A twelve year old ambassador for our school

A twelve year old girl called Janet was taken ill with malaria on Friday while at school.  Patrick our headteacher took her to the local health facility, where she was admitted and put on a drip because of dehydration.  After a two night stay she was discharged early on Sunday.

She bounced back as though nothing had happened and was one of the traditional dance team at both Sunday Masses.  After the second Mass she came up to me saying that she had had nothing to eat except for some biscuits, which I had bought her the previous evening and was really hungry.  I don't know how she managed to keep her energy levels up at all for all that dancing.  

Like many other pupils, she has a very difficult home situation and cannot rely on being fed at home.  The drugs for malaria are very strong and should not be taken without food.  I invited her to come back with me so I could find her something to eat.

On our way, Janet talked non-stop about the importance of education.  I could not believe my ears.  This same girl has a very low attention span and is definitely a slow learner in the classroom, but here she was eagerly telling me her plans to go on to secondary school and get a good job in future, in English!  I will hold her to it!

We passed a group of boys of roughly her age, who were crowded around the door of a bar, trying to watch the television.  Janet told me that these boys pick up empty plastic bottles and take them several miles to a recycling place across the border in Uganda to make a very small amount of money so they can eat.  She said she had tried to persuade them to go to Cece Primary School, but they did not understand the importance of going to school.  Although they knew that Cece Primary School is the only school they could attend (because we don’t charge school fees) they do not come because they have heard that our school only provides porridge to eat.  Janet told them that the other schools had nothing to eat at all, but that education is more important than food.  Talk about commitment!

It was great to have that bit of time with this one child, instead of always facing a large class where there is no opportunity for individual conversations.  If Janet, who as I say is not a high achiever, feels so strongly about getting an education, what about all the others?  I felt much encouraged.

Porridge is served as children line up to wash their hands.

The World Food Program and Plan International are supposed to provide food for all the schools in the Nimule area, but have stopped doing so without any explanation.  This term they provided food for less than a week at the beginning of term and then nothing further.  As described in my conversation with Janet, feeding is essential due to our children’s home situations, which are very poor.  We also have some children in the school with HIV, for whom regular feeding is a matter of life or death.  HIV drugs are dangerous if taken on an empty stomach and become ineffective against HIV.  Currently the porridge we provide is coming out of the budget for construction as an emergency measure.  This has impacted on our construction work, which is also very important.

Please can I ask for regular donations through Opportunity through Education for feeding purposes?  I am happy to send gift aid forms to anyone interested.  My email address is rebeccamallinson1@hotmail.co.uk.