Hello, and thank you for choosing to learn more about our school! This blog post will include information on our mission, the need in our community, and the change we hope to instigate through our programs. The primary goal is to support teenage mothers, orphans, and vulnerable (at risk) children, the majority of which are victims of HIV/AIDS, whether directly or indirectly.
The majority of the families in the Front Institute and Sule International have an average number of six children per household and they struggle to survive by doing odd jobs. Therefore, income from any family member is oriented to the most essential needs, and in most cases the family will not be able to cover school fees for children or have funds to purchase the learning materials. Many children who are able to collect enough money for school eventually drop out to provide for their families. For example, some stop going to school in order to take care of a sick parent at home, while some quit to earn money for the household. By the time these children are able to return to school, they can not continue their education because of the gap in attendance.
The only options remaining for these children is entrepreneurship and vocational skills training, but the cost of these programs is still beyond the means of many impoverished families living in our target community.
Sule International Academy is breaking this cycle of poverty. By helping the absolute poorest in the community, we can make the greatest impact on society. With childhood being the foundation of the world’s future; as orphan’s lives are changed… so will it be with the generations that follow them.
Sule International has begun the creation of the school to help orphaned and impoverished children, and the community at large, providing:
– A Community Center with multiple activities and outreaches for children and adults alike, open daily and offering continuing education for adults and special activities for children.
– The Front Institute and Elementary School, which offers 150 scholarships to both children and adults, with an expectation to offer 350 children an opportunity for quality education and vocational skills training.
– A children’s home/orphanage, for boarding students and short-term child care of children in transition from the street to long-term foster care.
– The center of operations for child sponsorship and foster care programs where loving homes are carefully chosen and monitored to provide a new family to the poorest children from among the estimated 4 million orphans living in the country.
STATEMENT OF NEED
Enduring childhood in Uganda is difficult enough with a complete family, with one out of five children dying before they reach the age of five. If the child should lose their parents to illness, the plight of an orphan in Uganda is one of hopelessness. Life expectancy is just 46 years of age. It’s a country composed mostly of children, as over 60% of Uganda’s population is under the age of 18, and over a quarter of those are under five years old. It’s no wonder that 43% of children are forced into child labor as families struggle to survive and bring enough food into the home.
Inadequate Food Supply
Malnutrition weakens children’s ability to resist attacks of the infectious diseases. It also has a negative impact on children’s cognitive development. 52% of children in Uganda are stunted and 47% suffer from being severely or moderately underweight.
No Access to Medical Care
The health status of Uganda is poor, even when related to other low-income countries including those in sub Saharan Africa. The population suffers from a huge burden of potentially preventable diseases such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, intestinal parasites, acute respiratory infections and diarrheal diseases. Uganda is one of the countries hardest hit by the AIDS pandemic. Children do not need to have HIV/AIDS to be devastated by it. When HIV/AIDS enters a household by infecting one or both parents, the very fabric of a child’s life is torn apart. The statistics are numbing with 4 million orphans in Uganda, and 20% as a result of AIDS alone. Orphans generally represent the poorest segment of a society and suffer most with no parents to help and guide them in their struggle for survival in an already cruel world.
No Access to Education
Adult literacy is at 39%. If you couple that with a net primary school attendance/enrollment of only 30%, you see a cycle that continues. Though primary schooling in Uganda is free; for the average Uganda living below one dollar a day, it’s difficult to pay the required school expenses like uniforms, exercise books and school maintenance costs. Additionally, families may be reluctant to send their children to school, since they depend on their children’s labor for survival. Many families do not understand the value of sending their children to school.
OBJECTIVE
To break the cycle of poverty by providing holistic development to impoverished orphans and communities in Uganda by meeting their physical, educational, spiritual and social needs, and to challenge and equip children to live productive and responsible lives. The center is a multifaceted ministry, addressing poverty stricken orphans and communities through multiple initiatives. Primarily, this project benefits orphaned, abandoned, abused children and teenage mothers, while offering programs and services to the community. By taking the poorest and most disadvantaged segment of society and giving them the love, care and an environment to achieve excellence, a significant impact is being made. As we raise these children with elevated standards and expectations, they become the top segment of the same society from which they came.
No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.
Sule International Academy 