Kasese, Uganda | By Michael Wandati | Karothk Kid’s Nation on Saturday 27, May 2023 bequeathed scholastic materials to the vulnerable children of Salute B village in Kasese District in Western Uganda.
The donation comes at a time when schools are reopening for second term, amid rural communities struggling financially and families cannot afford with education costs for their children, ranging from school fees to scholastic materials to use in class.
According to Karothk Kid’s Nation, this initiative is aimed at reducing on the high school dropouts caused by lack of scholastic materials in rural schools where many pupils miss lessons because they don’t have pencils, pens or books which affects their education potential.
The beneficiaries from poor financial backgrounds who besides tuition, will never have scholastic materials on time received dozens of books, pens, pencils, colors and crayons, rulers, soap, sanitary towels for girls in menstrual cycles, toilet rolls, and among other assorted health essential donations as a relief to less the privileged families.
Speaking during the handing over of the scholastic materials to over thirty beneficiaries, Carolyne Muhindi Masika, the Karothk Kid’s Nation Director so passionate about disadvantaged children, expressed her gratitude towards well-wishers, sponsors and donors for the continued support and commitment in helping the vulnerable young generations in rural communities achieve the education needs through the organization’s ‘Back-to-School’ charity drive intended to raise scholastic materials for needy school goers.
“Our primary goal is to empower impoverished children with knowledge so they not only complete primary grades, but also be inspired to pursue academic achievement well beyond primary and secondary levels. So, we want to give these children hope for their future despite livelihood challenges they face at home, it has been very hard for them. We thank God for all that well-wishers, sponsors and donors have donated to the cause,” said Carolyne who handed over the school learning materials to over thirty children the Karothk Kid’s Nation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization supports.
“At Karothk Kid’s Nation, we believe that children are the future leaders and we look at them as the next generation, and it is key that we identify collaborative opportunities with Ugandans and non-Ugandans of goodwill where we provide an opportunity to harness children’s potential and set their path for success through education and digital skills,” she added.
In Uganda, 23.47 per cent of the total population is still illiterate. Poverty is the major factor which keeps majority of the children away from schools. Many of the intelligent students have to leave education because the parents are unable to afford their education further.
Despite having good grades and a passion for education, the children are stopped from going to school or colleges and are forced to work, which leads to the increase in child labour.
Today, education remains an inaccessible right for hundreds of thousands of children in rural communities in Kasese and Uganda at large. Many families and individuals in rural communities are living in abject poverty, surviving below the poverty line for their daily meals. Many of these vulnerable families cannot afford school fees and other basic scholastic requirements for their children.
There have been a lot of efforts by the Government and other development agencies trying to support vulnerable families in rural communities through different initiatives and programmes in addressing poverty-related issues, primarily through promoting access to education, however, there is still a lot of poverty and other related socio-economic constraints that have left many families unable to afford to send their children back to school with all the requirements.
Knowing that one of the basic rights which every child should enjoy is to go to school, Karothk Kid’s Nation thought it fit to donate school and learning materials to vulnerable children in rural communities that lack the opportunity of having them.
Having equally been born and raised in Salute B village in Kasese District in Western Uganda, Carolyne knows too well the struggle of its inhabitants, reason why she founded Karothk Kid’s Nation and decided to name the organization’s slogan; “Charity Begins at Home.”
“In Africa, we have a proverb that says it takes a whole village to raise a child and it is because of this wisdom that we are now calling on partners, donors and all Ugandans and non-Ugandans to support Karothk Kid’s Nation to help us adequately care for our vulnerable children, providing them with access to basic necessities and resources that will help them survive and thrive,” said Carolyne.
She has made it a point never to turn down a parent who approaches her. Carolyne listens to each one of them and offers support despite the meager funds and resources she is able to mobilize.
It was tears of joy from some of the beneficiaries as they testified that they had lost hope of returning their children to school due to biting poverty.
Carolyne is in constant battle to ensure pupils in her rural community get the quality education they deserve just like other privileged children. She advocates for more assistance from donors and well-wishers in order to enable Karothk Kid’s Nation support more vulnerable children access education.
Karothk Kid’s Nation aims to alleviate poverty in the lives of the most vulnerable children and families in rural communities in Uganda through quality education, health and livelihood programmes.
“Karothk Kid’s Nation will continue to lobby for more scholastic materials and scholarship programmes to empower and support vulnerable children to improve education in Kasese so that they continue with their education and compete with other students from other parts of the country,” she noted.
Through your donations, you help Karothk Kid’s Nation that currently supports about 30 vulnerable children, break down the barriers that keep most rural children out of school and getting a good education.
The organization has a vision to start a skills centre to enable young school dropouts, single mothers and widows to some skills so as to be self-sustainable and pay their bills.
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Karothk Kid’s Nation also aims to supply teachers with what they need to teach students. The target is to serve at least 5 million students and teachers in under-resourced schools in rural communities by the year 2025.
With your support, Karothk Kid’s Nation will be able to support more vulnerable children in rural communities in Uganda with school requirements, and all they need during school times and holidays without any difficulties.
For enquiries and donations to support Karothk Kid’s Nation cause, email kkistyth@gmail.com or contact +256 784 730 743.
PICTORIAL: Back to School donation excites vulnerable children in rural Kasese
