60 million girls in Uganda
From Tanzania, we have walked, run and swum our way to Uganda where 60 million girls first financed a project with AMREF (African Medical and Research Foundation) Canada in 2010. However, AMREF could not begin implementing the Patongo School Rehabilitation Project in the Agago District of northern Uganda until September 2012. This two-year project promoted equitable access to education for girls and boys in a region previously devastated by a 21-year war. The project included improvements to school classrooms and sanitation facilities, the enlarging of the girls’ residence and the building of accommodations for teachers. Finally, funding was provided to provide the school with solar panels and computers.
Patongo School
Nyaka Primary School students
In 2012, we partnered with the Stephen Lewis Foundation and its grassroots partner, the Nyaka Foundation, in the remote, rural area of southwestern Uganda, where Nyaka had opened Nyaka and Kutamba Primary Schools. Our project provided free quality education to 462 orphans of AIDS, as well as healthcare. In addition, it offered support for the nutrition and community garden program, as well for AIDS education for the community. This project was so successful that, in 2015, when the students had moved on to secondary school, 60 million girls further supported them in a newly-built school, the Nyaka Vocational Secondary School. This school provided girls, in particular, with a supportive environment in which to learn. The project provided room and board for them, as well as support for pregnant girls to continue their education. We further subsidized the construction of the foundation of a workshop to offer vocational skills.
Nyaka Vocational Secondary School
Welcome to Uganda!
Uganda has one of the youngest and most rapidly growing populations in the world. 48% of the population is aged 14 and under and just over 2% of Ugandans are over the age of 65.
5 facts about girls’ education in Uganda
- About 50% of girls between the ages of 15 to 24 are illiterate.
- Girls face many barriers to education: poverty, pregnancy and child marriage.
- Poor families tend to prioritize investing in the education of their boys.
- Up to 40% of girls are married before the age of 18.
- Uneducated girls are highly susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases. In 2015, approximately 567 people between the ages of 15 to 24 contracted HIV/AIDS weekly. Over half were female.
You wish to hike in Zimbabwe?
“For magnificence, for variety of form and colour, for profusion of brilliant life — bird, insect, reptile, beast — for vast scale — Uganda is truly the Pearl of Africa.” – Winston Churchill
Uganda’s national parks are some of the most beautiful because of their picturesque landscapes. Rwenzori National Park is a hiker’s dream and includes the snow-capped Rwenzori Mountains, the third highest peak in Africa. The mountains are known for having varying climates and species.
The Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a sanctuary for diverse species of fauna and flora. It is most notable for the 400 gorillas, half of the world’s population of the endangered mountain gorillas. For the ultimate adventure, sign up for a trek to view these fascinating animals in their natural habitat, as our president, Wanda, did in 2015.
Mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest