Our monthly reports are written by Susan Laker for our Kampala programs and by Aidah Wafula for our Jinja programs. You can read what happened in this specfic month in our Education, Nutrition, Health and Eye-care and Small Business Program and what else we did at 22STARS in Uganda :)
1. EDUCATION PROGRAM
Following the presidential directive to reopen schools again forall learners, schools came back to full operation on the 10th/01/2022 with some of the schools however opening before that in order to prepare. All sponsored kids are back into their respective schools including Anna who joined university for 3 years academic program of study after which she is to be awarded a bachelor’s degree and Simon who is in computer school.
Early this month, meeting with parents was conducted in both Jinja and Kampala to explain the relevance of the consent forms and the need for each of them to give their signatures on them. We started with prayers opening, matters discussed, parents signing consent forms, stressing to the parents that they should participate in their children's lives and do all commitments needed on their sides and the organization will dot heir part, authorizations from parents to put their children’s pictures to the websites, collaborations of parents, teachers to take care of children while in school, counseling our teenagers and giving all kids love and care.
All the Kampala secondary school children are now going to the same high school to make adminstrative work easier and all our primary school children are divided in Kampala over three schools. In Jinja also almost all our Secondary school kids are in the same program and our Primary kids are spread out over three schools too.
The home schooling program is still going on, but this time the kids are only learning computer. In Kampala there are 24 kids and in Jinja 32 kids who are learning computer. In total they study from 4:00 pm to 6:00 every day from Monday to Sunday because now that all children are back to schools officially. They study from Monday to Saturdays and the primary 7 study even until Sunday to recover the lost time from when the schools were closed.
Following the official reopening ofschools, some parents opted to shift some of their kids in primary section to Hope land junior school as it is reflected in the fees excel. Students no. 37 Derrick (who is doing videography in first year at ESOM institute) and child no. 200 Joel (who is in Kyambogo university second year) have been studying since the beginning of November 2021 already when institutions were first opened. In addition to Brenda and Simon are in the Optician school and going to complete their course this year.
All our beneficiary kids received special gifts from one time donations and these gifts were school bags, school shoes, inner wears, mattresses, bed sheets and blankets. Other kids also got specific gifts from their sponsors and our project leaders mostly chose their first priorities and bought scholastic materials, like books, sets, calculators and atlas books. We also got a donation of 70 mosquito netsfrom the local council 1 which we were able to hand out to needy kids.
Futher more we discussed the future of the School Sponsorship program. And we agreed that our beneficiary children will be supported up to senior 4 and two years for course,
but if the child is doing super well then the child may be supported in university and that will also happen after contacting the sponsors if they still love to continue with supporting them and if they will continue paying the same amount of school fees from secondary, respect among other both in children and adults.
Parents were so happy for the 22star sorganization to bring their children to school the first day when school started and all teachers were also very happy to the organization and to the kids because the children were all super bright in classes and all smart because of the home schooling that the kids got during the covid -19 situations we are really grateful to the donors, sponsors and to stella for organizing all
the home-schooling program.
2. NUTRITION PROGRAM
In Jinja, the Saturday meals have been on going as planned as the kids are available every weekend except for few of them in boarding for the center day programs at the offices in Jinja. In Kampala, we have hot meals every Sunday with the children. This has changed the health of children and balanced diets. We are so grateful to the donors and sponsors and we now have Sunday lunch at once since all the lock down have been lifted and most of our children have gone to boarding sections so we remain with 135 children coming to the center for Sunday lunch. The kids who are in Boarding School will get once a month extra food brought to the school, so they can also enjoy a more variet diet.
3. HEALTH AND EYE-CARE PROGRAM
We are set to resume in 2022 once need arises, we will identifyneed and communicate in due time. In Jinja, some of the kids were taken to hospital following illness they contracted using the emergency box funds we created for the 22STARS foundation.
In Kampala we got 4 optical glasses for the last optician patients and we also advise them to continueusing clean water to wash their eyes to reduce more infection in their eyes.
4. SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM
In Jinja the loans group received an addition of four million shillings,(4,000,000/=) and the current group is making their repayment progressively and as per the schedule they are to finish up in march this year.
In Kampala Every Month on 24th we have the loan funds pay back, which all members are making. The all pay back loans back very well since the lockdown is fully lifted and all the beneficiaries are back doing their previous businesses that were hindered by the lock down. So far, all the beneficiaries are so good with the loans payback and hoping the project will be boosting their businesses again, because they are completing their last payments on 24th February 2022.
5.VARIOUS
In Kampala, On the 5th of January we lost one of our members, Wanichan Lillian who was the real mother of child no. 77 Evalyn and the caretaker of child 75 David, child 74 Mercy and 162 Emmanuel. For now all these kids are in boarding schools.
Additionally we had a visitor from Denmark: Palle Bo, who interviewed Susan for his Vagabond podcast and also interiewed some of our small business loan beneficaries.
Susan works as local manager in Kampala and Aidah as local manager in Jinja. They take care of the kids making sure they all go to school, they are all treated whenever they are sick, they all get extra food whenever they need, counseling them, making follow up on all matters concerning the sponsored kids and their families. They make reports monthly, make budgets and proposals, send updates, update tasks, school visits, make payments together with David or Stella, and give accountabilities of funds spent and received.
Furthermoret the staff members in Jinja and also the staff members in Kampala had a team excursion to celebrate the new year and the hard work they have delivered the previous year. The women went to the lake to eat fresh fish and had a lot of fun.
