July 29, 2021 – Recently, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative launched an exciting new effort – a crowdfunding campaign – to help support the education of refugee children in Northern Uganda. Building on the success of the scholarship program we established with Western Union Foundation for youths living at the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement in 2018, the campaign aims to raise $32,000 by mid-August to help change lives by sending over 200 young people to school.
For nearly four years now, our scholarship program has supported youths at the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, where nearly 70,000 people have found shelter in recent years, many of them after civil war broke out in South Sudan in 2013. WPDI established the program to empower hundreds of young people at the settlement with an opportunity to achieve their educational dreams at four primary and secondary schools: Panyadoli Secondary School, Stella Matutina Girls School, Kiryandongo Secondary School, and Kiryandongo High School. Many of these students come from backgrounds or families that cannot otherwise afford school fees or other costs associated with sending children to school.
What is more, the scholarships will be of particular significance for girls. As in many other contexts and countries, many families in the settlement will tend to focus their meagre resources on boys, focusing on them when it comes to sending children to school. While all the children and youths we support are highly enthusiastic and thankful, we could never overlook the added joy expressed by so many of the girls that the scholarships help to pursue their aspirations to learn and shine.
This is a recurring theme in the feedback we regularly receive from the beneficiaries of the program. “As a 16-year-old refugee and a girl, it was very hard to pursue studies because it is normal for us girls to get married off or to stay at home to help with chores,” Clemence, a recent scholarship recipient, told us. “But, thanks to my scholarship, I can be a role model to other girls at the settlement. WPDI has changed the story of my life and those of my fellow girls here.”
For these girls and their male counterparts, your donation – no matter its size – will make a difference.
· $10 helps a student get school supplies, such as notebooks and pens.
· $30 allows one student to purchase a mandatory school uniform.
· $150 covers a student’s school fees for an entire year, including tuition.
To donate and learn more about the crowdfunding campaign, click here.
WPDI is an established 501(c)(3) non-profit entity. Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.