2012 Uganda Trip Post 2

The New Kids in the UP — Geoffrey and Rovister

ChildrenUP has chosen two new students to its roster of supported students.  As always we choose students who have scored highest in the national Primary School Leaving Exam.  They are always students who come from financially strapped families.  We also check that they are consistent hard workers.

Rovister is 15 years old.  During the war in northern Uganda her father was a soldier who disappeared. Her mother is a farmer who provides for Rovister and her 6 siblings.  She was our top choice for sponsorship because of her outstanding academic performance, focused mind, confidence  and strong work ethic.  At school she was selected as head girl and has given speeches at various educational activities.  She dreams of becoming a doctor.

Geoffrey is 14  years old he is a total orphan who lives with his uncle. Both of his parents were killed during the war.  Luckily he was too young to be abducted by the LRA (the rebel group, The Lord’s Resistance Army).  He has managed to pay the small primary school fees by cultivating a garden and selling the vegetables at market.  Due to financial constraints,  he was not able to go to secondary school  and repeated the last year of primary school.

ChildrenUP is actively looking for sponsors for these two children as well as others.  Previous sponsors have been individuals and couple.  Other sponsors have been groups of people that decided to sponsor a child in memory of a loved one. In one case, a school has taken on the responsibility of sponsoring a student.  The $1,000 yearly cost for the boarding schools includes tuition, supplies and mentoring.  Though we are a small organization, our aim is to make a difference in the lives of a few.  One advantage we have is that we can keep sponsors aware of the progress of their student.

We welcome any enquiries to ChildrenUP  (childrenup@gmail.com or 630-832-9010)

T’is the Season!

Give the Gift that can transform the World!

The ChildrenUP teams ~ US Team and Uganda Team ~  wish you and your families a happy holiday and wonderful New Year.  Thank you for your support in spreading the word and investing in the education of the children.

This year give the gift of ChildrenUP Giving Cards. You and your loved ones will appreciate that your gift makes a difference by helping academically gifted students reach their potential. And, you can give confidently, knowing that 100% of all donations go directly to helping our children.

Call ~ 630-832-9010 or go to the ChildrenUPwebsite to arrange for your Giving Cards purchase.

~ Your gifts are fully tax deductible ~

Thank you from all of us on the ChildrenUP board

The books have arrived!

EXCITEMENT!

This has been a long time coming; our students now have an assortment of textbooks for their classes. This is not an event that comes easily in Uganda where most of the students do not have an access to textbooks, but solely rely on teacher class notes.

After compiling the text books in an office, each book was carefully stamped on the exterior edge of the pages with the Children UP logo. It was an exciting day when the Ugandan mentors were able to go and deliver the books to the students at the four schools.

From a recent email from Sam, our mentor, we were pleased with this comment:

“It is interesting that when text books were delivered it brought a lot of excitment and teachers commended the organisation. Some of them asked Walter to help them have some of the copies of the books because they are so good. Several teachers said they have never seen such an organisation that pays tuition and provide basics including a close follow-up of the students. They said if all organisations were like this, there would be less cases of failure and indiscipline.”

Sam adds: “The students were appreciative and very happy”. We have a number of photos that show the books being delivered by Walter.

The students have a two-month break between school years that begins in approximately two weeks. These students can use the books over the winter break and come back to school, even better prepared.

Special thanks to our mentors Walter, Sam and Rachel for making the Children UP program work. Our students are doing remarkably well.

Textbooks

Without completely understanding the complexities of buying textbooks for Ugandan students, this is what we have learned so far. The secondary students take about 14 classes a term depending on the school they attend. Some of these classes are considered to be core classes. Since classes may meet only once or twice a week, a textbook is good for all four years of “O” Levels. Then for the two year “A” Levels a different set of books is required. That’s the background.

In the United States if a high school student signs up for a course, he/she is automatically told what textbook to buy for the course. In Uganda, the teacher supplies all the information by writing the information on the blackboard. For many students this is all the information they have.

Those taking their education seriously want supplementary materials so that they can study in the evenings and on weekends. Unfortunately, there are various options for choosing study guides from books to pamphlets. In this case our mentors talked with students and teachers at all four schools to determine what materials would best benefit all the students. Bought in bulk these materials have been recently distributed to all the students.

We thank the mentors for their conscientious attention to the details of helping our students succeed.

Technology Frustration

The Children UP mentor team

Getting all the technology to work for us as we try to communicate with Uganda can be frustrating. Of course once it works it will be great. Of the three mentors we have in Uganda at present, only Walter has a good working computer and can access all of the Children UP–America information and communications. If it was not for this communication life would be difficult.

Now Sam has a computer but without enough memory to access the Internet and has to wait until he has the time to go to an internet café. This is clumsy at best. Sam needs more memory.

Rachel was trying to use a Toshiba notebook. The cursor has a life of its own. It jumps all over the place making it impossible to type messages. Arrrgh! I know, because I tried using it. It is not her fault…..it is Toshiba’s. This is the second Toshiba of which I am aware that has this problem.

So we have bought a wonderful new computer to bring to Rachel at our next visit. The new problem… trying to get the security system up and running. There are so many hoops that they expect us to jump through that we are wondering if it will ever be successfully uploaded. Arrrgh again!

We cannot believe all the problems. Our goal is to get Skype up and working so we can get call without cost to all three of our mentors. Right now Skype loves us, because we are paying for the calls. It is wonderful to be able to talk to our mentors in Uganda. They are doing a fantastic jobs! And once communications improve, life will become a lot easier.

A Student Meeting: A follow-UP

The three new mentors for Children UP came up with a wonderful idea. They gathered all the students we support (minus one who had a Saturday exam) as well as a teacher from each of the schools. Though the meeting was supposed to be from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m, the rains had other ideas. The outdoor location for the meeting was waterlogged. So a large enough venue needed to be found. Some of the roads were difficult to navigate due to the mud. So it all began at 2 p.m. by which time there were hungry mouths to feed.

From the reports we have gotten the meeting was a success. The children and teachers felt a common bond. They were able to express ideas about concerns as well as appreciation for the support being given by the mentors. In most schools there are only one or two students supported by our organization. The meeting gave them a feeling that Children UP was an organization committed to the youth of Uganda. It meant they were part of a larger group. The two new students to the program had a chance to sense that there were other students to whom they could look up.

The students are now in the third and last term of their school year, which will end at the start of December. An American team will be there to visit the students sometime at the end of January. The annual visits are making us feel connected to these amazing young people.

A special thanks to Rachel Akullo, Walter Nyeko and Sam Lakor for making this happen.

A meeting of all the C.UP students and mentors

This Saturday, Children UP Uganda is having a meeting of all the children and all the mentors. I was asked to write a little something. Here it is:

Dear Children UP Uganda,

As director of Children UP America, I am delighted that the mentors have decided to have a general meeting of everyone involved in

Children UP Uganda. This will be a wonderful opportunity to share insights with each other and to feel that there is a support for you beyond your own school.

We are particularly pleased that the new mentors, Walter Nyeko, Rachel Akullo and Sam Lakor have taken on the responsibility to help the students of Children UP. We also want to thank the new school mentors for assisting the students in their schools.

Everything that Children UP is doing is being done so that you the students can succeed as you do your “O” Levels. We have been pleased with the reports that we have been receiving. You are working hard to achieve the best grades that you can and to learn as much as you can. No matter how hard the mentors work to guide you and help you, it is your hard work which will determine your future. It is up to you, the students, to shape and direct your lives. Though Children UP does as much as it can to help you, you alone are the true masters of your own futures.

I would encourage each of you to rely on your school mentors for any assistance which you may need. And to the school mentors, I would like to express my appreciation to you for all that you are doing to help our students. You are a vital link in not only helping the students, but also in keeping information flowing to the three visiting mentors and to the American team. The three visiting mentors are committed to making Children UP work, even as they are busy with their own professional lives. Children UP America is appreciative of the sacrifices they are making to assist our students who will become future leaders in Ugandan society.

As Children UP America tries to identify donors to support our efforts and to find sponsors for students, I want you to know how wonderful your letters have been. Your grade reports and the mentor reports are important for us to see and share with sponsors, but it is the personal letters which share details of you successes and challenges which are motivational to your donors. But the personal stories of your life at school, at home, and of your growing up as children can be especially moving for us to read.

Please know that everything that Children UP in Uganda and America is doing, it is for you the students. You have a group of adults who are committed to making sure that you can succeed to the very best of your abilities. Listen to your mentors and seek their advice.

I hope to return near the end of January to see you again. I am anxious to meet our S1 students, whom I have not had the privilege of meeting yet. But I hope to see all of you at that time.

Good luck and I wish you the best in Term Three.

Charlie Laliberte, Director of Children UP