Education and Resilience

Education, resilience and tragic life events

There is an undeniable truth: once a child receives an education, it cannot be taken away from them. Education profoundly changes how a child views the world and gives them new ways to interacts it.  It is a key ingredient for future opportunity and lasts a lifetime.  It can be shared with family and passed onto future generations. According to the world bank, people in developing countries have improved chances of recovering from tragic life events if they have been to school. In Uganda, such events are frequent, unexpected and severe, and throw hard working families back into the jaws of poverty time and time again. Last year, HUGS sponsored a new water connection for a poor family in the Kosovo slum, Kampala. They have been able to make a small profit selling clean water to their neighbours, and chose to spend the extra cash on their children's education.

Last week, sadly, they experienced a tragic life event; a house fire destroyed everything they own. Though they are now experiencing levels of destitution most of us can hardly imagine, the fire hasn't changed their children's education.  They are still able to read and write and there is hope their learning will provide them with the ability to find new ways to achieve a better life for all the family. Last month, Sebastian, our trusted representatives from St Francis de Sales School, met a girl aged 12.  Her tragic life event was a near fatal infection which lead to the amputation of her left leg, below the knee, and loss of several of her fingers.  She was doing well at school. She made a simple request: to have help to return to education. We are pleased to tell you she is now enrolled in the HUGS sponsorship programme.  As is a 4 year old boy who recently came to our attention because he has such severe cataracts he can only see objects inches from his face.

Our school heads know the life changing effects of education and the importance of this gift for children from the most precarious backgrounds, but face a constant battle to keep exactly those children in class. They report currently about half of all families are unable to pay the full amount of their child's school fees, because of cost of living rises.  The children are desperate to learn and the teachers passionate to help, so our schools continue to educate with reduced income and shoulder the financial risk.

The teachers at Little Shephard School

This is where you help. With your generous donations we are able to provide substantial support to our schools.  You have funded projects which reduce costs, increase income, grow more food, house more teachers and protect more children.  In return teachers continue to change the future for vulnerable children by giving them an education, a life long resilience and the cognitive skills to bounce back from catastrophic life events. To quote a saying from Malcolm Forbes: Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.