When MAF partners Ezekiel 37 Ministry started a school in the Karamoja region, they didn’t know just how much relief they were offering to local girls. A few years down the lane, they are producing some of the best performing pupils in Uganda.
Mary Nangiro joined Akigyeno school in 2021. At 17 years of age, she’s one of a handful of pupils who scored a first grade in their Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) last year.
“I’m happy that I am going to secondary school,” Mary said, looking forward to the next phase of education. “I used to read my books in the night to excel. The school gave us torches which helped for our night reading.”
The torches were solar powered since the village where Mary lives has no electricity.
“I want to be a nurse when I finish school so I can take care of sick people,” Mary added.
MAF flies Ezekiel 37 Ministry to Moroto, from where they access Akigyeno Nursery and Primary school, located in Napak. This part of Uganda is so remote that it would take an entire day to access it by road from the capital, Kampala.
School director Rebecca Sekamanya is grateful for MAF flights that go to Moroto at least thrice a week. When Rebecca and her team fly with MAF, they can work on travel days because it takes them only one and a half hours.
“We appreciate MAF so much, I don’t think we would be able to do these trips without them,” she said. “Using two days is not good use of our money, and it doesn’t make sense to spend a whole day on the road.
“I truly don’t think we would be here without MAF. They should continue flying to the ends of the earth!”
The Ezekiel 37 Ministry isn’t just providing free education to children in this region, it provides a level of security to young girls. Mary’s educational opportunity and success stands in sharp contrast to what happens in a number of her peers’ lives. Several girls Mary’s age are married off in exchange for cattle to their families.
In December last year, Mary’s friend was carried away by a man who married her. Mary knows many other girls who have had the same fate, some her age, others much younger.
Napak’s retired principal education officer, Florence Talamoi is dismayed over child trafficking in the Karamoja region.
“Poverty and insecurity are major contributing factors to child trafficking here,” she said. “But also, some children are trafficked to Kenya where they are married off by relatives.”
A 2021 report by ENACT indicates that, “Girls from Karamoja are sold for $5 and trafficked to Nairobi,” confirming Florence’s claims.
Keeping these children in school has enormous benefits, ranging from protection from trafficking, child marriages, teenage pregnancy and so much more. Patriarchy is also a major problem.
“Girls work more than boys and women more than men here. That’s the culture,” Florence added. “The presence of Akigyeno school has helped so much, but there’s still a lot to be done.”
Out of the 19 pupils that sat for their PLE at Akigyeno school, three scored first grade, while 16 scored second. They all qualify to join secondary school.
“I’m so proud of these kids, because being the first class to do PLE at Akigyeno, I didn’t have high expectations,” Rebecca said.
Most of the children at this school were keeping cattle or they were just staying at home when they were enrolled.
“My two sisters go to school because they got sponsors, but my brother doesn’t because he failed to get one,” Mary says. “Jesus is my saviour because he brought me to school. I did not have anyone to pay for my school fees.”
In addition to free education, Akigyeno school provides two meals for its pupils during school days. Most of the time this is the only meal the children will have, because eating at home is not guaranteed.
Here in the poorest region of Uganda, if even having a single meal a day is very difficult, education is such a luxury for these families. Karamoja region has the lowest literacy rate in Uganda.
Ezekiel 37 Ministry is a Christian institution and also teaches the children Christian values.
