Since our last visit to Uganda in January 2020, the education and jobs of the children on our sponsorship program have been very badly affected due to the pandemic. The country’s main strategy to curb the spread of the virus has been to have a series of lockdowns with strict curfew.
Schools, vocational institutes and universities have been shut for the most part of 2020 and 2021. This meant that even three of our sponsored children who had jobs as teachers, were made jobless overnight without any ongoing salary.
All the children on our sponsorship program, who were in secondary school and higher education institutes, were in hostels and therefore had food and accommodation taken care of during term time. Each time there was a lockdown they had to return to their villages and survive on a daily basis.
We are grateful that we were able to keep in touch with every one of them to ensure that none of them were without the basic necessities such as food and medicines.
Even during the sporadic and minimal school term times through 2020 and 2021, two of the boys who were doing vocational training managed to complete their apprenticeships and sit their final exams at the end of 2021. We are pleased to know that they have been able to secure jobs in line with their vocations, namely, plumbing and motor mechanics.
We are very happy to hear that all educational institutions have opened in January 2022.
Another two boys who are doing Diplomas in Civil Engineering will be sitting their final exams this summer.
One girl will be sitting her A/Level exam at the end of this year.
