Betty, Agnes, John and Morris - 4 Acholi adult literacy students

The African adventure may be over for a few months, but as promised, here are a few stories of lives improved, and hope restored by the Acholi Adult Literacy programme.

It was so encouraging to hear what it difference it makes - just being able to read some signs, write your name, even know how to hold a pencil - things we take so much for granted, but are not givens at all, in so many parts of the world. Tis an honour to be involved in touching one of those locations, even as lightly as we are.

Betty

Married with 9 children from age 4 to 16, one of whom is a nephew who she cares for, 4 of the children are in the children’s literacy classes that have just been started up: Peter age 11, Janet age 9, Richard age 6 and Ronald also age 6 (the nephew)

In the morning Betty works in the quarry and in the afternoon she makes beads which she uses to make the triple strand and the long and extra-long necklaces.

Betty started at the adult literacy classes in Jan 2015, but has been very intermittent in attendance due to having to work etc. She got to P5 level at school before she had to leave but has forgotten most of it

Attending the literacy classes is helping  her to remember her previous schooling and now she is able to read signs when she is out which makes her feel much safer than she used to.

She wishes that she could do more classes, but she has to work as there are so many in the family to look after

Agnes

 Widowed and looking after 7 dependents – 2 children, 4 grandchildren, and 1 other child of similar age to the grandchildren, Agnes has a son, David  who is currently unemployed and has just started attending the adult literacy classes. She also has a disabled daughter who is unable to work

Agnes works at the quarry and also makes beads which are used for the long necklaces and woven bracelets. The beads are small and she is finding them hard to do as her eyesight isn’t so good.

Agnes has never been to school so the adult literacy classes are the first education she has ever had. Now she knows how to hold a pen properly and write her name. It makes her feel good and she wants to learn some more. Now that David also does the classes he is able to help her a little at home with practicing her writing

John

Married with 9 children (6 alive, 3 passed away), John works in the quarry as does his wife.

John is Christine’s dad. Christine and a brother attend the literacy kids classes

John got to P5 when a child before having to leave school due to LRA troubles.

He wants to go to college to train to be a builder, so the adult literacy classes are the first steps to realizing that dream.

Morris

Married, with 7 children ages ranging from 21 to 3 months, Morris works in the quarry as does his wife. His wife also does beads

Morris went to P5 at school when a child, and through the adult literacy classes, which he has now attended for 2 months, he has learnt to write his name etc, and to read signs etc. It is helping his schooling to come back to him

Morris would like to be a carpenter and so is glad that the literacy classes are increasing his chances of getting to college, and of having a small business.

The highs and one low of an Acholi visit

Anyone who knows anything about what makes me tick, especially when it comes to working with the poor and marginalized, will know that one of the key  communities in my heart is the Acholi Quarters.

Inhabited by the Acholi people after they had fled from the horrors of the Lords  Resistance Army reign of terror, they have lived in an informal settlement on the edge of Kampala ever since, eking out a living from the two stone quarries that dominate that part of the city.

I have been visiting the community since 2010, taking teams in there initially for just one chaotic session per trip, to run  an afternoon of games for the children, most of whom don’t ever go to school due to poverty.

In 2014, Natalie spent 3 months of her gap year supporting the Acholi and running ‘lessons’ for children and adults alike – teaching the children very basic concepts like how to hold a pencil, how to share and take turns, as well as letters, numbers, shapes etc, and helping some ladies to rekindle some of the learning they had started as children but had lost out on the chaos of the war.

Also in 2014, the troubles in Kenya caused us to relocate a team to Uganda, and from that came the first week long CRED visit to Acholi, running an educational activity week for some of the children, and reinforcing what Natalie had started as well as introducing it to larger numbers.

We have run subsequent team trips there but each time I’ve come away wishing that we could somehow find a way to set up something that can keep going so that the children don’t get tantalizing snatches of education but then have it taken away again.

On each visit we would work with the same cooperative of ladies, headed up by Harriet, and it has been lovely to see them develop and blossom as individuals and as a group.

It is out of that blossoming, and increasing self-belief and empowerment, that the Acholi-led projects have developed.

On one visit, some of the adults came to me and asked when I would bring a team to work with them – I was challenged by their request, and after conversation with Harriet we identified a local Acholi lady who is training to be a teacher and who agreed to run adult literacy classes. These started Jan 2015 for some ladies and have been going well ever since.

Last month, the next development in the classes took place when some men joined the ladies. Inspired by seeing how the women were benefiting from the classes, some of the men asked if they could also access the lessons. Initially the plan was to have men meeting one day, ladies another, but after a meeting of everyone together, it was decided that the best thing would be to have two joint classes rather than one each. Quite radical really, and definitely paving the way for more joint working and breaking down of gender barriers

 I’ll blog a couple of stories from the adult literacy beneficiaries another day, but for now let me tell you about the children’s Education Catch Up sessions that the community have started running.

I am so thrilled about these – it really is a dream come true, and what is even better is that it came from the community, and not from ‘mzungu’ do-gooders coming in from outside dictating what needs to be done.

Having been inspired by seeing how much the children enjoyed the CRED visits, and the learning that went with them, the parents got together with Harriet and co, and requested a ‘school’ be started.

A teacher was found, a room was rented, desks were bought, and the parents committed to finding exercise books and pencils for their children.

In all it costs about £70/ month to cover the teacher salary and rent for the children’s education programme. The ladies in the cooperative put in some money to the programme as they are able and no assumptions are made about where the rest of the money comes from – but God is a great provider and He touches peoples hearts as is needed.

It was absolutely wonderful to see the programme in action yesterday, and to see how far the community has come – truly humbling to be part of the journey.

But just to keep me grounded and to remind me of the harshness of life, I then went to visit a friend who gave birth to her 3^rd child on Saturday. He’s just a tiny little mite, as you’d expect of a week-old baby, and mum and dad are chuffed to bits. But at one point the dad felt compelled to swallow his pride and tell me how worried they are, because mum is HIV+ve and unable to feed baby, but dad is out of work and they are struggling to buy the milk.

In an ideal world they would just go to the shops, buy a tub of formula, and make the milk up as needed using clean tap water or boiled water; but for this couple, and so many like them, life is far from ideal, and for them their only option, with no spare cash, is to buy baby milk on an ‘as and when’ basis from the little shed of a shop nearby.

A cup of milk costs 700 shillings (14.5p) and so when baby is hungry that is the amount they have to find and then go buy a cup of milk from the nearby shop. Three concerns with that system are that the milk is not the right formula for the baby, that it has not been made to the right strength ie is watered down, and that it has been made with contaminated water.

Obviously I bought them some tubs of milk powder – who wouldn’t in that situation – and have encouraged them to save up all their individual 700 shillings, so that when the tubs run out they have saved enough to buy some more powder.

But that little incident reminded me once again of the fragility of life, the harsh reality of life for so many, and the responsibility each of us has to be good stewards of what we have been entrusted with – to not squander it, or waste it, or live selfishly with it, but to do what we can, selflessly and with open hearts, to improve the lives of all, and especially those who are the most vulnerable.