Supporting children’s learning

Children in northern Uganda have suffered most in the twenty-year insurgency here. They have for a long time been denied a chance to grow up as children and have consequently lagged behind in all aspects of development, compared to children from other regions.

There is currently relative peace prevailing in the region mainly because of the peace talks between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Uganda government. Many parts of the region are once again accessible. However, the effects of the war continue to have an impact on the growth and development of the children. They are facing many challenges amongst which education is major. The schools are overcrowded and poorly facilitated, making it difficult for children to learn effectively. Children can hardly understand English. And not only do they learn English but they also learn “IN” it, which also leads to their poor performance, even in other key subjects.

SOS Children’s Village Gulu has come up with some initiatives and welcomes all good ideas intended to help the children. One child with learning difficulties was taken to a Special Needs School (SEN) in Kampala in May 2007, upon the recommendation of a psychiatrist. Surprisingly, when we visited him on the occasion of their sports day in July 2007, he could understand and speak confidently in English. He had a very high score in mathematics and enthusiastically participated in most of the sporting activities, in which he was given presents for his good performance. He is loved by the teachers because of his good progress, all that in less than three months. This was encouraging to his SOS mother and other co-workers as well.

Another intervention was to initiate an evening study programme, in which two external teachers were contracted to support the individual children with homework during daily evening prep. To further strengthen this area, we intend to increase the number of teachers to four next year.

There are also other programmes intended to expose the children to the outside world. For instance, through family outings organised by their respective SOS mothers, (such as a recent one to view crocodiles) children not only enjoy an adventure but they also learn spontaneously. They return home when they have a lot to narrate to their colleagues.