UGANDA: FOOD AND EDUCATION PROGRAM

There are many children living in the poorest area of Kampala, Uganda, who, due to extreme poverty, are neither able to eat three meals a day nor afford school fees to start or continue their education. There are also older teens who are genuinely interested in making the transition from welfare to self-care by acquiring the tools and training necessary for them to become self-reliant.

Our first project in Kampala continues to provide a hot midday meal and school fees for 56 children who have lost one or both parents. Up until our intervention they survived on a small breakfast and sometimes dinner because that is all their guardians could afford.

ACN’s Hot Lunch and Education Program commenced in 2001 and continues to serve 56 children in the slums of Kampala. 

ACN explains to all ACN- sponsored children that a scholarship is something they continue to earn rather than something to which they are entitled, and our Uganda partner, Pastor Dennis Ssettaala, carefully monitors student progress. 

The academic success we have seen can be attributed to not only to the children’s hard work, cooperation between their guardians and Dennis Ssettaala, and to the guarantee of at least one hot lunch per day, but also to ACN’s Educational Incentive Program (initiated through funding by The Independent Schools Foundation Academy in Hong Kong).

This program provides incentive rewards for students who achieve high class rank, and for students who show the most academic improvement during the year. Incentives include first time trips to the zoo, swimming pool, and bakery.

While these two programs have encouraged academic success and improvement, a newly initiated Kindness Recognition Program has actually built a sense of community among the students. This program involves a committee of sponsored students nominating other sponsored students for acts of kindness demonstrated during the school year.