Lessons for Life Newsletter January 2009

For 2009 our estimate of the annual cost for each child to attend school is £550 which for a UK taxpayer roughly equates to £420 (£35/month) thanks to income tax being recoverable through Gift Aid.

For a fees-only student (where we assess a guardian can afford to pay for requirements), the total cost is £375 which for a UK taxpayer roughly equates to £300 (£25/month).

If you or someone you know would like to sponsor one of these children, please let us know.

Name and Age

Profiles

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Arach Brenda
Arach Brenda
13 years old

Brenda lives with her aunt, 4 brothers and 1 sister. Her village is in the Gulu district where both her parents and baby sister where killed by the rebels. When this happened her uncle came and brought the family to live with him in Kampala. Shortly afterwards he too was killed in a car accident. The aunt raises funds by selling vegetables and continues to support all the children in her care, although often this is difficult as the priority is food and rent.

Brenda is unsure of what her future holds but wants to be able to help her community in the future. She has just sat her PLE (Primary School Leaving Exam) at Banunule School and is awaiting the results.

Brian Kiiza
Brian Kiiza
15 years old

Brian lives with his mother, 4 sisters and 2 brothers. All 8 family members live in a rented room. His mother looks after the children and therefore does not have a job.

Brian says she tries her best to get them food but they may sometimes have to go without. They basically live on one meal per day. This comes from the mother’s sisters giving her support. Brian’s father’s relatives have denied the family since his death adding to their difficulties. During holidays Brian will fetch water for the neighbours to earn small amounts of money for the family.

His father died this year during the second term. To enable Brian to continue at school, Olivia paid his 3rd term fees. Brian works exceedingly hard and is ranked 1st out of 63 students at St Lawrence High School, Mukono. He achieved Distinction 1’s in Maths, History, Geography, Pol.education,  IRE, Agriculture, Fine art, commerce and accounts. He is a very pleasant young man.

Naluwembe Catherine
Catherine Nalukiembe
12 years old

Catherine and her 2 sisters live with an aunt. Her mother and father died in an accident and the aunt is not very well. The aunt raises money by selling bananas around the streets. Her health is beginning to deteriorate so there will be little income for school.

Catherine would like to become a lawyer and maybe one day a judge. She is highly motivated and enthusiastic about school.

Kojo Esther Barky
Kojo Esther Barky
15 years old

Esther is living with her aunt who is married with 2 children. Her aunt is a nurse.

Esther’s father died in Rwanda during the war. She has a mother and 6 step sisters. When her father died she joined her aunt’s family as her mother has remarried and lives in the village with her new family. All the step sisters go to school paid for by their father. Her mother and step father do not support Esther.

Esther believes that education will enable her to study hard and achieve a bright future. She has just completed her PLE (Primary School Leaving Exam) at Railway School and her ambition is to become a doctor.

Gidongo Job
Gidongo Job
15 years old

Job lives with his aunt and her husband. She has 2 sons and 3 daughters and looks after Job and his sister. The aunt is a cook at Railway School.

Home life is not simple. The family has very small quarters and the uncle sometimes chases all the children out of the house at night. There is a lot of fighting in the home which disrupts Job’s studying and reading. There are times when there is not enough money for school fees for all the children and on these occasions, Job and his sister are told to sit at home until the money problem can be solved.

In the future Job would like to become an engineer. He has just completed his PLE (Primary School Leaving Exam) at Railway School.

Pituwa Emmanuel
Pituwa Emmanuel
16 years old

Emmanuel is the last born in his family. He has 2 older sisters but lives with his aunt and uncle during term time and returns to his village at the end of term. His uncle is a tailor and has 4 children of his own as well as supporting Emmanuel. Money is short and food and housing comes before school.

Both his parents died when he was aged 7. His older sisters live in the village and one is married. Her husband does not want to support him for secondary school. Both sisters have tried to assist with paying primary school fees. His uncle has to pay for his own children’s education so does not feel he can afford to pay for Emmanuel to go to secondary school.

Having completed PLE (Primary School Leaving Exam) at Railway School, Emmanuel would like the opportunity to further his studies to eventually become an engineer. He is a delightful young man who has lost hope of getting an education.

Kunihira Phionah
Kunihira Phionah
14 years old

Phionah lives with her uncle and his wife during term time. He is a policeman and has 5 children while looking after Phionah and her brother and sister. They have parents living in a village near Fort Portal but they cannot afford to look after their children.

Midway through Primary 7 her uncle told her he had no more money for school fees for all the children so she had to stop going to school until he could raise the money. Phionah went to see Olivia (headmistress at Railway School) who enrolled her into the vocational course run by Lessons for Life. There she made some bags and mats which she sold to pay for her final term at school and to buy basic pens and books.

Having completed term 3 she is waiting for the results of her exams and would like to go on to become a lawyer.

Kemigisha Rachel
Kemigisha Rachel
12 year old

Rachel lives with her mother who works as a house maid/cleaner. Her father lives out in Kisoso but doesn’t send money to support the family. There are 13 people in her immediate family with 2 other relatives living with them. There are no funds for school and it is through Olivia (headmistress at Railway School) that Rachel was able to complete P7 at Railway School.

Rachel has shown herself to be very industrious at school, joining Aids awareness clubs and vocational training club. She has been in the top 5 throughout her time at Railway School and received a certificate for being active.

Her mother works long hours as a maid and told Rachel to be thankful for what little they have. Rachel would love the opportunity to become a lawyer but feels there is little chance of her getting secondary education.

Otiti Judith
Otiti Judith
13 years old

Judith lives with her father and mother during term time and her mother in the village during holidays. Her father is a policeman and he has 7 children including Judith. He struggles to feed and house the family on his wages so often education is not a priority. He has 2 sons in secondary school but they are often at home as he cannot afford to pay their term fees.

Judith loves dancing and would love to develop this talent, but her academic goal is to go to secondary school and train to become a lawyer.

Judith is pleased that her parents have supported her to PLE (Primary School Leaving Exam) at Railway School and knows that without sponsorship her parents will not be able to support her dream of secondary school.

Opondo John Paul
Opondo John Paul
17 years old

John Paul lives with his sister where no one is working and there are four children living with her.

John would like to become an engineer in the future and would be happy following a vocational route as well as an academic route.

He is very quiet about his family life and if he does talk, he talks about ‘corruption’ and not wanting to work together to create a family.

Musisi Isaac
Musisi Isaac
13 years old

Isaac lives with his mother, 3 brothers and 2 sisters in Kisugu South. His mother sells vegetables to raise funds for the family

Isaac is unsure about his future. He could either be a mechanic or he could be a chef. During his free time he often plays with the family children to keep them happy or he helps prepare meals for his mother.

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