Educate a child from Kibagare Slum at St Martins

Greetings from St Martins school here in Kibagare. It is our hope that all is well in your respective countries despite the much that is still happening post-COVID.

As a school we have not been spared either, climate change, high inflation, and increase in the price of commodities are a reality here at school, in the slum, and in the country at large. Food prices have gone up by more than 200% and with no rain in the period March - June, we might be in for a rough second half of the year. All in all, we have continued to do the much we can thank for your support for the better part of the last 6 months.

Education: We have continued to offer education to the neediest from Kibagare. The new school calendar year has been on since the 26th of April and we are currently in the second term of the year that was cut short by the national elections for three weeks now. The students are back in school and we are hoping for a smooth few weeks before taking another one-week break.

Currently, we have 800 students in Primary school and 189 girls in Boarding school.

Competency-Based Curriculum for Primary School:  Primary school students in their sixth year of primary school will be sitting at the end of primary school and joining junior high in year 7. 86 students in our primary school will be sitting this exam in November of this year. The challenge we foresee is having extra classrooms in the event we are asked to accommodate the junior high school. We are optimistic that we will have a solution before the year-end.

St Martins School Boys school:  We have continued to support boys to join the high school as this was a challenge for a long time. We officially opened the boys' school on the 11th of May this year and we have been able to admit 19 boys in year 1 and 5 boys in year 2. We are hoping to increase the number of boys as time progresses. Thank all who have supported this initiative.

St Martins school feeding and the Saturday feeding Program:  We have continued to feed the 800 children while at school Monday through to Friday and also during Saturdays as some have no guarantee of a meal at home. Due to high food prices, it has not been easy though we continue to do the much we can because without this all the gains we have made over time will be lost as some will end up in the streets begging for food and increased cases of malnutrition.

Our Saturday feeding program serves between 1000-1300 children every weekend.

Community Outreach and Women Groups:  Through our community outreach program and women empowerment, 263 households are taking part in our community outreach initiatives. 17 women groups have been formed and registered and are currently participating in Voluntary savings and loanings among themselves, through these groups, the women have been able to set up small income-generating activities for themselves and this has helped them support their families.

Through our HIV and AIDS program, we have been able to support 76 households with Psychosocial support, counseling, training on adherence to medication, and linking defaulters to health care facilities.

Despite the many challenges we face in doing our job, your support has been consistent and highly valuable and we are grateful for the far that we have come thanks to this support we will be sure to send you updates on the much that we have achieved as the year progresses.

Thank you and be blessed.

Links:

• School Website