by Mary Rowlatt
There are significant challenges for refugees acquiring primary education in any Ugandan primary school. At the moment 100 refugee students, both primary and secondary, are under the full Xavier Project Sponsorship Scheme. Yet a disproportionate number of refugee children remain at home, on the streets, desperate and hopeless. This situation has tested our ingenuity and we are pleased to tell you that this February, a further 80 pupils, of Congolese, Burundian and Sudanese nationalities, will be able to enroll in primary school.
Following lengthy negotiations with the Director and Head teacher at Molly and Paul’s Preparatory School, we finally yielded results. By providing the schools with 30 new desks and by covering the costs of the student’s meals, Xavier Project and the schools have set out to make a difference in the lives of the 80 new beneficiaries.
Before the children can begin studying their families will need to overcome a final hurdle of acquiring school uniforms. For now, these items are the responsibility of parents, guardians and well-wishers but once the children have uniforms, they are in.
We are extremely grateful to those who give generously towards forging a better future to the ever increasing population of refugee children. Congratulations to the lucky entrants.
– Sylvia Kukunda, Education, Uganda
