The Girls Are In School!

I am pleased to let you know that Scovia, Rebecca, Dinah, Ketty, Betty, and Darphine are now secondary school students! They never imagined that this opportunity would be possible for them, so their dreams are coming true.

The girls are attending Luzira Secondary School and their tuition, uniform, shoes, and school bag/supplies were all purchased and covered by our donors. So far we only have a photo of two of the six girls, Betty and Rebecca. The other girls’ photos should be coming soon, but in the meantime this will show you what the girls’ uniform looks like.

When we first told the girls that they would be able to go to secondary school, they were very excited, but we received some resistance from their guardians. Luzira Secondary School is a day school, rather than a boarding school. Their guardians wanted the girls to go to boarding school, or no school at all. The costs involved with caring for the girls for four more years, rather than having them working, deterred them from allowing the girls to go to school. Thankfully, Hellen (the principal of CUS, the girls’ primary school) was able to convince the parents that this is a good idea, and spoke to them about Hope Home, where all 6 girls will be able to live. The guardians, seeing that with the addition of Hope Home, it will be just like a boarding school as their costs of living will all be taken care of through Hope Home, agreed, and the girls were able to start school.

Even though over $1500 is still needed for the full Hope Home start up costs, Hellen agreed to open Hope Home early for these 6 girls, as their guardians wouldn’t allow them to go to school while still living at home. We are just waiting on the license for the Home to be processed, and then the girls will move in.

On top of this complication with the girls’ guardians, Hellen’s young son was diagnosed with malaria and hospitalized. This meant that her time was needed with her son, which delayed us receiving the updates on the girls. In a small grassroots organization, such as this, everything happens a little more slowly, but we are so grateful for the patience and continued support of the donors and everyone who reads this blog to check in on them. Their education will change the future of their community!

If you would like to continue to support the Escape girls, consider making a donation to Hope Home. Our current greatest need is for food. It will cost $16.57 to feed the girls for one week (once all the girls move in). This will include rice, chicken, cornmeal, fruits, vegetables, and beans.

We are also working on programming for the younger CUS kids who may be future Escape students. During our trip in May, we want to take them on educational field trips, learning about water conservation and going to the Nile River, and learning about animal conservation and visiting a zoo and rhino sanctuary. Go to THIS POST to learn more and consider donating. As of now, only donations for Didi's World, the amusement park have come in, but we really want to take the kids on educational field trips too!