Aim of the project

Allow teenagers in the North of Uganda to receive quality secondary educational

The context in the North of Uganda

The North of Uganda the population has been held hostage by a civil war that has raged since 1986. The population has been hard hit by the conflict between government forces and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) whose main leaders are wanted by the International Court of Justice for war crimes. In fact, in order to reach their goal (taking control and running the country following the tenets of the 10 commandments of the Bible) this group has not hesitated in attacking civilians, causing the displacement of 1.6 million people, kidnapping or killing tens of thousands including at least 25,000 children.

The situation, nevertheless, seems to have calmed down since a cease-fire was signed in August 2006. There is hope for peace, albeit a fragile one, but the numerous years of fighting have left their mark. On top of the basic problems faced by Ugandans; poverty and AIDS, malaria or malnutrition, the population has been submitted to the violence of war. The rebels massacred whole villages leaving thousands of children orphaned or worse still having been enlisted as child soldiers. Many families had to leave their home villages (including, of course, their gardens which often represented the sole source of income) to settle in displacement camps or to invest the cities. The great majority of the children have not been able have a normal education and quality schools are very rare today.

Sponsoring secondary schooling

Education is a key factor in ensuring a future for children affected bythe war in this region. OMOANA is, thus, guaranteeing the secondary education of 30 teenagers in partnership with a local NGO ACOT (African Child Outreach Trust). This members of the NGO selected the children most in need who, without OMOANA, would not have been able to go through secondary school their only hope of a future in a region where all has to be rebuilt. A privileged relationship has been established between OMOANA and ACOT which has led to direct results in the field helping those most vulnerable but the task is huge and a great number of children still need our help.