It’s here! Today is the beginning of our Start The New Year Right Campaign. Through the end of this month we have the opportunity to make a difference for hundreds of children at Mukono Day & Boarding School, a longtime Sister Schools partner in Uganda.
We first visited Mukono Day & Boarding School in the spring of 2006. At the time, it was a struggling school of about 350 children with a poor reputation and substandard academics. But the new principal, Susan Wamala, had big plans for the school. Over the next decade, Sister Schools would partner with Susan and her school through supply drives, construction projects, and student exchanges. Today, Mukono Day & Boarding School has more than 1,000 students attending classes and is considered one of the best primary schools in the country.
Yet progress has not been without its challenges. In 2010, Uganda experienced a dramatic increase in child sacrifice and mutilation. Seen by some traditional healers as powerful totems to appease or manipulate the spirits, children’s body parts became a commodity. Dozens of children were confirmed victims and hundreds more were missing and feared dead.
By 2011, schools in high risk areas were required to take steps to improve security or face being shut down. Mukono Day & Boarding School was required to construct a security wall around their campus. With no other options, Susan turned to Sister Schools for assistance. With the help of schools in our area, Sister Schools was able to provide enough funding to construct nearly 700 feet of security wall for the school and it remained open. Over the next few years, the violence subsided and things returned to normal.
Unfortunately, there have been several recent attacks on Mukono-area children while walking to and from school; several have been killed and mutilated. Evidence suggest the involvement of witchdoctors and a resurgence in the practice of child sacrifice.
Fearing the walk to school, more than 100 girls at the Mukono school are now living in the campus auditorium. The school is attempting to build another dormitory for these girls and Sister Schools has agreed to help. A small gift from each of us will make a huge difference for children at Mukono Day & Boarding School. Just click the Donate Now button above to Start The New Year Right.
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Thank you,
The Sister Schools Team