The lives of almost 10,000 girls are being changed for the better through our long-running Girls’ Education Challenge programme in Kampala, Uganda. The Covid pandemic has been a massive obstacle in the way of progress – but in spite of the challenges there is good news, as Mim Friday explains. In 2013, Viva partnered with …
BY ELEANOR SIMPSON With the support of Viva and its partner network, CRANE, teenage mothers in Kampala, Uganda, are now able to return to school whilst free child care is provided for their babies. They also receive training, which provides them with knowledge about how to best take care of their young children. The family …
BY ANNAH MARY TUSIIME Rachel’s is a story of a life that was forever changed. She was raised by a single mother who farmed other people’s gardens for a living and, with the little she had, she supported Rachel until Senior 4 (aged 15 years). Unable to find any lasting work within her community, Rachel’s …
BY LIZ CROSS “The smile I saw that day was enough to make me smile for the whole week. Faith couldn’t believe she was the one wearing the hat and receiving the certificate.” Faith is a girl who attended one of our Creative Learning Centres in Uganda. These centres provide catch-up education for girls who …
Over the last three years, the Creative Learning Centres (CLC) we run with our partner network CRANE have helped more than 2,700 out-of-school girls in Kampala receive catch-up education. More than six in ten girls have gone onto ‘graduate’ to some kind of further learning, and we continue to support those who are yet to. …
They speak confidently and show independence in their learning. These girls are certainly not what many people would associate with the word ‘disability’. I am at the Mukisa Foundation – a member of CRANE, Viva’s partner network in Kampala – to see the difference it is making to the lives of girls with special needs. …
At the end of each year, students all over Uganda prepare to sit their exams as they look forward to their next stage of education. This is a time of mixed feelings as the majority of students are anxious about their exams and what the future holds.
In London last Thursday (7 July), Viva staff were present at the Girls’ Education Forum to hear the UK government’s pledge to provide an extra £100 million to give the world’s poorest, most marginalised girls a quality education.
Reflecting on his recent visit to Uganda, Viva’s Monitoring and Evaluation Manager Martin Hull writes about some of the people he met, stories he heard and sights he saw – and the impact our partner network CRANE is making for vulnerable children. Here are some snippets of what he wrote.
Going back to school is exciting but expensive! And it’s especially difficult if your family is unable to meet the costs of the essential items needed – stationery, books and uniform. We’ve got 1,000 teenage girls in Uganda ready and enthused to be educated – but they urgently need a basic ‘back to school’ kit. …