Helping Faith grow

“I like being at school because I meet my friends and play with them. I also have a meal during break that I don’t get at home.”

 – FAITH, 5, UGANDA

Five-year-old Faith and her family have gone through some hard seasons. Her mother and father both passed away three years ago, leaving Faith and her older sister Flossy in the care of her grandparents.

As poor farmers they have struggled to care and provide for Faith and her sister. They live in grass thatched huts and do their very best growing crops like beans, bananas and cassava. They also keep chickens for eggs, which they can sell to earn a small income.

Faith’s grandfather Ezama at 72 years old has been finding it increasingly difficult to farm, and so her grandmother Mary has taken the lead. Sometimes Faith had to miss school when her grandparents didn’t have enough money to send her. Faith told us that missing school made her feel sad, because she loves to go and learn. It also meant that Faith was at a higher risk of becoming one of the nearly 50 per cent of girls in Uganda who get pulled from school and married before the age of 18.

Faith and Flossy needed more support than her grandparents could provide, so Faith’s aunt – her mother’s sister – decided to move with her own children into Faith’s grandparent’s home to help. Faith’s family pulled together to help raise her as she grows, but sometimes it just wasn’t enough.

DONORS MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Faith’s world changed when her family was invited to participate in programs funded by generous Canadians like you and implemented by Canadian Feed The Children’s local partner organization CEDO. Faith started attending a CFTC-supported Early Childhood Education Centre where she receives a quality education from trained teachers and gets a nutritious meal each day.

Her grandmother Mary was invited to join the farmer field school to learn new practices to increase her yield and earnings, improving the household’s income and food security. Faith’s grandfather Ezama became a village savings and loans association member, where he meets with other members once a week to learn financial literary, how to budget more effectively, and how to take our small loans to improve their farming business.

With Faith and her sister Flossy in school and with her grandparents receiving the support they need to take care of their grandchildren, life has started to improve. Now the family has enough money to send both sisters to school, to pay for unexpected expenses like medication, and recently, to purchase iron sheets to replace the thatched roof on the family home.

A FUTURE THAT IS SUNNY AND BRIGHT

Faith loves going to school. Every morning she walks with her cousins and sister to meet her friends and teachers. When we asked her what her favourite things about school were, she told us:

“I like being at school because I meet my friends and play with them. I also like being at school because it has been painted with beautiful pictures. I also have a meal during break that I don’t get at home.”

Faith knows that school is important because that is how you learn while you grow up. One day, she hopes she can be a teacher so she can teach the children in her village too.

Thanks to generous Canadians’ continued support, the dedicated staff at our local partner CEDO, and her determined family, Faith has a chance to grow up happy and healthy and towards a future that is sunny and bright.