Charlene’s Project expands its work in Uganda
After a recent trip to Uganda, Magheralin parishioners, Dickie and Janice Barr, bring an update on the expanding work of Charlene’s Project…
We recently returned from Uganda having visited the 8 Primary Schools in the area in the north west where we are working. We started working in Kahara Primary School in 2012 where a new classroom block, community hall, teacher accommodation, borehole, water harvesting tanks, sports field, farming equipment, maize sheller and grinder have all been provided. Progress on the ground is amazing. When we were there Janice and I had the privilege with local elders of breaking the ground for the Nursery Block Charlene’s Project is providing. It was thrilling to see the mothers and daughters at Kahara play football in the brand new kit we had brought from Ireland, courtesy of Ulster Hockey and Northern Ireland Football. It is not that long ago that the community told us that only boys play football. What a change. The sheller and grinder are now commissioned and active turning the maize into flour, bringing a much needed income stream to school and reducing costs of processing for the farmers whose children attend the school.
In 2014 Kirwala Primary School was added to Kahara and Charlene’s Project has provided teacher accommodation and text books. We recently were pleased to see the renovations on the classroom blocks which Charlene’s Project funded. This included new classroom floors and lightning conductors (1 child was struck and killed by lightning outside the classroom block in 2017).
- School drop–out rate is high
- Girls are particularly disadvantaged educationally
- There is no secondary school in this whole sub–district
- Immediate needs are for teacher accommodation and latrines
Aims
- In the long term we want to build a secondary school for these children in their own community.
- In the short term Charlene’s Project wants to encourage more children to attend school and to see girls in particular having the opportunity of receiving an education through these 8 Primary Schools. Charlene’s Project has committed to offer secondary school scholarships to 2 boys and 2 girls currently in P7 in each of the 8 Primary Schools.
We are so excited to have identified 32 sponsors to support these 32 children who will commence their secondary school education early in 2019. Many of these children will be the first not only in their family, but in their clan to go to secondary school. The children do their National Primary 7 Examination in November and then when the results are through we will identify the 32 children who will receive the scholarships. Pray for these children and all the other children who unfortunately won’t have the chance to fulfil their ambitions for the future due to the unavailability of a secondary school in their community.
Charlene’s Project continues to work in Guatemala and with Syrian refugees in Turkey and Jordan.
Find out about the Big Festive Fry fundraiser on Saturday 15 December