Giving Children hope for a better life
A word from James Senyonga at Little Angels Primary School
For those who may not have experienced first hand the way our children live daily, let me paint you a picture. From the age of 3, society requires a child to be useful. They have to fetch water from the well, collect firewood and look after their other younger siblings. A girl must do housework and boys care for animals.
Even those who are fortunate to be sponsored and can go to school have to attend to housework so that most if not all of their education is acquired inside the classroom. There is neither the time to revise at home nor the text books or television for them to use for self improvement.
We know they do more than what should be expected of them. They are sometimes overwhelmed and feel like giving up but they remember YOU, their sponsors. They wouldn’t let you down! Most of these pupils are the vulnerable poor and a few have been abandoned to their relatives because of poverty, disease and drug abuse. This education offers them the luxury to dream, to think beyond their current situation and their surroundings. With your support, they can aspire to be doctors, lawyers, engineers or any profession of their desire.
Happy. Thank you!
Thank you for giving them this opportunity. We don’t take it for granted and we are using it to make our community a better place for the next generation.
The opportunity to learn
I shall include sponsors’ words and examples of success stories throughout this blog. FFoU’s child sponsorship is central to our ethos of helping poor children with little hope of an education and a very small chance of worthwhile and productive lives. We shall show you a few of the success stories of children who would not have been able to progress through school without your support and include some of the sponsors stories to demonstrate that they too have gained from the experience.
My sponsorship through FFOU is something I am immensely proud of. It is an incredible privilege to support children and young people in their education and the frequent photo updates as well as receiving the student’s report card each term makes me feel very engaged and serves as a constant reminder of the real benefit your sponsorship has on the communities FFOU support. MM
Nakalema Joweria – primary school
Nakalema Joweria was born in Bubebbere, raised by a poor grandmother and sponsored from very early on. She graduated with a Diploma in Mass Communications and she is currently broadcasting in various media houses. We were delighted when she came back to help in our work to support abused girls.
Nakalema Joweria – the broadcaster
Nakimbugwe Diana – 2010
Nakimbugwe Diana is currently in the 5th year of medical school at university in Mbarara.
Nakimbugwe Diana – 2022
Ivan Kizito – at home
Ivan Kizito is one of the pioneers from Bulumbu. He now has a small business and generously sponsors two children at Little Angels.
Willy Kaweesi – the young boy
Willy Kaweesi started school life in our nursery class and went on to gain a Diploma in Electrical Engineering. He now works as an electrician in Kampala.
Willy & Ivan – back to see George at school
From nursery school to University.
Let me please share a few details.
At the time of writing we have 128 girls and boys supported – from nursery school right through to university.
I believe you will not find a cheaper sponsorship scheme anywhere. For as little as £75 (that is less than £1.50 a week), you can ensure that a primary school child can receive a full year’s education. Of course there are optional extras that many of you are happy to fund and a number of people like to buy gifts for their children. These can range from their school uniform to shoes, mattresses and blankets. These last two are important because many of the youngsters have to sleep on the bare earth floor of their home.
These gifts are everyday items to us. For the children concerned, they are luxuries.
There is never a shortage of children in need. If you would like to know more, please ask for information.
I first heard about the FFoU charity via a fellow Stockport County supporter. I was immediately impressed with how much the charity had achieved with modest resources and I was keen to help make a difference.
My children started school a few years ago and it felt like a small price to pay to help a child of a similar age attend school and provide some basic equipment for them. I have shown pictures of the school and students to my children and explained how lucky they are to live in this country when so many people around the world don’t have access to things we take for granted. I have also sponsored two more children on behalf of family members as recurring Christmas presents.
It is interesting and rewarding to see how the children have developed through their schooling and I look forward to receiving copies of the school reports. They seem to be doing well but the teachers’ assessments are rather more blunt than you would see in the UK!
I continue to be impressed with the work that the charity does and would strongly recommend the sponsorship programme as a tangible way of making a difference. BR
Majorine Kisakye – at her home
Majorine Kisakye graduated from Kyambogo University and now runs her own design business in Kampala. She prints most of the Little Angels’ stationery.
Majorine – so grown up
Patience the child
Patience Nakato is one of six children of a very poor mother whose husband succumbed to AIDS. Five of them are sponsored, but Patience is the first of them to get to university.
Patience Nakato – time to leave school
I have been a sponsor with Forever Friends of Uganda for about ten years. I have sponsored several children and have found much joy in watching their progress, knowing that I have given them a chance in life that they would never have had without this sponsorship scheme.
I visited the primary and secondary schools subsidised by FFOU on a trip to Uganda a few years ago, and saw the conditions that the families live in, and how much the work FFOU do is appreciated. I also met some of the sponsored children who have gone on to 3rd level education and now have careers and an exciting future. It was wonderful to see that they had become such confident, articulate young adults.
To be able to provide a child with an education, and to make such a difference to their lives is a great privilege. We can’t change the world, but we can change a life. FJ
Nanyonga Maria – our first meeting
Nanyonga Maria recently graduated in Law and is now training for the Ugandan bar.
Nanyonga Maria – at university in 2020
Kato Daniel – from Children’s Home to videography
Kato Daniel was brought up in the Little Angels Children’s Home and now works in videography.
Kato Daniel – with his laptop; a gift from his sponsor
It has been our privilege to sponsor children from Uganda for over fifteen years. We knew little of Uganda but by talking to Keith and Jeanette we gradually got to know the two little villages of Bubebbere and Bulumbu, the school in its infancy and the children and problems they faced in their day to day lives. I remember one evening with K and J and my wife and I pouring over Google Earth trying to identify exactly where the villages and the school were. Jeanette took us on a virtual’ journey from Kampala along the roads she knew but then it became confusing, especially as the aerial photos were none too clear and we were never that certain even at the end. I did ask Keith on his next visit to stand outside the school and use “What3Words” but he’s an old guy now and getting forgetful and it never did happen. Perhaps someone younger will remember next time they visit and we can finally pin down the place!
We now have three children and we’ve watched them grow to the point where two are now at secondary school.
In the grand scheme of things what we all do is very little but to one tiny area of Uganda and its inhabitants it must make a huge difference and that is all the satisfaction that is needed. Not only has the school prospered but all the ancillary schemes that have been set up must give purpose and meaning and hope to many of the young people of the area. How Keith and Jeanette have sustained their efforts over all these years is truly amazing but seeing their little area blossom must be tremendously rewarding and I hope they carry on for years – but he is 80! A&E H
There are so many success stories, but let me list a few more.
Florence Namitala came back to work at Little Angels and became Deputy Head Naluyange Rebecca won a scholarship to university in Taiwan where she is studying Business Administration; Ronald Kabukka gained a certificate in welding; Tamale Fred gained a certificate in building; Muyanja Stephen gained a certificate in computer studies; Yiga Henry is now a businessman; Ronald Nkuluziza works in hairdressing in Kampala; Brenda Nakayemba owns a beauty parlour, and Florence Nassazi operates a tailoring shop in eastern Uganda.
Thank you for making a difference
Please consider becoming part of a future success story.
Email me at (click on the icon – mailto link)
and I’ll support you in any way that I can.
We have 5 grandchildren who all enjoy the benefits of housing, education, welfare, food and water as a result of an accident of birth which has led to them being part of families in the UK. It is a privilege to be in a position through FFOU to assist in a small way children who are not so fortunate. LM
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