He’s nine, but he looks seven. Joseph is lively and smiling boy and he si very excited about schol. However, he couldn’t sit at school desk regularly, until now. Mother Victoria had widowed and she had to take care of four children all by herself.
This is the reality of a lot of families in Uganda. Mum works hard at the field, so she could feed her children, but she doesn’t have enough means for study, uniforms or school supplies. Family is accompanied by malnutrition and poverty. Joseph’s childhood and the childhood of his siblings, seven years old Kisul, four years old Namudd and two years old Mastulah, is not easy at all. To survive, Joseph, as the eldest child in family, helps his mother with everything, including hard labour at the field.
Peter Knapík, the project manager of Children’s Donation Project (Adopcia na diaľku®) explains: „Children, that are born into poor family, usually don’t have a chance to get out of this vicious circle of extreme poverty. This option is offered to them by the project Children’s Donation Project through support of education. Thanks to education, they can find adequate job, when they’re older. Thereafter, they are able to take care of themselves and their loved ones. An Ugandian boy Joseph got the chance to go to school regularly, too. Thanks to his adoptive parent from Slovakia, his school fees are paid and he got an uniform and school suppliances. In school, he also has a lunch, hence mum Victoria can use more of her financies for the other kids. Joseph enjoys school. He’s in second grade, he loves reading and dancing. We are glad, that thanks to the help from Slovakia, Joseph can go to school everyday.“
Illiteracy in Uganda, but also in other countries in which Children’s Donation Project is helping, is high. A lot of children in India, Vietnam or Haiti also don’t have acces to education, because of poverty. Education is one of the verified and efective paths out of poverty. This is shown, for example, also in stories of Indian boys and girls. Caritas Slovakia organizes this project succesfully since 1996. In 24 years, thousands of children from India got the opportunity for education. One of them was Nayana.
Coordinator Renne Furtado has written about her after the end of her studies: „Nayana is a happy young woman today, whose dream came true. She was able to go to school and become a nurse. She took part in the project Children’s Donation Project in 2010. She seized her chance for education and got the best of it. She finished her studies excellently adn today works as a nurse in Mission Hospital in Udupi. She uses her wage to support her mum and Brother. She’s a succesful and independent young woman. Thanks to you, she also got to learn, that it’s important to do good deeds.“
However, not every child got the same opportunity as Joseph or Nayana. Even today, there are a lot of kids that need someone, who won’t be indifferent to their story and would like to help them with their education. It is estimated, that 152 millions of children performs child labour, which is every tenth child in the world. In the poorest countries in the world, it’s every fourth. (Data from International Labour Organization, 2020). Most of these children doesn’t visit school at all or they visit it unregularly. They often perform hard labour in agriculture, factories or in richer households and because of the unregular school attendance, they stay illiterate.
The way out of poverty does not consist only of education. It’s also made of an interest from a person, that is not indifferent to the stories of poor children. It’s also made of the generosity and dedication of more than 4 930 people from Slovakia, that made a decision to support a child from a different country. With their commitment, they became a part of the story of a specific child. Thanks to photos, letters and report cards from school, they can gradually see who are they helping and how ae they changing the life of the supported girl or boy. Through regular help with education, they give a chance for a better childhood for a specific child and they help reduce illiteracy and child labour. The life of an Indian child is changed by a regular gift of 15€ per month, the life of an Ugandian child is changed by 20€ per month. This amount means a way from a shack and poverty to education and a job as a teacher, mason or in IT. Thanks to (not only) people from Slovakia, Joseph’s eyes are smiling today and Nayana can spread goodness amid the sick in the hospital.
You can find the application for Uganda HERE and for the support of a child from India HERE.
Photos: Caritas Slovakia Archive
The text was published on 23.09.2020 on: Postoj.sk
Author: Martina Borčíková, project coordinator of Children’s Donation Project
