Death is an absolute phenomenon all over the world. While other people die, babies are also born. Some of them survive happily amongst their biological parents and extended family members, especially in Africa. Unfortunately, many more orphans do not enjoy the benefits of being with their biological parents. This is the situation amongst some members of the community in Uganda/Bombo and the surrounding areas.

As such, whereas those enjoying the comfort of their biological parents get all they need to pursue their dreams, there are those who can’t afford the necessities which are a luxury to others.  Many of these orphans don’t have the school requirements which enable a school-going child to achieve their knowledge-acquisition dreams in life. These necessities include but aren’t limited to scholastic materials such as books, ball pens, pencils, school bags, erasers, uniforms, shoes, mathematical sets, and most importantly school fees.

The situation in Uganda is comparably worse compared to other countries. The effects of the unending civil unrest in some regions, diseases, and economic hardships have exacerbated the living conditions and welfare of the orphans. Accordingly, most families prioritize feeding the children/orphans at the expense of providing them with quality education and learning. As a result, those orphans are found participating in child labor within the families or at commercial sites and trading centers to earn a living.

Secondly, the difficult social conditions of the orphans who study with children from relatively better socio-economic backgrounds normally develop psychological challenges, feel inferior, and are at times stigmatized in the process. A combination of such circumstances complicates the orphans’ ability to study well and succeed in school. Interestingly, some schools do not have structures that handle orphans’ special needs and take care of their psychological situations in order to uplift their self-esteem.

In view of the above, NCIC, in collaboration with our partners, wish to develop strategies aimed at helping orphans succeed in their studies through the provision of essential scholastic materials and requirements. We strongly believe that such interventions, with our full support, shall help the orphaned Ugandan school-going children to accept their predestination and use their conditions to excel in their studies.

NCIC, for a start, shall target around 300 orphans in the Municipality. The population of orphans is definitely higher but we shall identify those who appear to be in dire need of assistance and support.

Once these beneficiaries are identified, follow-up programs shall be conducted to assess their academic progress.  In the process of evaluating their performance, other programs shall be organized Insha'Allah.