Dorset-based charity Child of Hope wants to help more and more of the slum kids of Namatala in Uganda. So it presses on to finish building its school to take the maximum of 600 children (from the current 200) in around four years.
In the meantime… the kids in Namatala that are lucky enough to come to its school have changed… now when they talk of growing up, instead of a soul-destroying future scavenging food on the rubbish tip, they say they want to be a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer or a nurse. They have lifted their eyes, and you can see life and hope in them.
The charity is taking a long-term view. The Child of Hope primary school is built to last decades; it’s not a flimsy structure that could collapse within three to four years. As some do. And the local community is taking notice. They know the charity isn't blowing hot then cold, here now, gone next year.
So looking ahead to 2016 when it hopes to have completed the current school… then they want to build a secondary school – as there isn’t one in the region good enough to match the quality of education they are giving these children. They will have just 12 children of secondary age in four years, so they can start quite small, gradually increasing (as they are doing now) to take 200 secondary pupils within the following four years.
Picture by Moses Okotel
www.childofhopeuganda.org
Picture by Moses Okotel
www.childofhopeuganda.org
