St. Francis UGANDA

Background Information
Since its beginning in 1984, our Child Sponsorship Department has helped more than 2000 Ugandan children to receive an education which would otherwise have been denied them.
The majority of the children come from the villages around St Francis' base on the outskirts of Mbarara, which means that we are able to visit their homes and schools on a regular basis and so we get to know all our children well
We are currently supporting 227 children in 32 different educational establishments. All our children are able to complete 13 years of education with the support of their individual sponsors. Some are really happy when sponsors agree to giving assistnace with tertiary education for another three years.

Fees
The Ugandan government pays the salaries of school teachers, supports the construction of some schools, and tries to remove school fees within primary education where possible. However, there are still many costs to be met by the children and their families. They have to pay for things such as books, school uniforms and transport. If attending boarding school, children will also be asked to contribute extra for accommodation, bedding, food, transport and other requirements.
With your sponsorship money and the individual donations we receive, we try to cover as many of these expenses as possible. We offer counselling to many groups of students during the holidays and now that we have the facilities we hope to be able to offer them many better and more interesting holiday programmes.
We do ask families to also contribute to their children's education, (especially in cases where students choose to enrol in good but expensive schools) but too often their contribution can only be minimal and in a climate of rising living costs even this is becoming more and more difficult. As development work is primarily an act of empowerment and not the creation of a state of dependency it is our firm belief that the relationship between St. Francis and the families should be one of partnership.
Cost of fees depends on the level of education (primary or secondary) as well as on the individual school’s quality of education but even though the cost per child is different each year, we have a standard rate for sponsors averaged out over all of the schools and all of the years—7 years of primary, 6 years of secondary and if at all possible some additional tertiary training. We do not pay university fees, although some sponsors have offered to do that for their «children» and we then support this generous offer.

Holiday Programme
Many of our children who are in secondary education want to demonstrate their gratitude for the support they receive and are able to volunteer for a short period of holiday work within our organization- doing general maintenance tasks, such as gardening, cleaning, or the upkeep of the premises. It gives them pride in themselves and they feel that to a small extent they are contributing to their own education.

Workshops
In addition , during the long school holiday we run workshops that are open to all the children. Many of them are orphans who are living with guardians ,often under difficult conditions Our workshops deal with issues that have affectedt them; such as domestic violence and issues dealing with poor parenting as well as any other problems that the children may wish to discuss.
During these holidays we also offer individual or family counselling, career guidance and computer training.
On a lighter note – the children deserve some time to just have some fun so we run classes in crafts such as card making, jewellry making and batik – skills that they can also use to raise money for themseves. Our tailoring students make beautiful Christmas angels and these are sold in the USA. Would you like to order some? See what they look like.

How you can help
Our work is crucially dependent on the funds and donations we receive from our donors - individual sponsors and some aid organizations. We are constantly fundraising to be able to continue our work and to partner those in greatest need.
There are many more children in need of sponsorship and If you are interested in sponsoring a child's education, giving a one off sum or supporting the programme in any other way, write for information to either Mary Moran or Sr. Ntibarutaye Christine. We are looking for someone who knows how to set up a Pay Pal account for our website. Any readers out there who are familiar with this system and would be willing to help us you are very welcome. For further information view our gallery and read some composite biographies.