Sunday Margaret is one of many girls that Edukid has supported through primary and secondary education. Sunday achieved the qualifications needed in order to apply for university and will be pursuing her dreams of becoming a nurse through Edukid’s University Scholarship Programme.

Sunday currently lives with her mother and 4 siblings. Sadly, her father died during the Civil War that took place close to their home in Northern Uganda. Sunday’s Mother, now the only provider for her family, never had the opportunity to go to school meaning that she has struggled to find employment and as result has always had very little income. She generally farms her small plot of land, and they survive off of the produce. The family live in chronic poverty and would be unable to fully fund Sunday’s education without Edukid’s help.

Edukid are providing 70% of Sunday’s educational fees. The remaining 30% will be the responsibility of Sunday’s wider family and friends. This is in order that the entire community are empowered to support Sunday in her journey to becoming a nurse, working together to support each other.

Sunday Margaret worked incredibly hard throughout school and university and is now working in the local prison in Gulu and has been employed as a ‘Prison Nurse for Juveniles’.

Since her employment she has already helped so many young people!

Without education, this position she is in and the opportunities she is able to offer others within her community truly would not have been possible.

A young woman with a passion for gender equality and equipping the next generation with knowledge, Franka, a former student of Edukid, has achieved her dreams of becoming a qualified teacher.

In her early life, Franka’s mother passed away, leaving Franka’s father to look after her and her 14 siblings. Providing basic needs such as clothes, shelter and food for 16 people was a strain on Franka’s father. She describes her childhood as difficult, explaining that as a girl, a pressure fell on her
to work hard in order to supplement the family income, offering ‘odd jobs’ to neighbours such as digging land and fetching water.

Before Edukid’s support, she had little opportunity to attend school, often being chased out of the school gates after sneaking into a classroom and hiding at the back. Edukid began supporting Franka’s education so that she no longer had to sneak into lessons.

Now a qualified teacher herself, Franka is an advocate for education. She is concerned for the next generation of children coming through explaining that “these days, it is even more difficult than it was for me to get to school. School fees have increased so much and are unachievable for many families.” Franka also voiced her concern for young girls “Some families see girls’ education as pointless because when they reach 15 or 16, they will just become somebody’s wife. I am happy to always be campaigning for girls’ rights and education, for I am only where I am because of education”.

Franka has excelled so much, that Edukid have now offered her a job linking UK schools and teachers with their counterparts in Uganda, in order to promote a two-way learning platform. As part of her job role, she will be traveling to England to spend time with the team, visiting UK schools to teach students about Ugandan culture and history.

During her visit, Franka will be supporting the team in establishing a more regular channel of digital communication between the UK and Ugandan schools so that staff and children can learn directly from one another.

Alfred grew up in a conflict zone. His childhood saw the peak of rebel activity and war in Northern Uganda.

His early life was spent fleeing bullets and sleeping in the bushes, churches and hospitals in fear of abduction during the regular night raids by rebel soldiers.

Amidst living on the frontline of civil war, Alfred and his family struggled through life, trapped in chronic poverty. His father chose to spend the little family income on alcohol, neglecting Alfred’s need for education.

Alfred was one of the first children Edukid began supporting through school in 2008 when the project in Uganda was first established. He chose to continue on our programme after finishing secondary school and was supported through vocational training in
mechanical engineering.

Alfred now owns his own mechanic workshop and is kept very busy each day with a steady flow of business. Because of this, he can financially support his own children through education and is also able to give back to others in a life changing way. Each year, Alfred offers street children the opportunity to start a paid apprenticeship at his workshop. They work alongside him, learning invaluable skills and becoming fully trained and equipped to take on work independently.

As one of 18 children in his family, John’s childhood was spent trying to convince his father to pay for his school fees, a request that was consistently refused.

Determined to get to school, John began working hard from dusk until dawn in an attempt to raise funds for his own school fees. At a young age, John’s days consisted of early mornings, planting and hacking down sugar cane, to then wheel it into the nearby trading centre in the hope that he would earn a small
income.

The Edukid team heard about John’s situation and began to support his education. This meant, for the first time, John could solely focus on his studies, no longer needing to spend all of his time on the streets of his rural village selling sugar cane. By the time John had reached secondary school, he
had been offered a scholarship by Edukid, and had decided to specialise in sustainable agriculture. John explains “I learnt from Edukid, that, the hand that gives, has blessings. That same spirit is always in me, I need to support others”.

Now 26, John has started his own charity called Tic Ber (meaning ‘Good Works’). His focus is on food security, farming and improving access to basic needs in his local community, through training 150 households about sustainable agriculture.

John is an incredibly inspiring and humble individual, and his story serves as a reminder to us, that education can cause not only ripples, but tsunamis of transformation. John said himself “I am very grateful to Edukid for supporting me, and I encourage them to continue their work. There are other people coming. If you have changed a child, you have saved the world, because the 1 person you have changed, will go out there and change another.”

Nell came through our UK school’s Global Citizenship Programme as a former student from one of our partner schools. In late 2017 Nell joined Edukid on a trip over to Cambodia. Nell is currently in her final year of university and plans to spend time volunteering with Edukid next year. Here she recounts her experiences in Cambodia and how the trip has inspired her in the next chapter of her journey.

My name is Nell Salvoni and while studying for my A Levels I was given the incredible opportunity to join Edukid on their annual trip to Cambodia. One student who had been supported by a family from the UK on the trip was Bonnie, who told us her story. Until I heard Bonnie’s story, I don’t think I had fully comprehended the incredible, life-changing work that Edukid does. Bonnie had grown up in a slum, where she had to pick litter from a young age to help her family make money instead of going to school. She explained how hearing a story of a pregnant woman who had died because she could not afford healthcare made her decide that she wanted to be a doctor, despite not having had access to education at the time. Now she is a qualified doctor, with her education having been supported by Edukid.

I had an amazing time delivering school packs to classes of school children from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, and despite the language barrier meeting them and entertaining them with arts and crafts and sports equipment was just as enjoyable for me as it was for them! It was truly inspiring to see the communities come together with Edukid to build schools and having met Bonnie you could see the immense value in the project to the children and their futures.

While overwhelmingly I saw the incredible potential of humanity to do good during this trip, I also visited sites that remind us of the horrific consequences of human’s potential to do evil. While staying in Phnom Penh we were taken to visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former school used by the Khmer Rouge regime as a prison camp during the Cambodian Genocide in the 1970s. It was partly this experience which encouraged me to study History at university, where I am currently in my final year. I believe that if we can document and remind people of what happened in the past it will hopefully help to prevent a repetition of such atrocities and build a better future. However, being attuned to what has happened, and what could happen, is not enough if action is not taken. That is why Edukid’s work is so important. Through education, communities have been rebuilt from the devastation that Cambodia experienced in its recent history. Hopefully, through giving young Cambodian’s the tools to learn, to build prosperous futures for themselves, and even to achieve their dreams, as Bonnie and many others
have, the future will be a lot brighter.

After university I am planning to return to Cambodia to volunteer with Edukid. I am really proud that I helped to encourage my school to make lasting links with the charity and enabled other students to go too. I regularly think about the amazing people I met in Cambodia and I could not think of a more important thing to do with the skills that I have gained at university than to go back and volunteer with the incredible young people that Edukid works with.

Katie, a former student of Bideford College, joined Edukid on a trip to Uganda in February 2020. Katie has gone onto volunteer with Edukid in the UK office, and now plans to spend time volunteering in both Edukid’s Cambodia and Uganda projects during her gap year. Here she recalls her time in Uganda:

“On my trip to Uganda in February 2020, I encountered many amazing people, most of which unfairly suffered from some form of grief and poverty. However, for me personally, a particular family I met stood out and their story both devastated me and inspired me in so many ways.

After spending the day in Koch Goma primary school, we met a family of 6 orphans looked after by their elderly Aunt. The children were complete orphans, their father had died of disease, followed by their mother who suffered from Breast cancer. She used to bake pancakes and bread to earn a small income, enough to support her families health, education, and other basic needs. When she became ill she managed to pay for her first cancer treatment, however it spread and she could no longer afford to pay for any further treatment- she died late November 2019. The Aunt took over the care of the children, as well as the care of her son, who also sadly died of disease only a few weeks before our visit- his freshly dug grave sat next to their Banda during our visit.

These children and the Aunt were left in total desperation. They lacked clothes, food and basic essentials, with no way of receiving any income.

After our visit, and witnessing the unbearable grief and trauma this family had suffered, as well as their very apparent ill health, we as a group decided to help. We conversed with Edukid’s Ugandan team who advised on the best way to help with family. We paid for their roof to be fixed and a solar light to be given. We also provided clothing, mattresses, mosquito nets as well as providing 2 chickens, a pair of rabbits and a female goat to ensure the family have a sustainable source of food and livelihood. A doctor was also sent out to assess the familes health- 5/6 of the children and the Aunt were found to be suffering from Malaria, with all of the family also suffering from scabies and stomach worms. They were provided medication. The doctor explained that if the medication was not administered that day over half of this family would probably have been dead by the end of that week, this was truly heartbreaking to hear, and is a statement I will forever think about.

However, despite all the amazing things we were able to provide and help with while in Uganda, we had not finished. All 6 children were of school age, but were unable to afford the fees to go to school. The eldest, Ojok Kennedy, had started school but was pulled out after her mother’s death and the loss of the family’s income, meaning they could no longer afford the school fees. Working with Edukid, we have managed to get 2 of the children sponsored, while we are still currently trying to fundraise and raise awareness to give the other 4 children a chance to access an education they deserve.

The other major barrier the whole family faced was the unbearable trauma and grief they were unfairly suffering, which evidently resulted in them losing all hope. The children were aged 6-13, they couldn’t process their loss, nor go to school to escape the trauma surrounding the Banda they lived in. This grief was especially apparent in the Grandmother, who also felt she couldn’t process the grief of her family because she had to remian strong for her nieces and nephews. She looked both deflated and helpless- an image that has stuck with me. Edukid managed to get continued mentoring for the family through the parent support group. The family have also recently received a bike which will allow them to travel and trade, and earn some income to allow them a more stable future. Edukid are also working to ensure a follow up visit is made to mentor and support the family.

Without Edukid’s support, this family would have been completely destroyed, if not by extreme poverty, then as a result of their poor health and malnutrition.

They now have a chance to raise, rebuild and bring back some hope within their family. The children also have access to an education, which gives them a multitude of opportunities they can access towards a better future for themselves, as well as an opportunity to get a successful job and a chance to escape the poverty trap.

To leave Uganda seeing a smile on the face of a lady who was completely broken, not only made my trip, but is something I will cherish for a lifetime.”

Caitlin Jackson, a former student of Great Torrington Secondary School, started working for Edukid in 2018, studying alongside her work as an apprentice in Business Administration.
In 2020 Caitlin finished her apprenticeship. Inspired by her time in Edukid’s international projects, Caitlin made the decision to take her education to the next level. She is now studying a degree in sociology and international development with aspirations to use her knowledge and experience to work in the charity sector.

Here, Caitlin reflects back on her journey with Edukid…

“I first knew about Edukid through assemblies at school. GTS supported children in Uganda to go to school and so a couple of times a year we would have Chris Turner visit us. He would deliver workshops and assemblies that taught us about the issues surrounding poverty and Uganda. Edukid grew to be part of our school culture, and every year a teacher and some students would visit Uganda and bring back stories, this was amazing as we could see the impact our schools fundraising was having.

In the summer of 2017 I decided I wanted to go on a trip to Uganda myself. We met the children that GTS supported to go to school. Whilst I was in Uganda it was difficult for me to come face to face with the difficulties families must deal with daily, however, the trip changed my outlook on life and it made me realise that I wanted to help to make a difference to other people’s lives.

After returning from Uganda I continued to volunteer for Edukid until one day when I was offered the opportunity of an apprenticeship.

Over my time with with Edukid I have managed the database, organised fundraising events, managed sponsor communications and helped to lead trips. Visiting the international projects has always been the best part of the job. In late 2018 I co-led a trip to Cambodia for the first time and was able to build beautiful friendships with some of the community there.

Bonnie, a student who had been supported by Edukid through her education and had just qualified as a doctor, became a particularly good friend of mine. She had set up a medical center in the slum that she grew up in and provided health care to a community that before lacked any medical support.

In 2019, Bonnie invited me to be a bridesmaid at her wedding, and so I traveled over to Cambodia to be a part of her special day! The ceremony is something I will never forget, and I am so grateful to have been able to go.

My time with Edukid has been a huge journey of personal development, learning, and inspiration. I completed by apprenticeship with a distinction in 2020 and I am now studying a degree in sociology which I hope will lead me into the next chapter of my career in international development.”

Sophie Littlejohns came through Edukid’s Global Citizenship Programme as a former student of Bideford College. She joined the Edukid team in early 2018 as apprentice and alongside her role as a Schools Worker, has studied Project Management. Sophie now manages partnerships between Edukid and schools across the UK, delivering assemblies, supporting fundraising, and leading trips to Edukid’s international projects.

Here she reflects on her journey with Edukid…

“A year 7 assembly established my early interests in Edukid. Inspired by regular assemblies from Edukid staff, and the steady flow of older students returning from trips with Edukid, I spent my secondary school life waiting for the opportunity to go to Uganda to meet the children that Bideford College supported through education. When the moment came, I was the first in line to sign up for an Edukid trip.

Visiting Uganda in 2017 completely transformed the way I viewed and lived my life. Witnessing how desperate children were to attend school and how little people had really pushed me to value my education more and appreciate how easy everyday life here is at home, a very powerful lesson for somebody on the verge of A level exams.
On entering the first school we were warmly welcomed by a huge celebration! This is a moment I will never forgot. Students were dressed in bright colours, we were all dancing and singing and were completely emerged in the beautiful Ugandan culture. Although this is a lovely memory, I remember looking past the school gates and seeing children who couldn’t afford to come to school peering in at us. It made me realise that most of the students within the school gates would be in the same position if it weren’t for Edukid and its supporters. At this moment, the initial interest that had been sparked from a year 7 assembly quickly ignited into a passion for Edukid and its cause. I was seeing first hand the impact education had on those trapped in poverty, and invested much of my time thinking about ways I could help.

My life had been so hugely impacted by the Uganda trip that during my gap year solo backpacking across Asia, I decided to volunteer in Edukid’s Cambodia project for a month. I taught music, drama and games to a class of children aged between 13-17 in a small rural village. My overall aim was to build the confidence of students. At first this was difficult as it was hard for me to communicate with them. Their teacher, Sinoerun, explained that they felt insecure about speaking English to me, so I began learning basic Khmer. By the end of the month I had learnt how to hold a conversation, and had been able to build good friendships with the students. I still speak with many of them now to help them practice their English, and they help me with my Khmer!

As part of my voluntary work, I also travelled to several different rural villages across Cambodia helping to give first aid training to families. I was shocked by the general lack of knowledge coming from some of the parents. We taught CPR and what to do in number of emergency situations. The next week we found out that a man on the course had saved the life of somebody caught in a road collision by performing CPR on him. I couldn’t believe the impact that just one lesson had made. I left Cambodia wanting nothing more than to stay.

On my return I was offered the opportunity to be a part Edukid’s apprenticeship scheme. I now deliver workshops, lessons and assemblies to primary and secondary schools that are designed to educate students about the issues that surround poverty, and inspire and empower students to exercise their roles as Global Citizens.

During my employment with Edukid I have managed the development of our new teaching resources and helped to build the website you are currently using. I have helped to set up projects such as the plastic project in Cambodia, write newsletters, updates and form strong sustainable partnerships with UK schools. I now visit both my old secondary and primary schools, as well as a large number of schools spread out across the UK, to teach students about the work Edukid is doing and the impact of their support and fundraising.

My hope is that I can be a part of inspiring the next generation of students to become forward thinking, compassionate, Global Citizens with a passion for supporting others and making a difference in the world.

Kara Sheppard first became involved with Edukid 7 years ago, as a student from one of Edukid’s partner schools Bideford College. She came through the Global Citizenship Programme and joined Edukid on a trip over to Uganda. She has since returned to Uganda countless times, including two different periods of extended stays, and has also visitied Edukid’s project in Cambodia.

Inspired by her experience in Edukid’s Uganda project, Kara went on to study International Development at university. she holds a first-class degree in International Development with Social Anthropology from the University of East Anglia and is currently pursuing a PhD in International Development. Kara’s research centers on the gendered outcomes of education in Tanzania, while her academic experience covers a wide range of issues in International Development.

She has conducted several research projects on our Uganda work, and currently manages our Inclusive Education Programme in Uganda working closely with our in-country partners in Uganda to facilitate Edukid’s work.

Kara is writing and releasing a series of short papers for some of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to enable teachers and students to explore subjects at a deeper level.

Lucky Peace is partially blind, and is part of EDUKID’s ‘Inclusive Education Programme’ that focuses on enabling children with Special Educational Needs and diverse abilities to access education. For most of the children in this programme, a supporter will be providing them with the opportunity to go to school for the first time in their lives.

In Uganda there are many misconceptions surrounding diverse abilities and as a result, for a long time, there has been a social barrier that the children have faced in going to school. Not only this, but schools simply do not have the facilities to aid the children in their learning.

We are changing this.

We are providing specialised equipment, disabled ramping, barriers and toilets. We are also training teachers so that they are able to teach appropriately and attentively to meet the needs of our children, as well as delivering workshops to the communities designed to break down the discrimination that surrounds those with Special Educational Needs and diverse abilities in Uganda.

Lucky Peace started school for the first time in 2019 and says “One day I want to be a teacher so that I can teach other children.”. We cant wait to see Lucky Peace achieve her dreams.