“Did the president announce reopening of schools in the address?” Our village primary and high schools had been closed for a 42-day lockdown due to COVID, and I was hoping for good news.
“No, Mama. Some restrictions are lifted but schools and churches are still closed. The next announcement will come in 60 days,” Julius, our Program Manager told me.
My heart sunk. 60 more days of closure? 600 children normally fill our campuses with laughter and life. Their colorful uniforms painting a collage of hope as they stream into the buildings from orange dirt paths leading from every direction. School is a haven of safety. A place with food, friends, health care, and growing in knowledge and faith. COVID lockdowns had kept all of that from them.
“We have to pivot, Julius. We can’t keep waiting for schools to reopen. Can we bring the kids to us in small groups? Can we go to them?” I asked.
This touched off some fast planning by our team to organize a student outreach program that would bring kids to school in small groups for counseling, encouragement, prayer, a big meal, and to receive take-home school and discipleship materials. The teachers worked fast, phone calls were made to students and area leaders, and the program kicked-off the first week of September.
The first reports back reinforced that the outreach was making an impact but also our fears about what the children had been enduring during the school closures.
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| Happy students with their learning resources and food packages |
Their reports noted more than a dozen problems plaguing many of the children. The lockdowns had disrupted the already fragile economy, and things were harder than normal.
I read, “Some are engaged in child labor since they have to look for something to survive. Some are discouraging girls from going back to school and forced marriages of girls are rampant,” noted Jotham.
Robinah’s report stated, “Lack of food and basic needs has led some into prostitution. Some feel they have overgrown school. The repeated lock downs have them studying in the same classes for so long.”
It was hard to keep reading, “Some parents have left to look for work and thrown the responsibility of looking after families to the children, especially the boys, who have now resorted to doing odd jobs to support their siblings.”
Though devastating to read, it also reinforced the difference the schools had been making. The outreach team encourages each child and helps lift the load of their troubles where they can. They are equipped to provide food for households where there isn’t enough to eat. They make home visits to counsel and advocate for girls to be given a chance to continue in school. Children receive learning materials to revive their hope in studying again. The kids are loved, nurtured, and encircled with care and community.
It feels so small in the face of the challenges, but Uganda has taught us to focus on what we can do instead of being discouraged by what we can’t. For today, we’ll continue serve each and every student as we can, and we will pray that one day soon, children will again be streaming into our classrooms from orange dirt paths coming from every direction.
