Primary Schools
The charity started as the Antokia Children’s Shelter, set up in 2000 when Krista Bradford was teacher training in S W Uganda as a VSO volunteer. At that point it was able to support a local community project in the Kakoba district of Mbarara which had identified the desperate needs of some children in the area. Some were orphans and some just stricken by terrible poverty.
With the support of the Shelter, the local project was able to arrange for 20 of the most disadvantaged children to go to primary school. Without the literacy and numeracy skills a primary education would give, the children had little chance of improving their lives, and many would join the sorry bands of street children. However, because the children lacked a stable background or regular meals, many were too hungry to cope with school. The project decided that managing the children’s schooling also meant providing meals.
The provision of a cook and a place to eat allowed the children a simple meal before school in the morning and at lunchtime. In 2002 a three-room building was built to provide shelter for the children, storage for the food, living space for the cook and an office. In 2004 a water supply was connected and electricity installed.
In 2006 the trustees decided that, having enabled the Shelter to establish itself, we should work directly with the primary school. This has simplified administation and accountability, and enabled us to directly respond to identified educational needs in the community.
The school management committee, consisting of representatives of the parents, teachers, local education authority and social workers, identified those children in most need, many of whom had dropped out of school altogether. The Headteacher and staff agreed to provide lunches at the school for ACC sponsored children. The Trustees agreed to meet the scholastic and food costs, and an annual grant to enable the school to provide uniforms, school bags, soap and hygiene materials for these children. ACC children, as they are known, are closely monitored by the school, and the senior staff are in regular contact with us.
The Charity now directly enables 50 either orphaned or very deprived children attend school and receive a daily meal. Indirectly this support has released school funds and enabled the school to help other children attend classes. In addition children, whose families are able to afford it, have opted to buy meals at the school, helping to offset costs and meet their particular needs.
In September 2008, the charity enabled the school build a modern, hygienic kitchen to replace the previously used corrugated hut. Eco-stoves lessened the pressure on dwindling supplies of firewood. The school has planted eucalyptus trees to ensure firewood, and fruit trees to supplement the children's diet. The school has now submitted plans for a dining room which might also be used for conferences and training, and a potential source of further income.
In 2009, donations allowed the charity to fund desks and chairs for both staff and students, desperately needed new latrines for the girls, and seven government-sponsored computer terminals, and a printer, for staff use and training.
As a result of the efforts of one volunteer who spent six months working at the school, Bishop Stuart Primary School in Mbarara is now officially linked, through the British Council Gateway project, with East Peckham Primary School in Kent. Bishop Stuart School has been waiting patiently for a link with a UK school, and we were privileged in January 2010 to deliver letters and other items from each school to their new partner.
