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Uganda: School Support

CEO Dr. Martina Fuchs’ 2014 Trip

April 08, 2014 - Uganda

Martina Fuchs

When the Kenyan refugees arrived at the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement in 2008, there was very little support in terms of school fees for their children, and there was no nursery school at the settlement. RMF stepped forward to establish a school support program to cover fees and supplies for Nursery, Primary and Secondary School children of the Kenyan refugee community at Kiryandongo. In the subsequent years, students from (South) Sudan, Congo, Burundi and Rwanda have been accepted into our program as well. RMF pays a portion of the tuition fees, school uniforms, school supplies, and exam fees for the students of parents unable to afford the fees. We also cover the cost and travel expenses for the final examination tests for the senior high school students. Up to 1,602 students have been sponsored per month.

The refugee children we currently support are from Kenya, Congo, Burundi, Sudan and attend the following schools in the settlement: Beth Cole Nursery School; Day Star Nursery School; Arnold Primary School; Can Rom Primary School; Panyadoli Secondary School. We also continued to provide funding for the annual registration of candidates in Senior Level Four and Senior Level Six that are in our sponsorship program and facilitated candidates taking their national exams in the city of Masindi.

The massive influx of South Sudanese refugee children has created an additional tremendous need. Many of these children are severely traumatized and need urgent psychological trauma support. In many of the class rooms we visited on February 24 and 25, South Sudanese children outnumbered all others. Their stories are heartbreaking. To help, please visit our website.

South Sudanese Refugee Students at the Kiryandongo Resettlement Camp as of February 24, 2014:

Dr. Martina Fuchs and the school children

South Sudanese refugee students telling their stories of how their family members were killed in front of their eyes. It was heartbreaking to see these young men trying to hold back their tears.

More Visits

On February 25 we continued to visit RMF projects in Uganda, our Vocational Training Institute in Kiryandongo; our projects in Buwate and Kampala. On February 28, we left for Eastern Uganda where RMF has school projects in Tororo.