With an average annual household income of $440.00, there is
no wonder why more than 15% of school-aged children in Uganda do not attend
school. With a population of more than 36 million, more than half of that being
children under 15 years of age, this poses a big problem for the country, and a
long-lasting burden on families. (World Vision country report, 2013)
Despite the best intentions of Universal Primary Education
which was introduced by the government in 1997 to provide free primary (grade
school) education to all, very few state schools are actually free, and the
quality is often lacking due to an absence of resources from desks to salaries
for teachers.
While our artisans are making well above the national
average annual income, the burden of school fees for proper education is great.
Take Mama Lucy, our Lead Tailor, for example. Lucy has two biological daughters
and has adopted 13 orphaned nieces and nephews from her two brothers, one who
died of HIV/Aids, and the other who was killed by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Nine
of these children are of school-going age. While some are old enough to help
supplement for their school fees through tailoring, working in shops, etc.,
this is still a major drain on the income, and sometimes ends simply do not meet.
We’ve had many people ask us how else they can help, aside
from buying the products made by the ladies. This is why we decided to start
our Education Sponsorship Program.
How it works? You can go through the profiles of each of the
children and choose your level of support for the child you choose. We’ll be
sure you get to see their report cards (electronically as they’ll definitely
want to hang on to the original), and if you sponsor a full term or more,
you will receive a letter from the child that you choose to sponsor.
For sponsorships of full terms and more, there will be a
$5.00 fee added to cover international bank transaction fees and the rest of
the money given goes 100% to tuition and fees, supplies, uniform and their
school uniform.
To meet the kiddos, CLICK HERE!
And please share, share, SHARE!
Questions? Please email us at info@awavamarket.com
