently. The school enjoys a solid infrastructure and modern instructional materials are used. The concept of offering the two final years of primary school as boarding school has been validated, since the children are supervised in the evenings and can thus be motivated to study. Accordingly, the pupils’ performance has been impressive: since 2012, the 7th grade class of UgandaKids has achieved the highest or second highest marks in the whole district on the national final examinations each year.

The project is very well connected locally and is smoothly integrated into the state school system. The school receives support from local government representatives and works closely with the authorities. A parents council meets regularly, and the school has a board with representatives from Adjumani. These stable ties form an important basis for further development.

The expansion of the school to its present-day standard led to continually increasing costs. For this reason the school administrators accepted the enrolment of nearly one hundred children whose parents have a regular income and can therefore pay school fees. These parents value the high quality of UgandaKids and, by paying their children’s fees, they contribute to the school being able to cover its costs. However, covering school costs by charging fees is limited, because the project’s main aim is to provide a good education for underprivileged children. The EEF’s goal therefore is not only to support UgandaKids financially, but also to give them enough know-how so that they can increase their own resources.

Goals

To make it possible for six hundred mostly underprivileged children from Adjumani and surroundings to have a solid pre-school and primary school education. UgandaKids offers these children a unique chance to finish primary school and give them a valuable foundation for their further life and learning.

To guarantee and promote the health of the children by means of a balanced diet, good hygienic standards, and medical care.

To maintain the high level of instruction through further training of the teachers, sufficient teaching materials as well as an enlarged library and boarding facilities for girls and boys in the 6th and 7th grades.

To use the enlarged library as a basis for extending the sports programme, for the promotion of creative expression and for supervised activities leading to growth in social competence.

Support by the EEF

The equal education fund (EEF) has been observing UgandaKids for several years before a member of the EEF board visited Adjumani in January 2012. This visit left a very good impression, both of what has already been done and also of the current state of the school. Therefore the board decided to support the project from 2013.

Discussion with the school administration made clear which points should be addressed in a partnership with the equal education fund. UgandaKids can benefit from the EEF’s know-how in administrative and planning areas. We also see room for improvement in the quality of the reporting and in bookkeeping. The school management should therefore be professionalised and administration strengthened through further training. As the school repeatedly had to fight with financial straits the EEF aims with it’s contribution to the running costs to secure the working of the school. Additionally, the organisation helps within the scope of its possibilities when larger purchases are necessary (e.g. up-to-date teaching materials, new batteries for the solar system, replacement of the photocopier, etc.).

Prices in Adjumani (as of March 2023)

• 1 litre of petrol:
  CHF 1.30
• 1 litre of milk:
  CHF 1.20
• 1 litre of Coca-Cola:
  CHF 1.–
• 1 kilo of bread:
  CHF 1.50
• 1 kilo of rice:
  CHF 1.50
• 1 cinema ticket:
  CHF –.50 (Football match in a bar. No cinema available)
• 1 pack of cigarettes:
  CHF 1.–
• 1 bar of soap
  CHF –.15

Sources:
CIA World Factbook, information from Hilda Ibba, own design and calculations.