Dear friends!
I would like to use these few lines to take the opportunity to let you know about the scholastic development of the children whom we are looking after as well as the development of our school project.
First and foremost, our children are all fit and healthy, and are developing well physically, psychologically and mentally. Of course they are all different, and we have children with particular learning needs, including some with autism. Some children are still trying to come to terms with the traumatic experiences they had during the time before came to Kids of Africa. We also have HIV-positive children and some with particularly physical challenges, and we also have some who came to us as babies and who have known no family other than that of Kids of Africa. Each of these children finds security in their Kids of Africa family, and every family knows that the Kids of Africa village in our town is highly thought of, which is very important. Today, more than seven years on from the founding of the Kids of Africa children’s village, we are already reaping the rewards of this continuity in childcare. This continuity also forms the basis for scholastic and for the subsequent career and family development of our children. This is very important to me – particularly in the first years of life.
Scholastic development
A certain dispersion can be seen here. Some Kids of Africa children are among the most gifted students in Uganda (and also in international terms), with their marks amongst the top five per cent. Then of course there are the “averagely gifted ones” and those with particular needs. All of them receive individual coaching from us, particularly after school and during the holidays.
This brings me on to our school project. The reason for this large-scale project is that we were not satisfied with how our children were being looked after at the local school, despite the best efforts of our management. The education being provided quite simply did not take individual children’s needs sufficiently into account, and this was noticeable in the lack of progress that the students there were making. Our school project therefore is designed to give up to 400 children the opportunity to receive a good education based on the Ugandan curriculum. I am wholly convinced of the fact that our investment in high-quality primary and secondary education will represent one of the most sustainable investments in the future of these many young people. Our children are deeply indebted to the Kids of Africa sponsors for their support.
Building this school will put a real strain on Kids of Africa in 2013, but thanks to the generous donations from many of our friends, around 60 per cent of the building costs have already been secured. This means that some CHF 160,000 are still outstanding, but we are still intending to get construction under way in the coming weeks, in the hope and in the belief that everything will come together in the end. With a little luck, the new school should be built by the end of the year and ready to open for the beginning of the 2014 school year. And all our children are more grateful for any support you can give than we can ever put into words.
And in the meantime?
Since February, we have already set up a temporary solution for our kids, renovating an old warehouse on the site of the new school premises. All of the children and mothers came to help us out, and we are now able to teach a total of 43 Kids of Africa children there.
Nevertheless, we cannot continue without extra resources from Switzerland, and everyone who supports the cause can be absolutely certain that all donations are put to tangible and sustainable use.
What we lack in resources for the teaching, we make up with the commitment of the teachers for each child, and that is set to continue in the future! Everyone has the right approach and we are seeing clear progress among all children, which is something that really warms the heart. Every morning, the 43 children set off on their 45-minute walk to school with happy hearts, and even the Ugandan state has sat up and taken notice, giving Kids of Africa official recognition on a number of occasions and supporting the project in a number of different ways.
Some happy pictures – last but not least…
…here are a few pictures from one of our monthly “Kids’ Olympics” which always seem to spur the children on to new heights! And on a related note, one of our farm employees David Kamanji has made it into this year’s Ugandan national marathon team! Our congratulations go to him, and we hope that some of our kids will one day follow in his footsteps!
Kind regards,
Burkhard Varnholt