Help Children with Learning Difficulties in Uganda

During the GlobalGiving Accelerator in September, we advocated for something we have been working on from day 1: growth! Impacting more learners, teachers and parents, so that children who experience learning difficulties are fully supported during their education. Your first donation has made an incredible difference in that process. Remember we intended to reach at least 30 teachers, 600 students and their parents if we would manage to raise $5,000?

Thanks to your generous contribution, we have been able to continue our project at Gulu Primary School, impacting these very people! For example, we have been able to ensure that a learner like Denis - who used to struggle severely with reading, writing and speaking - will be promoted to the next class after the Christmas holidays. We have had the chance to meet with Gloria's mother, to work on realistic learning goals for her daughter. We have had evaluation meetings with the teachers of Primary 4 and 5, where we shared feedback about the learners' progress and brainstormed about what else we can do for them.

We even managed to organize an extra day of training at a primary school in a neighbouring district! Nearly 30 teachers of Global Leaders Primary School, Namasale Primary School and Namasale Central Primary School learned about identifying children with learning difficulties and about the basics of behavioural challenges. Their request at the end? "Can the next training please be 2 or 3 days, so that we learn more?"

Then, we became a little - who are we kidding, a lot - more ambitious. We decided to rethink our strategies with a main focus on sustainability. Providing direct support to students is wonderful, but isn't it time we find a way to empower teachers to do this independently? After all, our goal is to start a movement that reaches as many schools as possible, so that effective support for students with different learning needs becomes the standard. 

So what's in store for 2018?

• 4 partner schools, 120 teachers, 2000+ learners & parents
  
  
• a 1-year program of intensive training & mentoring for every school
  
  
• an independent, integrated support system for students with learning difficulties after 1 year

As we are getting closer to the end of the year, you will be receiving messages from us and from GlobalGiving directly about how we can make this a reality together. Remember, Giving Tuesday is coming up this Tuesday, November 28th! GlobalGiving makes sure your donation will have a maximum impact, especially when you decide to become a monthly donor. Keep an eye on our social media pages for the details as well! (Facebook & Instagram: @backupuganda, Twitter: @Backup_Uganda)

This is the beginning of something big. We are determined to make a lasting difference for students in Uganda. Together, we are already making this happen. Together, we can make it bigger.