Greetings to you all,
I hope that you are well.
It has been another busy week for me here but the weather has not been very friendly to me, as it has been very hot. Since last week, we have been trying hard to get all the kids in school and by the end of week two, we have helped pay school fees for 42 children right from Nursery school through to Vocational training. It is and has been a wonderful experience seeing most of the beautiful faces and smiles of the children as we helped them back into school.
This week, we have paid mostly school fees with only a few feeding fees and school uniform-related expenses. I have visited more than 12 schools over the past 15 or so days and it has been such an experience.
The following are some of the students and pupils who we covered fees for;
| Mama | Children | Class | School | Needs | Status |
| Francoise | Jordan Sancho | Middle | Eden | School fees & req | Paid |
| Robert | S.4 | Agape | School fees & req | Paid | |
| Jolly Asiimwe | Vocational | Training fees | Paid | ||
| Lorna | Jeremiah | Baby class | Muyenga | School fees | Paid |
| S.3 | Kakungulu | Fees top up | Paid | ||
| Maria | Andrew | Vocational | Buloba Business Tech | School fees | Paid |
| Sam | Vocational | Buloba Business Tech | School fees | Paid | |
| Kevin | Vocational | Buloba Business Tech | School fees | Paid | |
| Denis | P.6 | Kyengera Prep school | School fees | Paid | |
| Christine N | Morris | Baby class | Appletree junior sch | School fees | Paid |
| Melisa | Kyengera Prep Sch | School fees | Paid | ||
| Leticia | Kyengera Prep Sch | School fees | Paid | ||
| Edrine | Kyengera Prep Sch | School fees | Paid | ||
| Lilly A | Philip | P.2 | UMI ZAITUN DAYCARE | School fees and food | Paid |
| Justine N | Sheif | S.1 | Mbogo High Sch | School fees | Paid |
| Shalom | P.4 | Uganda Martyrs Pri Sch | School fees | Paid | |
| Dylan | P.1 | Uganda Martyrs Pri Sch | School fees | Paid | |
| Semmy | Jerry | S.2 | Ebenezer Sec Sch | School fees | Paid |
| Keith | S.4 | Ebenezer Sec Sch | School fees | Paid | |
| Comfort | P.4 | Kiwuliriza Primary Sch | School fees | Paid | |
| Harriet L | Mary Lynn | S.1 | St. Janan Luwum | School fees | Paid |
| Jeremiah | P.2 | Cecelia and Paul Pri Sch | School fees | Paid | |
One of the outstanding stories for me this week was from Semmy who is a lower-level primary school teacher. She was married for a few years but, 3 children later, she decided to call it quits because her husband was abusive. She has since been raising her children all by herself. Semmy pays all the school fees, pays all the bills, and buys all the requirements whereas the man just lives his life. When we went to pay for the daughter, Semmy was telling me that she has now decided to go to court to secure some support for the children.
Semmy is a very hard-working woman who started with popcorns, liquid soap making, and juice then shifted to so many businesses to try and keep afloat while her husband was not getting involved. She has struggled through the pandemic to develop her kids all by herself, these are the kinds of Mamas we serve.
Another good story is from a caring couple of Harriet and her husband. Harriet is a tailor and her husband was a boda driver (not sure if he is still doing this) but they have three children. One child has sponsorship from one of the local organizations here and the other two are taken care of by the couple. In the past few years, I have had some troubles with the husbands of some of our Mamas but things have changed significantly. They used to see their women’s enterprise as a threat but now some of them have started to appreciate the Mamas’ contribution to their families. This is what I have always wanted. I grew up with a mother who supported the family for a long time and that is why I believe in what we do as ISEE. Three men within these many families have extended a hand and hugs in thanks for the support we have rendered to their wives, our “Mamas”. Harriet’s husband was one of these three husbands.
Finally, as I visited the students’ school, I had the opportunity to visit Kyengera Preparatory School in particular, where we helped install a water harvesting system and a tank. Children every early evening are involved in fetching water from the community well because this school had not yet installed piped water. A day school child will fetch once and boarding students will fetch up to at least twice every day. The principal of the school testified about how the 10,000 liter water tank was very helpful that when it was full the pupils didn’t need to fetch water for about 2 weeks. It is unfortunate that since December, the area has not received enough rain so the tank has been empty most of the time. What was even more appealing to me was the fact that the tank still looked in good shape.
This next week, I will continue and hopefully finish the assignment as the list of the Mama children has significantly reduced and I am sure that I will complete the assignment. There has been such an overwhelming atmosphere of joy and excitement as I moved from one home to another, one school to the other.
The weather has not been friendly as the heat has continued and the amount of dust has been so immense. Now that we have closed January, I hope that the weather shall become friendlier.
Thank you to everyone who has made this possible for sure. There is such an appreciation from our group of Mamas. They have said so many prayers and sent you all the best of wishes there can be.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Echel
Director of Programs, Uganda.
ISEE Solutions Society
