ST. JUDE JUNIOR SCHOOL AND CHAIN OF HOPE CENTER, UGANDA
History
The thought and wise idea to start St. Jude Junior came into place in 1990 after considering a lot of possible options of tackling poverty and promote the development of education, health and well-being. In January 1991, a nursery for 3-5 year old children under trees and grass thatched huts shelters was opened.
The main reasons for starting up with nursery were:
-To reduce child labour from girls who were baby sitting at home
-To give a chance to the girls school dropouts who were baby keeping in households to go to school and access basic education.
-To provide child friendly early childhood education in a day care centre environment.
-To provide balanced early childhood care and nutrition.
-To give chance to my community to access basic education and reduce illiteracy rate.
- Lack of means/resources to start with big bang
Today, St. Jude Junior School has until Primary-seven with about 275 students in total. However, the number of students funded by their own parents/guardians is only about 69. Hence, the School depends on external help to admit more students and to help sustain present students.
TRUE STORIES
ZAWADI (name changed for privacy reasons):
Zawadi (aged 9), is in Primary-three. Her mother, Abelo (see bio below) is in Primary-seven. Abelo had Zawadi at the age of 14. Zawadi is actually a miraculous child after having survived a few attempts to face abortion due to Abelo's vulnerability and rejection by her husband as she didn't go to school. Zawadi’s mother thought the world had almost come to an end and she didn't know where to take the fetus in her womb. She tried various options to get rid of the unborn including taking poison but she failed because God had planned something else for both Zawadi and Abelo. Because Abelo is a student too today, she has no money to pay school fees and fulfill other basic needs for her daughter, Zawadi and herself.
ABELO (name changed for privacy reasons):
Abelo (aged 23) became a mother at fourteen because she had no hope of studying since her father was coerced into joining the rebels group-The Lord’s Resistance Army. Consequently, her family was hated because of her father's involvement in the rebels group who were responsible for killing and cutting people’s ears and mouths. Thus, she had to leave her village home and was deceived by a man who had given her broken promises of paying her school fees but got her pregnant instead. He later ridiculed her for being uneducated, abandoned her and eventually, chased her away while she was pregnant, with no where for her to go. Abelo had no hope and attempted an abortion but the baby did not die. Upon delivery, because she could not give her girl child any protection or care in the midst of the LRA civil war, she once again attempted to poison the baby. However, by God’s grace, the baby did not die. In her desperate situation, she fell into another trap of deceit by another man who made her pregnant, this time giving birth to a son. Before she knew, she was enslaved/subjected to domestic servitude and suffered from physical and psychological torture and became sick and paralyzed. Leaving her son behind, a good Samaritan helped locate her uncle who unfortunately took her to a witchdoctor. Abelo later found a church where she was given help and healed through prayer. Later on, she gave her life to Christ and was chased from her uncle’s home because of that decision. She was received by one of the church members who gave her a hut to stay. Abelo had a deep desire to go back to school, and although she was over 20 years of age, she was willing to go back to Primary four (elementary school) and carry on with her education. But she lacked the support since she had a baby and herself to care for. She then started working in one of the local restaurants in the market, washing dishes where she earned 1000 shillings a day. Chain of Hope Center learned about Abelo's situation through the Church she attended. Abelo's uncle didn't like the idea of her going back to school as he preferred educating boys and wanted her to get married instead. But with the help from Chain of Hope Center, today Abelo is a star student at the top of her class in grades. She is now in Primary-seven and in much need of school fees to continue with her education.
The thought and wise idea to start St. Jude Junior came into place in 1990 after considering a lot of possible options of tackling poverty and promote the development of education, health and well-being. In January 1991, a nursery for 3-5 year old children under trees and grass thatched huts shelters was opened.
The main reasons for starting up with nursery were:
-To reduce child labour from girls who were baby sitting at home
-To give a chance to the girls school dropouts who were baby keeping in households to go to school and access basic education.
-To provide child friendly early childhood education in a day care centre environment.
-To provide balanced early childhood care and nutrition.
-To give chance to my community to access basic education and reduce illiteracy rate.
- Lack of means/resources to start with big bang
Today, St. Jude Junior School has until Primary-seven with about 275 students in total. However, the number of students funded by their own parents/guardians is only about 69. Hence, the School depends on external help to admit more students and to help sustain present students.
TRUE STORIES
ZAWADI (name changed for privacy reasons):
Zawadi (aged 9), is in Primary-three. Her mother, Abelo (see bio below) is in Primary-seven. Abelo had Zawadi at the age of 14. Zawadi is actually a miraculous child after having survived a few attempts to face abortion due to Abelo's vulnerability and rejection by her husband as she didn't go to school. Zawadi’s mother thought the world had almost come to an end and she didn't know where to take the fetus in her womb. She tried various options to get rid of the unborn including taking poison but she failed because God had planned something else for both Zawadi and Abelo. Because Abelo is a student too today, she has no money to pay school fees and fulfill other basic needs for her daughter, Zawadi and herself.
ABELO (name changed for privacy reasons):
Abelo (aged 23) became a mother at fourteen because she had no hope of studying since her father was coerced into joining the rebels group-The Lord’s Resistance Army. Consequently, her family was hated because of her father's involvement in the rebels group who were responsible for killing and cutting people’s ears and mouths. Thus, she had to leave her village home and was deceived by a man who had given her broken promises of paying her school fees but got her pregnant instead. He later ridiculed her for being uneducated, abandoned her and eventually, chased her away while she was pregnant, with no where for her to go. Abelo had no hope and attempted an abortion but the baby did not die. Upon delivery, because she could not give her girl child any protection or care in the midst of the LRA civil war, she once again attempted to poison the baby. However, by God’s grace, the baby did not die. In her desperate situation, she fell into another trap of deceit by another man who made her pregnant, this time giving birth to a son. Before she knew, she was enslaved/subjected to domestic servitude and suffered from physical and psychological torture and became sick and paralyzed. Leaving her son behind, a good Samaritan helped locate her uncle who unfortunately took her to a witchdoctor. Abelo later found a church where she was given help and healed through prayer. Later on, she gave her life to Christ and was chased from her uncle’s home because of that decision. She was received by one of the church members who gave her a hut to stay. Abelo had a deep desire to go back to school, and although she was over 20 years of age, she was willing to go back to Primary four (elementary school) and carry on with her education. But she lacked the support since she had a baby and herself to care for. She then started working in one of the local restaurants in the market, washing dishes where she earned 1000 shillings a day. Chain of Hope Center learned about Abelo's situation through the Church she attended. Abelo's uncle didn't like the idea of her going back to school as he preferred educating boys and wanted her to get married instead. But with the help from Chain of Hope Center, today Abelo is a star student at the top of her class in grades. She is now in Primary-seven and in much need of school fees to continue with her education.
